March 3, 2011 at 12:15Bradley Manning faces the death penalty
According to NBC News, on Wednesday, Bradley Manning, who is accused of transmitting 150,000 diplomatic correspondence documents and a military video to the media, the US government has filed 22 new charges. One of them - "helping the enemy" - under the charter provides for capital punishment.
Manning’s lawyer posted a quote from a military charter ( PDF ) on his blog yesterday that defines “helping the enemy” (Article 104). According to this definition, an “enemy” is considered not only the enemy during the war, but also a “hostile person” and “civilians, as well as members of military organizations”.
According to reports from informed sources, the military prosecutor will demand life imprisonment, not capital punishment, if Mannig is found guilty of this charge.
Representatives of the US Department of Defense confirmed on Twitter that this item is the “most serious crime” (capital offense), which in legal terminology means a crime that provides for capital punishment.
At the moment, it is still unknown whether article 104 of the military charter will be presented in court. This will be decided by the investigator, who will make a final list of which of the new charges should be considered during the trial. So far, the indictment ( 8 pages ) does not mention Wikileaks.
Now ordinary Bradley Manning's first class is being held in the Quantico military prison (state of Virginia) near Washington. In a letter from the prison, he complains that he is not allowed to go for walks, they took away his glasses, all his clothes except underwear, and he is constantly under the supervision of a security guard.
The hacker Adrian Lamo, who informed the authorities about Manning’s actions, considers him a spy and thinks that Manning is not facing the death penalty, because “we usually don’t execute spies.”
Manning’s lawyer posted a quote from a military charter ( PDF ) on his blog yesterday that defines “helping the enemy” (Article 104). According to this definition, an “enemy” is considered not only the enemy during the war, but also a “hostile person” and “civilians, as well as members of military organizations”.
According to reports from informed sources, the military prosecutor will demand life imprisonment, not capital punishment, if Mannig is found guilty of this charge. Representatives of the US Department of Defense confirmed on Twitter that this item is the “most serious crime” (capital offense), which in legal terminology means a crime that provides for capital punishment.
At the moment, it is still unknown whether article 104 of the military charter will be presented in court. This will be decided by the investigator, who will make a final list of which of the new charges should be considered during the trial. So far, the indictment ( 8 pages ) does not mention Wikileaks.
Now ordinary Bradley Manning's first class is being held in the Quantico military prison (state of Virginia) near Washington. In a letter from the prison, he complains that he is not allowed to go for walks, they took away his glasses, all his clothes except underwear, and he is constantly under the supervision of a security guard.
The hacker Adrian Lamo, who informed the authorities about Manning’s actions, considers him a spy and thinks that Manning is not facing the death penalty, because “we usually don’t execute spies.”