American soldier in WikiLeaks case goes on trial
Source: Agencies |
June 4, 2013, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning faced life in prison as his trial began yesterday, three years after he was charged with providing reams of highly-sensitive material to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks in the biggest leak of classified information in US history.
Since then, Manning has admitted to giving the material to Wikileaks and pleaded guilty to charges that would send him to prison for up to 20 years. The US military and the Obama administration weren't satisfied, though, and pursued a charge of aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence.
The trial on that most serious charge and 20 other offenses started yesterday for the 25-year-old former intelligence analyst from Oklahoma.
Joe Morrow, a prosecutor, said during his opening statement that Manning dumped classified documents on to the Internet and into the enemy hands.
Manning, a slightly built soldier, sat calmly in the courtroom in his dark green dress uniform as the trial began. He chose to have his court-martial heard by a judge instead of a jury. It is expected to run all summer.
In February, Manning told military judge Denise Lind he leaked the material to expose the American military's "bloodlust" and disregard for human life in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he did not believe the information would harm the US and he wanted to start a debate on the role of the military and foreign policy.
The judge accepted his guilty plea to reduced charges for about half of the alleged offenses, but prosecutors did not and moved forward with a court-martial on charges including violations of the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
About 20 Manning supporters demonstrated in the rain outside the visitor gate at Fort Meade.
The material WikiLeaks began publishing in 2010 documented complaints of Iraqi detainee abuses; a US tally of civilian deaths in Iraq; and America's weak support for the government of Tunisia - a disclosure Manning supporters said encouraged the popular uprising that ousted the Tunisian president in 2011 and helped trigger the Middle Eastern pro-democracy uprisings known as the Arab Spring.
Since then, Manning has admitted to giving the material to Wikileaks and pleaded guilty to charges that would send him to prison for up to 20 years. The US military and the Obama administration weren't satisfied, though, and pursued a charge of aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence.
The trial on that most serious charge and 20 other offenses started yesterday for the 25-year-old former intelligence analyst from Oklahoma.
Joe Morrow, a prosecutor, said during his opening statement that Manning dumped classified documents on to the Internet and into the enemy hands.
Manning, a slightly built soldier, sat calmly in the courtroom in his dark green dress uniform as the trial began. He chose to have his court-martial heard by a judge instead of a jury. It is expected to run all summer.
In February, Manning told military judge Denise Lind he leaked the material to expose the American military's "bloodlust" and disregard for human life in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he did not believe the information would harm the US and he wanted to start a debate on the role of the military and foreign policy.
The judge accepted his guilty plea to reduced charges for about half of the alleged offenses, but prosecutors did not and moved forward with a court-martial on charges including violations of the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
About 20 Manning supporters demonstrated in the rain outside the visitor gate at Fort Meade.
The material WikiLeaks began publishing in 2010 documented complaints of Iraqi detainee abuses; a US tally of civilian deaths in Iraq; and America's weak support for the government of Tunisia - a disclosure Manning supporters said encouraged the popular uprising that ousted the Tunisian president in 2011 and helped trigger the Middle Eastern pro-democracy uprisings known as the Arab Spring.
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