Activist Cornel West (left) and Code Pink activist Medea Benjamin talk during a break on the first day of the United States vs. Pfc Bradley E Manning trial in Fort Meade, Maryland, yesterday.
Fort Meade: The long-awaited trial stemming from the biggest leak of classified information in US history began yesterday, with Bradley Manning accused of feeding troves of secret files to WikiLeaks.
In his first statements at the court martial, Manning confirmed he pleads guilty to 10 charges but not the most serious one against him — aiding the enemy — which could see him spend the rest of his life in jail.
More than three years after he was arrested in Iraq, the baby-faced 25-year-old US army private went before a court martial presided over by Judge Denise Lind at a military base outside Washington, DC.
Security was ultra tight, with a gaggle of US and foreign reporters waiting in line for two hours to get through security checks and into the courtroom, where cell phones and other electronic devices were banned.
From November 2009 until his arrest in May 2010, Manning allegedly gave WikiLeaks some 700,000 classified military logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and diplomatic cables from across the world. He faces a possible 154-year jail sentence. Manning has offered to plead guilty to several offenses but denies prosecutors’ most serious charge — that he knowingly aided the enemy, chiefly Al Qaeda.
Manning’s supporters view him as a whistle-blower. The trial went into recess after Manning confirmed his guilty plea to the 10 charges, said he wanted to be tried by Lind and a not a jury, and signed requests for witnesses to testify.
The proceedings follow an exhaustive series of preliminary hearings that outlined the government’s case against Manning.
The government accuses Manning of having endangered national security by releasing the war logs, which included reports of torture and civilian casualties, and the embassy cables, which detailed candid and often embarrassing remarks by world leaders and US officials.
The soldier’s supporters argue his actions shone a light in the darkest corners of the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as exposing the reasoning behind American foreign policy decisions. Judge Lind has warned she will not allow Manning’s trial to turn into a forum on US foreign policy.
Manning admitted in February to leaking the documents, saying he hoped to start a public debate, but denied knowingly aiding Al Qaeda or other US foes. Afp
