Bradley Manning on trial: LIVE UPDATES
US Army Private Bradley Manning faces trial more than three years after his arrest for transmitting 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks. The US is pursuing further charges of aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence.
02:00 GMT: The heaviest charge faced by Manning is aiding
the enemy, and on Monday the prosecution moved to make that case
after Army Colonel Denise Lind, the military judge overseeing the
case, allowed the team to argue that the whistleblower had used a
“most wanted list” of leaks compiled by WikiLeaks as a guide for
leaking classified information. That evidence was admitted after
Lind ruled the list was relevant to the charge of aiding the
enemy.
According to the AP, the prosecution’s final witness in its case against Manning was a Defense Intelligence Agency counterintelligence official. That witness was the 28th produced by the prosecution since the trial began on June 3.
Manning is charged with 21 offenses, with aiding the enemy
carrying a potential life sentence. Prosecutors must prove that
Manning, violating military rules, released intelligence knowing
that it could be widely distributed and seen by al-Qaeda.
On Monday the prosecution presented a 2011 video in which Adam
Gadahn, an American member of al-Qaeda, specifically refers to
materials published by WikiLeaks and provided by Manning.
Prosecutors also presented excerpts from a winter 2010 issue of
al-Qaeda's online magazine Inspire, which said "anything useful
from WikiLeaks is useful for archiving."
Tuesday July 2
Read the full story on Day 1 here
Read the full story on Day 2 here
Read the full story on Day 3 here
14:36 GMT: Military judge Col. Denise Lind has ruled that WikiLeaks tweets referring to classified material are relevant circumstantial evidence that Bradley Manning had been ‘aiding the enemy’, because they show that he might have known about WikiLeaks’ plan to post classified info.
Judge accepts 2 @wikileaks tweets for ID, says they're relevant circumstantial evidence to "aiding the enemy" charge against #Manning
— Nathan Fuller (@nathanLfuller) June 28, 2013
In what have been dubbed ‘supercomputer’ tweets, WikiLeaks said
they had an encrypted video of bomb strikes of civilians and they
needed a supercomputer to decrypt them.
Have encrypted videos of US bomb strikes on civilians http://bit.ly/wlafghan2 we need super computer time http://ljsf.org/
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 8, 2010
Friday June 28
19:30 GMT: Manning’s lawyers provided the court with
evidence that Manning did not reveal classified information in
the leaked “Collateral Murder” video from Iraq, contrary to the
government’s assertion. The military judge, Army Col. Denise Lind
took judicial notice: a preliminary step towards admitting
evidence.
The video in question depicted a 2007 US helicopter attack in
Baghdad in which at least eight people were killed, including a
Reuters photographer. The document presented to the courtroom was
an assessment by a former US Central Command official that the
video should be unclassified, going directly against
prosecution’s assertion that the video was revelatory of military
tactics and procedures.
Manning had acknowledged his role in Wikileaks obtaining
the video but denied revealing national defense material.
Thursday June 27
18:00 GMT: A former state department official testified
that a soldier of Manning's level would have had unrestricted
access to the cables. Prosecution alleges he stole the cables
which revealed embarrassing details. State Department officials
said the revelations endangered lives, while Manning maintains
that the cables exposed US hypocrisy and suggested a role in
Tunisiuan instability which contributed to Arab Spring uprisings.
Wednesday June 26
18:00 GMT: Manning engaged in email discussions with
Wikileaks' founder, specifically regarding a video of an
Apache gunship attack, according to Johnson, the government
computer analyst.
The video of the Apache attack was shown to the courtroom. The
gunsight video from July 2007 documents an attack on Iraqi
civilians in which 12 people were killed, including two Reuters
journalists.
Johnson said that Manning's communications with Assange included
the exchange of classified government data about Army activities
in Iraq and State Department cables. Chat logs with one of
Assange's pseudonyms, "Nathaniel Frank," were retrieved. Johnson
also testified he found no evidence of a Wikileaks 'Most Wanted
List' on Manning's computer.
Prosecution objected to their own forensic examiner's report at
one point, saying it was hearsay, and were overruled by the
Judge.
