Private Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier who has been in detention for nine months on charges of supplying whistleblower website Wikileaks with sensitive government data, has been slapped with 22 new charges including “aiding the enemy,” punishable by death.
In the barrage of charges brought by the U.S. government against Mr. Manning, federal prosecutors argued that Mr. Manning, “without proper authority, knowingly give intelligence to the enemy, through indirect means,” between November 1 2009 and May 27 2010.
Since early 2010 Wikileaks went on to release a steady stream of private files pertaining to U.S. military engagements in Iraq, Afghanistan and ultimately State Department engagements around the world. In the ensuing crackdown by U.S. authorities Mr. Manning was arrested and held in solitary confinement at the military facility in Quantico, Virginia.
The list of charges announced this week included allegations that Mr. Manning “wrongfully and wantonly cause to be published on the internet intelligence belonging to the U.S. government, having knowledge that intelligence published on the internet is accessible to the enemy.”
Prosecutors in the case went on to argue that Mr. Manning's actions in this regard were prejudicial to good order and discipline in the armed forces and were of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.
While not explicitly identifying who the “enemy” in question was, the charge sheet against Mr. Manning had aided the enemy when, based out of Contingency Operating Station Hammer in Iraq, he did “steal, purloin, or knowingly convert to his use or the use of another, a record or thing of value of the U.S...”
Numerous charges announced pertaining to computer file theft, in particular identifying the combined value of the files purportedly stolen as being in excess of $1,000 so as to attract a stronger potential penalty .
Media reported that he had said via his Twitter account that “aiding the enemy” was the most significant additional charge.
Among the questions raised regarding Mr. Manning's case was the issue of “why legal proceedings against him did not seem to be moving forward,” the New York Times argued. T hough the Army said the delay was to evaluate his “mental capacity” at the defence's request, such an evaluation was still said to be pending.
In January this year a non-profit group called Psychologists for Social Responsibility wrote an open letter to Secretary of Defence Robert Gates in which it said that it was “deeply concerned about the conditions under which PFC Bradley Manning is being held,” citing in particular the fact that he was in solitary confinement for approximately 23 hours a day in a cell approximately six feet wide and twelve feet in length “for no discernable reason other than punishment...”
