Topic: Soldier charged w/leak after Wikileaks publishes 90K AFG files

[milnews.ca]

Berkeley resolution?  Tabled = going nowhere for now

The Berkeley City Council voted last night to table a controversial resolution calling for the release of alleged military whistle blower Private Bradley Manning from military prison and to honor him as a hero if he did leak sensitive information to WikiLeaks.

Virtually all council members and Mayor Tom Bates voted to table the resolution, while District 3 Councilman Max Anderson abstained. By tabling the motion, any council member can bring the issue back for consideration at a future date.

“We’ve gotten to the point in this country,” Anderson said, “where heroes are designed by job category, not action.”

The move to ultimately table the resolution stemmed from what a number of council members saw as a lack of certainty as to whether Manning was, in fact, the WikiLeaks whistle blower and if he was, what his motives were. That aside, comments from both the public and council expressed the complexity of the issue at hand, where values of transparency, open government, and the need for state secrecy collided into a volatile soup ....

[milnews.ca]

From the Associated Press:

The United Nations' top anti-torture envoy is looking into a complaint that the Army private suspected of giving classified documents to WikiLeaks has been mistreated in custody, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

The office of Manfred Nowak, special rapporteur on torture in Geneva, received a complaint from one of Pfc. Bradley Manning's supporters alleging conditions in a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va., amount to torture, said spokesperson Xabier Celaya. Visitors say he spends at least 23 hours a day alone in a cell.

The U.N. could ask the United States to stop any violations it finds.

The Pentagon has denied mistreating Manning. A Marine Corps spokesman says the military is keeping Manning safe, secure and ready for trial ....

What MSM seems to forget including in many stories is this tidbit:

.... When he was first arrested, Manning was put on suicide watch, but his status was quickly changed to “Prevention of Injury” watch (POI) ....

Nice to see SOMEONE understands why this might be being done:

.... What if the POI is lifted and Bradley dies? Would we then point fingers are the brig officers for not taking the necessary precations? Would we ask why they listened only to the recommendations of the psychologist and not the rest of the board? ....

And would any of his supporters believe it would have been suicide when they could (falsely) whip it up as "murder" to support their cause?

[Journeyman]

....And would any of his supporters believe it would have been suicide when they could (falsely) whip it up as "murder" to support their cause?

Whatever happens to Manning, it was a government plot.
Counter-intuitively, life's a lot simpler when you believe in complex conspiracy theories. 

[milnews.ca]

From the BBC:

The US Army has charged a soldier held in connection with the leak of US government documents published by the Wikileaks website with 22 extra counts.  The new charges against Private First Class Bradley Manning include aiding the enemy, a capital offence, but prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty.  The intelligence analyst is being held at a military jail in Virginia.  He is suspected of leaking 620,000 diplomatic and military documents ....

From AFP:

The US military on Wednesday unveiled new charges against the soldier suspected of passing a trove of secret government documents to WikiLeaks, accusing him of the serious offense of "aiding the enemy."  US Army authorities announced 22 additional charges against Private Bradley Manning, including the offense of "aiding the enemy," which carries a potential death sentence.  But military prosecutors do not plan to seek the death penalty if Manning is convicted and instead the 23-year-old soldier would face possible life in prison, the army said in a statement ....

From Manning's Lawyer's blog:

Over the past few weeks, the defense has been preparing for the possiblity of additional charges in this case.  The decision to prefer charges is an individual one by PFC Manning's commander.  The nature of the charges and the number of specifications under each reflects his determination, in consultation with his Staff Judge Advocate's office, of the possible offenses in this case.  Ultimately, the Article 32 Investigating Officer will determine which, if any, of these additional charges and specifications should be referred to a court-martial.

Manning's charge sheet (PDF) downloadable here.

[milnews.ca]

 

The US is violating UN rules by refusing unmonitored access to the Army private who is accused of passing secret documents to WikiLeaks, the UN's chief torture investigator has said.

UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez said the US had has broken rules by insisting on monitoring conversations with Pte Bradley Manning.

Mr Mendez says he needs unrestricted access to Pte Manning to do his job.

(....)

After being confined alone in a cell for 23 hours per day in a detention facility in Quantico in the state of Virginia, Pte Manning was transferred to Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas in April.

Mr Mendez said the US had told him Mr Manning was being treated better now than when he was in Quantico.

But the UN investigator said the US must allow him to determine whether the conditions at Quantico that Pte Manning experienced amounted to "torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".

"For that, it is imperative that I talk to Mr Manning under conditions where I can be assured that he is being absolutely candid," Mr Mendez said in a statement ....

Source:  BBC, 12 Jul 11 - more in U.N. news release here

[milnews.ca]

The US Army analyst suspected of passing classified information to Wikileaks should face a court martial, a military tribunal has recommended.

Intelligence analyst Bradley Manning is alleged to have leaked US government cables to the anti-secrecy website.

Accused of leaking thousands of documents and "aiding the enemy", he could face life in prison if convicted.

Pte Manning, 24, appeared for a pre-trial hearing in December, in which prosecutors pushed for a court martial.

He was arrested in May 2010 in connection with the leak.

The US Army said in a statement that the head of the tribunal, Lt Col Paul Almanza, had concluded that "reasonable grounds exist to believe that the accused committed the offences alleged.

"He (Lt Col Almanza) recommended that the charges be referred to a general court martial," the army statement said.

The recommendation from Col Almanza will now be referred up the military chain of command.

The commander of the Washington military district, Maj Gen Michael Linnington, will make a final determination on whether Pte Manning will face military trial ....

BBC online, 12 Jan 12

[milnews.ca]

A low-ranking intelligence analyst charged in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history is a step closer to a general court-martial, the Army says, after a second officer signed off on the procedure.

Col. Carl Coffman sent his recommendation Wednesday to Maj. Gen. Michael Linnington, commander of the Military District of Washington, according to a statement emailed to The Associated Press. Linnington now must decide whether to order a trial for Pfc. Bradley Manning.

Coffman, garrison commander of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall near Washington, concurred with Lt. Col. Paul Almanza, the presiding officer at Manning’s preliminary hearing last month, that Manning should be tried by a court-martial. The 24-year-old Crescent, Okla., native faces 22 counts, including aiding the enemy ....

Marine Corps Times, 19 Jan 12

[milnews.ca]

Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army intelligence analyst suspected of passing classified documents to WikiLeaks, will face a full court-martial, the U.S. Army Military District of Washington announced on Friday.

Manning, 24, faces 22 charges of participating in the largest leak of classified information in American history, including aiding the enemy, wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the Internet and theft of public property.

Aiding the enemy is an offense that could bring the death penalty, but the prosecution has said it intends to seek a maximum of life in prison for Manning.

He could also face a reduction to the lowest enlisted pay grade, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge.

A military judge will be selected by the U.S. Army Trial Judiciary, and that judge will set the date for Manning's arraignment, motion hearings and trial ....

Reuters, 3 Feb 12

[milnews.ca]

US soldier Bradley Manning, suspected of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, is to be arraigned later Thursday.

The charges against him will be read at the arraignment at 1pm (1800 GMT) in Fort Meade, Maryland.

The military had said earlier this month that Manning would face court martial after reviewing a recommendation by the investigating officer and other evidence.

Manning faces charges including aiding the enemy, causing intelligence to be published online, theft and computer fraud.

If convicted, he could face life in prison. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty, which could have been applied for the most serious charges ....

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 23 Feb 12