USG didn't like testimony of OWN forensic examiner, who's DESTROYING case for #Garani, so OBJECTED to admission of his FORENSIC RPT by def.
— Alexa O'Brien (@carwinb) June 12, 2013
13:30 GMT: The Apache helicopter pilot from the
"Collateral Murder" video is expected to testify today, as is
forensic analyst Mark Johnson, who is the first witness.
Here in Ft. Meade for day 6 of #Manning trial. On deck today: More forensic analysis and testimony from Apache helicopter pilot
— Liz Wahl (@lizwahl) June 12, 2013
Monday, June 10
22:45 GMT: National Security Agency contractor Steven
Buchanan testified on Monday that computer “audit logs” indicated
Manning had “successfully accessed” secret interlink data in 2009
and 2012.
As with David Shaver’s testimony, Buchanan’s testimony is forming
the basis of linking Manning as the orchestrator behind the
release of classified documents, including secret diplomatic
cables.
In order to bolster the prosecution’s case against Manning of
“aiding the enemy,” the most serious charge, it will have to
prove that Manning had reason to believe leaking information
would hurt US national security.
19:20 GMT:
We are about to hear the USG read stipulations of expected testimony (a stack of them) into the Court record. #Manning
— Alexa O'Brien (@carwinb) June 10, 2013
19:15: Manning trial is now resuming.
18:50 GMT:
Manning trial STILL in recess. Just informed there is a tornado watch here.
— Liz Wahl (@lizwahl) June 10, 2013
16:30 GMT: Manning trial now in recess.
16:15 GMT:
Score for the defense this morning-- aggressive cross of Shaver (Agent) and Madaras(Co-Worker) just ripped upart 1030(a)(1) CFAA #Manning
— Alexa O'Brien (@carwinb) June 10, 2013
16:00 GMT: Chad Madaras, who served in the 2nd Brigrade 10th Mountain division alongside Manning, also took the stand. Madaras said everyone in their in their Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) used mIRC, a chat program Manning said he had used. He continued that various media were on the shared drive which all of the analysts had access to, raising doubts over the government’s claims that Manning had “exceeded authorized access” by adding programs he wasn’t allowed to have. He continued that it was not prohibited to use SIPRNet to make worldwide searches which extended beyond the mission’s scope, calling into question whether Manning’s each of the State Department diplomatic database was in fact a violation.
He also confirmed that it wasn’t prohibited to explore the
SIPRNet, the Secret-level, military-wide internet, for other
regions of the world beyond mission scope. Bradley perused the
State Department diplomatic database, and while others may not
have done so, it hasn’t been established that this was a
violation.
Shaver confirmed much of what gov't has been saying: #Manning searched for #WikiLeaks, Assange, Iceland. 1st search for WL: 1 December, 2009
— Nathan Fuller (@nathanLfuller) June 10, 2013
15:30 GMT: David Shaver, head of forensic investigations
for the Army Criminal Investigations Unit, once again took the
stand and will likely be called back to outline the investigation
of Manning’s computer. Today he delivered testimony regarding
Manning’s searches on Interlink, Bradley Manning.org reports.
He further testified that Manning had searched for “WikiLeaks,’
‘Julian Assange’ and ‘Iceland’ on multiple occasions starting on
December 2009. In his searches for WikiLeaks, Manning reportedly
came across the Army’s 2008 Counterintelligence Special Report,
but Shaver was only able to confirm he had successfully reached
the report once.
Shaver further said on March 7, 2010, Manning downloaded 700
assessment briefs on Guantanamo Detainees.
15:00 GMT: The Bradley Manning trial resumed on Monday morning, with Steve Buchanan, a contractor for the National Security Agency taking the stand. Buchanan has training relevant to Interlink, the web-based search engine which allows people to find unclassified, secret and top secret information on the secret network known as SIPRnet, which contains the files Manning allegedly handed over to WikiLeaks. Buchanan’s testimony is intended to authenticate evidence that Manning in fact searched for the information he has been charged with disclosing.
