WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A federal judge Thursday dismissed all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards in the 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina found prosecutors wrongly used statements the guards had given under duress, CNN reported.
The September 2007 shootings in a Baghdad square provoked increased tension between the United States and Iraq, and resulted in restrictions on contractors hired by Blackwater, now known as XE, and other firms.
Urbina said the government's case relied mainly on "statements compelled under a threat of job loss in a subsequent criminal prosecution" in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The Justice Department, which had not responded, can appeal Thursday's ruling or seek new indictments against the men, CNN said.
During the Baghdad shootings, Blackwater said its contractors were being attacked, but Iraq officials claimed their gunfire erupted unprovoked.
The five guards had been indicted in Washington a year ago on manslaughter and weapons charges. Prosecutors had asked last month that charges be dropped against one of the men. Thursday's ruling throws out all the charges.
A sixth guard pleaded guilty last year to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter.
