THE chairman of a Senate Committee has slammed Defence over its ``appalling'' treatment of three sailors accused of misconduct on board the ship HMAS Success.

 

Liberal Senator Russell Trood said their treatment showed military justice still had a ``long way to go''.

 

The three sailors were marched off the ship in Singapore last May, accused of running a sex ledger and bounty system.

 

An investigation found there was no such ledger, but nine months after the incident they remain shore-bound and under a cloud at a base in Sydney as the Navy decides what further action to take.