Simpliciano was charged Jan. 5 with assault, conspiracy, maltreatment and making a false statement in a case involving a detainee, said Maj. Stacy Bathrick, a Schofield spokeswoman deployed to Afghanistan.

Edwards also is charged in the same case with abusing a prisoner and assault, Seitz said. Both soldiers are with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment.

Simpliciano is accused of placing a rope around the neck of an Afghan man who was questioned at a forward operating base, and Edwards is accused of punching the man, Seitz said.

Seitz said the two did not have any intelligence-gathering responsibilities.

"They were basically sentries, and all they were asked to do was apprehend this person when he came on base because somebody wanted to question him," Seitz said.

The soldiers said they had no reason to abuse the man and try to get information out of him because that wasn't their job, the attorney said.

"Secondly, apparently these charges surfaced after the event, and the person making the complaint originally identified other people or made IDs that were somewhat ambiguous, and somehow it focused on my two clients," Seitz said.

The attorney said all of the witness statements from individuals who are said to have been in the vicinity deny that the two Schofield soldiers did anything inappropriate.

In a Jan. 12 e-mail to The Advertiser, Simpliciano said: "It's funny I'm being accused by someone who admitted to lying and was caught with stolen property and who was fired. Where's the justice in this?"

The Article 32 hearings are scheduled for Feb. 25 for Simpliciano and two days later for Edwards. They had been set for Feb. 11 and 21, but the Army rescheduled to give Seitz time to get to Afghanistan, he said.

Bathrick said the Army "take(s) all matters pertaining to alleged detainee incidents seriously, and (we) will ensure we follow proper military law regulations in determining the final disposition of this case."

Seitz said the two "have an absolute right to civilian counsel.

"I think it took a little pushing to get the military to realize that if they went ahead with this case and denied them that right, that these proceedings were all going to have to be redone," he said.

Seitz told his clients to not participate if the earlier hearings were held, and to simply stand up and say, "I want my civilian counsel."

He tentatively has arranged to get to Kabul leaving Hawai'i on Feb. 20, but still has no guarantee of travel to Kandahar in the south.

"My military co-counsel is trying to help, but the Army has provided virtually no assistance in transportation or logistics. They are expecting me to do that on my own, and it may or may not be insurmountable," Seitz said.

Seitz said it's not unheard of for civilian attorneys to travel to a war zone to represent a client. During the Vietnam War, a group that he worked with set up a project in Asia and sent lawyers on several occasions to Vietnam, he said.

Seitz said several civilian lawyers also have gone into Iraq in conjunction with cases.