A Muslim chaplain cleared after an espionage probe after being imprisoned for 76 days resigned from the Army on Monday, saying officials never apologized or allowed him to retrieve his belongings from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Capt. James Yee, 35, ministered to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay naval station, where the military is holding suspected Muslim terrorists. He was taken into custody after the military initially linked him to a possible espionage ring at the Guantanamo Bay naval station in Cuba.
“Those unfounded allegations — which were leaked to the media — irreparably injured my personal and professional reputation and destroyed my prospects for a career in the United States Army,” Yee wrote in his resignation letter.
Yee asked to be discharged on Jan. 7.
The Army arrested him last September carrying what authorities said were classified documents. He was eventually charged with mishandling classified material, failing to obey an order, making a false official statement, adultery and conduct unbecoming an officer.
In March, Army officials dismissed all criminal charges against him but found him guilty of the non-criminal Army charges of adultery and downloading pornography. The reprimand he received was thrown out by an Army general a month later.
Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts have asked the Pentagon to investigate the handling of Yee’s case, saying it called into question the fairness of military justice.
Lt. Col. Bill Costello, a spokesman for Fort Lewis, had no immediate comment, saying a call from The Associated Press was the first he had heard of Yee’s resignation.