The trial of a US military officer involved in the abuse scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison began on Monday with a setback for prosecutors, judge Colonel Stephen Henley dismissing two charges against Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan due to a procedural error.

Initially, Jordan was accused of cruelty or maltreatment for failing to stop the abuses, lying about abuse and dereliction of duty. A procedure error during the investigations led to the dismissal of two charges of making false official statements, just before the jury was about to be selected for Jordan’s trial on Monday.

Jordan is the last army member to appear in front of a court martial following the scandal surrounding the Iraqi prison of Abu Ghraib. An investigation was launched after the appearance of photographs showing US soldiers abusing and humiliating detainees at the mentioned facility located 32 kilometers west of Baghdad.

Lieutenant Colonel Jordan is a military intelligence officer who was sent to Iraq four years ago and was director of the Joint Interrogation Debriefing Center at the prison. Jordan didn’t appear in any of the mentioned pictures and wasn’t accused of directly being involved in the reprehensible actions, but prosecutors said he allowed soldiers to use dogs and other unconventional interrogation methods.

Military prosecutors incriminated him of making false statements when inquired by Major General George Fay about abuses on inmates, Jordan allegedly responding he had never seen naked detainees as pictures showed.

Eleven US soldiers have been convicted during the trial, but none of them were officers like Jordan who faces up to eight-and-a-half years in prison if found guilty.

In July, the Washington Post published an interview with Jordan, who said he wasn’t aware of his soldiers’ practices otherwise he would have reported them. The officer sustains he is innocent and is used as a scapegoat because he is not an acting officer, but a reservist.

“I'm saddened by the whole event, and I feel like I've been singled out for it,” Jordan reportedly said.

He also said that no guidance was given to him before arriving at the detention facility, where he stayed for almost three months.

“All I was told was that I was going to the wild west, that it was a dangerous area. That's all the guidance I got,” he said said.