14:30 GMT:
Second week of #Manning trial begins now. Forensic analysts set to testify today
— Liz Wahl (@lizwahl) June 10, 2013
13:16 GMT:
Witness Order: Mr. Buchanan (Stip of Testimony) Mr. Shaver CCIU (Live) Mr. Mander CCIU re WikiLeaks Organization (Live) #Manning (con't)
— Alexa O'Brien (@carwinb) 10 июня 2013 г.
12:30 GMT: The Bradley Manning trail will resume on Monday
at Fort Meade, near Baltimore. During the second week of
hearings, the court will shift to the specific items the US Army
private forwarded to WikiLeaks.
The prosecution’s lineup for the day will include two witnesses
familiar with video of a US airstrike in Afghanistan that killed
at least 26 civilians in 2009. Manning has confirmed that
he sent the video to WikiLeaks from Iraq in spring 2010, but the
footage was never posted online.
Wednesday, June 5
19:10 GMT: Court is in recess until Monday June 10.
Special Agent Shaver will be called back and Mark Mander will be
testifying next week.
Manning's defense lawyer Coombs established through
Fulton's testimony that she [Fulton] did not know of a website
visited frequented specifically by insurgents and terrorists at
the time. However, she mentioned Facebook, Google, and Google
Maps as possible sources. Fulton did not mention Wikileaks as a
known source of intelligence for either insurgents or terrorists.
Keep in mind Fulton was the 2nd highest ranking Intel officer in the 2 BCT, 10 MTN, under CPT Steven Lim. #Manning
— Alexa O'Brien (@carwinb) June 5, 2013
Manning's computer prowess has been held in high regard
throughout the day. It was additionally established by Coombs
that out that Manning's usage of SIPRnet would have been actively
encouraged for the purposes of 'professional development.'
18:20 GMT: Court is rejoining after a 10-minute break.
18:25 GMT: Hack stated in his testimony that although Manning
was a junior analyst, he appeared more organized than his higher
level, more experienced counterparts - if not the most organized
soldier - he'd ever seen.
Defense put effort into establishing that the S2 section
which Manning served in was not providing enough of the required
actionalble intelligence to the targeting section. Hack stated
that Manning was not personally responsible.
Hack's testimony reinforces that the problems in S2 [Intelligence] Section were widespread. #Manning
— Alexa O'Brien (@carwinb) June 5, 2013
17:45 GMT: Immunity for particular witnesses had been
discussed in a pre-trial session. It was suggested that Kyle
Balonek would be one.
I was right.Balonek got immunity. #Manning Back in.
— Alexa O'Brien (@carwinb) June 5, 2013
17:30 GMT: Chief Warrant Officer Three, Hondo Hack, and Captain Casey Fulton are both expected to take the witness stand this afternoon.
It was written in the defense requests for Article 32 witnesses
that Hack was to testify regarding comments made to him by
Showman about Manning's attitude and personal problems. The
request stated that he "decided to counsel PFC Manning for
about 45-60 minutes and referred him to Mental Health for
evaluation. He will testify that could not recall if the referral
was command directed or if Manning volunteered."
In defense requests for Article 32 witnesses, Captain Casey
Fulton's name also came up.
She was to confirm the identity of the person supervising the
soldiers in the S2 section –presumably Showman– and that she was
“in charge of the administrative details.” Fulton was to
testify that she was “made aware of issues surrounding PFC
Manning” and that in her opinion, Manning should have been
removed early on in the deployment. However, she felt that the
leadership within the S2 section was not really concerned with
disciplining Soldiers.
16:00 GMT: Court is in lunch recess and will reconvene in
the afternoon. Kyle Balonek, one of Manning's army colleagues,
has been giving statements. Discussion focused on Manning's
access to vast pools of data, with prosecution trying to discern
whether Manning was 'selective' in his publication of certain
documents.
Defense established that Manning had been authorized to download
SIPRnet documents, while prosecution alleged that manning had
been 'hiding' his downloading of them, according to Alexa
O'Brien's records.
Balonek joined the army in 2002, and was deployed to Iraq in
2003, and again in 2005 and 2006, later being promoted through
the ranks. He was a senior intelligence analyst in Manning's
unit.
