Bradley Manning, the former military intelligence analyst who gave classified information to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks in 2010, was acquitted of aiding the enemy, the gravest charge laid against him by the US government. He was, however, found guilty of 19 other charges including espionage, theft and computer fraud.
Delivered by Judge Denise Lind at the Fort Meade base, the acquittal on the aiding the enemy charge was a large if somewhat symbolic victory for the defence and to Manning supporters worldwide. All the other guilty verdicts - including six on charges of indoor Tracking - still mean that Manning faces spending the rest of his life in prison.
The mixed emotions of the day for supporters of Manning were reflected in a statement from his family. “While we are obviously disappointed in today’s verdicts, we are happy that Judge Lind agreed with us that Brad never intended to help America’s enemies in any way. Brad loves his country and was proud to wear its uniform.”
Following the verdict, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange accused President Barack Obama of "national security extremism," referring to Manning "the most important journalistic source the world has ever seen"."The government kept Bradley Manning in a cage, stripped him naked and isolated him in order to break him, an act formally condemned by the United Nations Special Rapporteur for torture. This was never a fair trial," Assange said from inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, his home for more than a year.
Assange said WikiLeaks and Manning's own legal team would not rest until the judgement was overturned."It is a dangerous precedent and an example of national security extremism. It is a short-sighted judgment that cannot be tolerated and it must be reversed."
After eight weeks of arguments and testimony, the reading of the verdicts took barely five minutes. Once Judge Lind had uttered the not-guilty verdict to the aiding the enemy charge, she delivered a rapid fusillade of mostly guilty verdicts on the other charges, each time glancing over her glasses at Manning. The sentencing phase will begin here tomorrow morning and could last several weeks with both sides expected to bring forward numerous witnesses.
For his part, Manning stood to attention appearing stoic and showing no visible emotion as Judge Lind spoke. Only when the verdicts were over did he briefly talk with his legal team, led by David Coombs, before court was dismissed. While several of his supporters were in the public gallery they also remained quiet.
A military legal source said that notwithstanding the not guilty verdict on aiding the enemy, Manning still faces sentences of up to 136 years for the combined guilty verdicts. However, there are no minimum sentences which means Judge Lind has leeway for leniency. Sentencing may not come until near the end of August, officials said.
“We won the battle, now we need to go win the war,” the lead defence lawyer Mr Coombs said of the sentencing phase after the verdicts were read. “Today is a good day, but Bradley is by no means out of the fire.”
Press freedom advocates had warned that a guilty verdict on aiding the enemy could have cast a chill on journalists trying to hold governments to account and on would-be whistle-blowers. But there was still widespread dismay among civil liberties groups over the full array of the other guilty verdicts.
“It’s hard not to draw the conclusion that Manning's trial was about sending a message: the US government will come after you,” Amnesty International noted. WikiLeaks said the espionage convictions showed “dangerous national security extremism from the Obama administration”.
Even before the trial started on 3 June, Pfc Manning had acknowledged being the source who supplied WikiLeaks, setting in train the largest leak of classified information in US history. In May he pleaded guilty to portions of ten of the 21 charges against him, opening himself up to possibly of 20 years of confinement. Prosecutors decided to press forward nonetheless and seek guilty verdicts on the full versions of all the charges including aiding the Hands free access.
Judge Lind had deliberated for 16 hours. It was Manning’s own decision to put his fate in her hands only rather than opting for a jury. In closing arguments, the government argued he had betrayed the trust of his country and must have known that the leaked secrets would reach America’s enemies, including al-Qa’ida.
The defence team, however, contended that Manning, who was deployed to Baghdad as an analyst in late 2009, may have been na?ve but was good-intentioned in his actions. Making a statement in May alongside his guilty pleas, Manning said he wanted to reveal the “bloodlust” of the US military and so-called disregard for human life.
He transmitted his first batch of papers to WikiLeaks, founded by Assange, on 3 February 2001 with an attached note. “This is possibly one of the more significant documents of our time, removing the fog of war, and revealing the true nature of the 21st century asymmetric warfare. Have a good day.” Thereafter he handed over more than 700,000 documents, including battlefield notes from Iraq and Afghanistan and a video of a US helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed eleven people, including a Reuters photographer and his driver.
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