Friday 16 December 2011

Bradley Manning Trial

Manning, whose 24th birthday is Saturday, is accused of providing to WikiLeaks,tens of thousands of U.S. military documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and diplomatic cables of the US Department of State. The first step before the court martial, the preliminary hearing is "similar to a civilian grand jury, with additional rights for the accused," said the US Military. If the court decides to go to military court martial, Manning risks life imprisonment. The trial would not take place until spring.
The private is accused in particular of "collusion with the enemy", "dissemination of military intelligence", "Internet publication of information in a way that they would be accessible to the enemy" and "fraud and breach of military regulations"
The defence submitted a list of fifty witnesses they wanted to call, but the government opposed it almost in its entirety. Of these witnesses, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the former Pentagon chief Robert Gates and President Barack Obama, in person, for a statement in which he stated that Manning had "broken the law." But their presence at Fort Meade is very unlikely.

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