14:30 GMT: Jihrleah Showman finished her testimony,
without her 2010 confrontation with Manning being discussed. She
reportedly labelled him as being "on the extreme democratic
side."
She also confirmed that there had been no rules in place
on what Manning and his colleagues could research on the Siprnet
network, and despite stating his thirst for political debate, she
didn't recall discussing the appropriacy of the 'Collateral
Murder' crew's actions with him.
13:30 GMT: The court goes back into session for the third day
of Private Bradley Manning's trial. The first witness will be
Manning's ex-army supervisor, former military specialist Jihrleah
Showman, followed by his fellow soldiers.
Screenshot of former Specialist Jihrleah Showman's tweet , September 12, 2012. #Manningtwitter.com/carwinb/status…
— Alexa O'Brien (@carwinb) June 5, 2013
Manning and Showman got into a heated confrontation in 2010,
during which Manning punched his superior.
1:49 GMT: The Freedom of the Press Foundation, a project
funded by the group behind Mother Jones magazine, has
crowd-funded the services of a professional stenographer to cover
Bradley Manning’s trial, as the US military so far has declined
to release transcripts. The organization has now posted the
records for the second day (am session, pm session) of the Manning trial, a project
which it says may ultimately end up costing anywhere from
$60,000-120,000.
Tuesday, June 4
23:31 GMT: An image purported to be a noose made by Bradley Manning while he contemplated suicide has begun circulating on Twitter. During pretrial testimony in 2012, Manning acknowledged that he had constructed a noose while being held in Kuwait in May of 2010.
Army photo of the bedsheet noose Bradley Manning made after his arrest. twitter.com/kpoulsen/statu…
— Kevin Poulsen (@kpoulsen) June 4, 2013
According to Manning, once he was transferred to a brig at
Quantico in Virginia in July of 2010, he wrote on his intake form
that he was "always planning and never acting” on suicidal
thoughts. He was held at that facility for nine months. In 2012,
Colonel Robert Oltman, one of two officers managing that brig,
acknowledged receiving an email from a US military lawyer using a
Dr Seuss children’s poem to make light of Manning’s forced
nudity, which was enforced nightly after Manning made a comment
to a guard that if he wanted to kill himself, he could use the
waistband of his underwear to hang himself.
20:49 GMT: The attention surrounding Bradley Manning’s
trial has attracted A-list American celebrities and respected US
journalists to the whistleblower’s cause. The “I Am Bradley
Manning” campaign, which also boasts Pentagon Papers leaker
Daniel Ellsberg among its ranks, pushes viewers to consider if
they themselves would release video footage of soldiers
committing atrocities in the field of combat in an attempt to
stop the carnage.
Actors Russell Brand, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Wallace Shawn joined Oliver Stone, Rage Against the Machine Guitarist Tom Morello, journalists Chris Hedges, Matt Taibbi, and a slew of others in a short trailer devoted to bringing attention to the punishment Manning is up against and the nature of the actions that landed him there.
“If you saw incredible things, awful things, things that belonged in the public domain and not in some server stored in a dark room in Washington,” each advocate says in the campaign trailer, “What would you do?”
19:40 GMT: Lamo tweeted that his "work here is
done."
My work here is done. Elsewhere, just beginning. twitter.com/6/status/34198…
— Adrian Lamo (@6) June 4, 2013
18:40 GMT: Shaver was called to the witness stand again,
later being joined by Troy Moul.
Shaver said that Adrian Lamo compiled his chats with
Bradley Manning into a file, saved on his computer as
"Brad_confession." The chats, which took place over a series of
days had originally been saved separately.
Moul taught Manning in the army. His testimony focused
predominantly on what Manning learned about terrorists and
counterterrorism under him, as well as Operational
Security.
"I had never even heard the term WikiLeaks until I was informed
that the accused had been arrested," he said.
Those expected to testify later include Brian Madrid, Sgt Robert
Thomas, Sgt. Alejandro Marin, and Sgt First Class Jose Anica.
15:40 GMT: Day two of Manning's court-martial is breaking for
a two hour lunch, following testimonies from three of the
prosecution's witnesses.
