“A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both.” ~ James Madison.
While the country was focused on the trial of George Zimmerman this summer, another important trial was underway. This trial, though, did not want to draw the media attention that the aforementioned trial attracted. And covering the trial, well, the military did not view freedom of the press as a right, but, as they openly stated to those who were able to get a credential, “a privilege.”
It only authorized ten media personnel to enter the courtroom with a pen and paper, and 70 others to watch a feed from a media center. No cell phones and no Internet access to file reports. The court records from the trial are also classified, making extensive reporting even more difficult. What could possibly be said during the trial, that wasn’t already declassified in the documents the defendant is on trial for? And why did armed military police need to “pace behind each row, looking over journalists’ shoulders” as the prosecution and defense made their final arguments.
Today, at 1 P.M., Private First Class Bradley Manning will hear his fate after the nearly two-month military trial. At Manning’s request, the verdict will be issued by presiding Judge Denise Lind, and not a jury of his peers.
Manning is facing 21 charges, the most serious one, “aiding the enemy,” carries a potential life sentence in prison and could set a major precedent for future cases involving journalists who do investigative reporting in the internet age. This charge, by the way, has never been brought in a leak case, and might forever deter potential leaker’s from coming forth to the press in the United States. As a journalism student, graduating next year, this is particularly frightening to me.
Manning also faces federal espionage, theft and computer fraud charges. He has acknowledged giving WikiLeaks some 700,000-battlefield reports, diplomatic cables and videos, but says he didn’t believe the information would harm troops in Afghanistan and Iraq or threaten national security. The government has attempted to argue that Manning was helping al-Quaeda when he leaked the documents to WikiLeaks. I would argue that U.S drone strikes that has killed thousands of innocent women and children does more to help al-Qaeda recruit new members then anything that was present in those documents. The prosecution has also tried to depict Manning as someone who was seeking “fame and notoriety,” which is absurd since the nature of WikiLeaks is to BE ANYNOMOUS. Unlike Snowden, Manning was hunted down and his identity revealed by the government and not himself.
He has pled guilty to 10 lesser offenses of the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which gives him 20 years in a military prison. The defense strategy is to offset any greater offense and plea to 10 lesser charges, so that when they get into the sentencing phase of the trial, they can try to mitigate his sentence down as much as possible.
After his arrest in May 2010, Manning was held in solitary confinement, sometimes with no clothing. Jailers at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., said they considered him a suicide risk. Judge Lind ruled during the trial that Manning had been illegally punished and should get 112 days off any prison sentence he receives. Edward Snowden told The Guardian that he was motivated to flee the country before revealing the NSA’s Prism Program because of this mistreatment of Bradley Manning following his arrest.
Bush and Cheney were never put on trial for the war crimes exposed in the documents that Manning release, but I guess Washington found a scapegoat in the young Army private.
The verdict, and any sentence, will be reviewed and could possibly be reduced by the commander of the Military District of Washington, Maj. Gen. Jeffery S. Buchanan.
More to follow…
UPDATED 2:15 P.M.
Bradley Manning aquitted of “aiding the enemy” charge, the most serious of his charges.
He has been found guilty of five espionage charges and five theft charges. Alexa O’brien, who has been in court for every day of Manning’s trial, tweeted the individual charges Manning faced and the judge’s verdict on each as it was given.
He faces a maximum of 136 years in prison on the crimes he was found guilty of, the sentencing will begin tomorrow.
Danielle DeAbreu
Danielle DeAbreu is a former model and student at William Paterson University studying Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Political Science.
Follow me on Twitter @DaniDeAbreu13
