Brad/Chelsea Manning: Charged w/AFG file leak, Cdn angles, disposition (merged)

[The Bread Guy]

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 ....

 

[The Bread Guy]

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.  :nod:

 

[The Bread Guy]

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.

 

[The Bread Guy]

:'(

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

 

[The Bread Guy]

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

 

[The Bread Guy]

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

 

[The Bread Guy]

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

 

[The Bread Guy]

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

 

[The Bread Guy]

While Bradley Manning remains in custody, with protesters still calling for his release, guess where Julian Assange is these days?

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has walked into the Ecuadorian Embassy in London seeking political asylum after claiming he had been "abandoned".

The 40 year-old Australian made the dramatic move after he lost a long-running legal bid to halt his extradition to Sweden, where he faces sex crime allegations.

In a letter sent to Ecuador’s government, Mr Assange said the Australian government had “effectively abandoned” him and was “ignoring the obligation to protect its citizen, who is persecuted politically".

His move to claim asylum is the latest twist in a marathon legal battle played out in the glare of worldwide publicity.

On Tuesday night, he walked into the embassy, in London's Knightsbridge district, and asked for asylum under the United Nations Human Rights Declaration.

Officials from the South American nation are considering his request. It comes after Ecuador offered Mr Assange residency in the country in November 2010.

Telegraph (UK), 19 Jun 12

 

[fraserdw]

While Bradley Manning remains in custody, with protesters still calling for his release, guess where Julian Assange is these days?Telegraph (UK), 19 Jun 12

He's run away he has!  The great leader of free speech run away! 

 

[Sythen]

If he is innocent, why is he fighting so hard to not face trial?  :sarcasm: I know Sweden has one of the most biased and corrupt legal systems, but he should man up! :sarcasm:

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bumped with the latest on Manning's court process ....

The trial of Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private accused of passing hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the WikiLeaks website, has been scheduled to begin in early February. That news came on the last of three days of pretrial hearings held in Fort Meade, Md., this week.

Of the court date, Wikileaks tweeted, "Manning full trial has been scheduled for Feb 4. He will have spent nearly 3 years detained without trial. Legal max is 120 days."

If convicted, Manning would face a possible life sentence. The 22 charges filed against him range from aiding the enemy to transmitting defense information, and fraud and related activity in connection with computers ....

NPR, 30 Aug 12

 

[The Bread Guy]

He's run away he has!  The great leader of free speech run away!

That's how one British judge is reading it (also, a caveat re:  who you should post bail for)....

The cost of helping WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange fight allegations of sexual assault became painfully real Monday for a group of supporters who were ordered by a British judge to pay money they had pledged for his bail now that he has fled inside the Ecuadorean Embassy.

Nine of the anti-secrecy campaigner’s backers are on the hook for about $150,000 among them because he jumped bail in June by putting himself out of the reach of British police. Assange, 41, sought asylum inside the embassy in central London to evade extradition to Sweden, which wants to question him in connection with allegations that he sexually abused two women last year.

Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle said Monday that the nine supporters had “failed in their basic duty” to ensure that Assange did not abscond.
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The group had acknowledged making no attempt to persuade him to give himself up, out of sympathy with his fears that the Swedish investigation was merely a pretext to spirit him to the United States to face possible charges of espionage in connection with WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of classified government files.

Vaughan Smith, at whose country mansion Assange stayed for months under a form of house arrest, told the court that for him and the eight others to urge the now-fugitive to quit the embassy would have been “a very public betrayal.”

Riddle wrote in his judgment that he felt “real respect” for the nine backers’ convictions.

“In declining to publicly (or as far as I know privately) urge Mr. Assange to surrender himself, they have acted against self-interest. They have acted on their beliefs and principles throughout,” Riddle wrote in his judgment. “In what is sometimes considered to be a selfish age, that is admirable.”

But he said the integrity of the bail system needed to be upheld. Moreover, it should have been clear to the nine supporters that Assange, who had vowed to fight extradition tooth and nail, posed a substantial flight risk, Riddle said.

The judge reduced the amount of money to be paid from the originally pledged sum of $224,000 to $150,000, out of recognition of some of the backers’ limited means. The nine include Nobel Prize-winning biologist John Sulston and journalist Phillip Knightley ....

Stars & Stripes, 8 Oct 12

 

[Journeyman]

Vaughan Smith, at whose country mansion Assange stayed for months under a form of house arrest, told the court that for him and the eight others to urge the now-fugitive to quit the embassy would have been “a very public betrayal.”

Yet for Assange to leave them stuck with a $150,000 bill is somehow not a “a very public betrayal.”  :rofl:

 

[GAP]

I think in the future these "advocates" will have a lot less support from the "sheep" when it comes to putting up the $$.

 

[GAP]

Manning not guilty of aiding the enemy, faces 130+ yrs in jail on other charges
Published time: July 30, 2013
http://rt.com/usa/manning-not-guilty-aiding-enemy-805/

A US military judge has found Army private Bradley Manning "not guilty" of aiding the enemy. However, he was found guilty of 19 remaining charges, meaning that he still faces the possibility of up to 136 years behind bars. Sentencing begins tomorrow.

Sitting in the military courtroom at Fort Meade, Md., Colonel Denise Lind delivered her verdict shortly after 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. Manning had chosen to put all his faith in the judge, rather than a panel of his peers – a risky gamble that initially seemed to pay off for the 25-year-old Army intelligence analyst - the charge could have carried a life sentence without parole.

However, Manning still faces the possibility of up to 136 years behind bars, having been found guilty of at least five charges of espionage, five counts of theft, and four counts of embezzlement of government property. In total, Judge Lind found him guilty of 19 of the 21 offenses he could have been charged with. Manning was found not guilty of espionage for the release of the infamous "Collateral Murder" video.
more on link

 

[cupper]

On a humourous note, all of his supporters are all happy that he was acquitted of aiding the enemy and thus won't be getting a life sentence. I guess it's all relative. Would you rather have a life sentence, or spend the next 130 years in detention.

Hmmm.

 

[FJAG]

The judge's decision is attached here as a pdf.

Unfortunately it does not include any reasons for her decision. I presume those will be published seperately and I'll keep an eye out for them.

 

[Inquisitor]

136 years? in many cases sentences run concurrently, eg 20 years for charge a 30 for charge b ... I calendar year takes a year off of each. In any event He is not going to be free for a good long time, if ever.