"He broke Adrian" - one eyewitness describes the defense attorney for Bradley Manning after cross-examining Adrian Lamo.
— RT America (@RT_America) June 4, 2013
What was weirdly missing from examination of permanently excused Lamo was testimony concerning Jason Katz. #Garani#Manning
— Alexa O'Brien (@carwinb) June 4, 2013
15:17 GMT: The court is back in session.
15:05 GMT: Many lines from the May 2010 chat logs
were confirmed by Lamo, when questioned by Coombs, including
parts that stated that Manning was a humanist, and had entered
communications with Assange. He also recognized that Manning had
not indicated a desire to help the enemy. RT's
Andrew Blake reported the following conversation:
Coombs: At any time did he say he had no loyalty to
America?
Lamo: Not in those words, no.
Coombs: At anytime did he say the American flag didn’t mean
anything to him?
Lamo: No.
The court is in brief recess and Lamo has been permanently
excused as a witness. Witnesses in court reported that several
people cried during questioning.
#Manning day 2 gets very emotional today. Some inside courtroom with tears in their eyes during Adrian Lamo testimony.
— Adriana Usero(@AdriUsero) June 4, 2013
15:00 GMT: Lamo was called to the stand at 10:26am local time (14:26 GMT). The government objected to defense cross examination at least four times over the questions asked, citing hearsay. Defense had Lamo answer questions as to the mental state he perceived Manning to be in during the May 2010 chats.
Lamo just finished testifying. Chilling watching him walk off the stand and pass Bradley Manning.
— Andrew Panda Blake (@apblake) June 4, 2013
When Lamo was asked about Manning's desire to investigate the
truth, Lamo responded that it was "something that I could
appreciate." RT's Blake from the courtroom
stated that Lamo was very thorough with his responses, but
appeared nervous at times when asked about some parts of the chat
logs.
Prosecution questioned Lamo about keeping computers on his
person.
"Computer geeks don’t always leave the house much," said Lamo. Coombs smirked.
— Andrew Panda Blake (@apblake) June 4, 2013
14:35 GMT: Yesterday, Manning's aunt and cousin were
spectators in the courtroom, but today he has no family there,
according to Al Jazeera's Camille Elhassani.
14:20 GMT: 10 minute recess is over. Lamo is expected to take
the stand shortly.
14:10 GMT: Court is in recess
The defense cross-examined the second witness, asking if they
"were also looking for something that expressed a hatred of
America [on Manning's computer]?" The reply was that nothing
was found. They also noted that they found no evidence that
Manning was "sympathetic with terrorists."
13:50 GMT: The first witness, Shaver, finished after
around 15 minutes. Discussion focused on his credentials as a
witness, and computer forensics.
Shaver testified as an expert in computer forensics analysis, who began working for US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CCIU) in 1999, and left in 2001. In 2002, he returned to CCIU as a contractor, and was a special agent in charge as of 2005. Johnson cited similar credentials for his expertise.
Both are among the 141 government witnesses being called up to
testify against Manning, and will appear again. The defense has
46 witnesses.
13:30 GMT: Court is going back into session.
A bearded Adrian Lamo wore jeans, suit coat and black gloves when he got to Ft. Meade this morning for #Manning trial. Third witness today.
— Andrew Panda Blake (@apblake) June 4, 2013
Lamo was the hacker that told Manning, "I’m a journalist and a
minister. You can pick either, and treat this as a confession or
an interview (never to be published) & enjoy a modicum of
legal protection," before exposing him
13:00 GMT: The witnesses are announced, the first two being
military computer forensics experts: Special Agent David Shaver,
a member of a computer investigative team for the criminal
investigative division, and Mark Johnson, who is also a member of
the computer investigations division. Lamo is now also confirmed
as a suspect, and the witnesses will appear in that order.
Shaver appeared three times at the Article 32 pretrial hearing on
December 18, 19 and 20 in 2011, giving evidence that he did a
bit-by-bit forensic analysis of Manning’s computers. Shaver said
he found two .csv files containing 100 cables in the ‘Windows
Temp’ folder.
12:45 GMT: People begin arriving back at the courtroom.
Media attendance is noticeably lower for the second day, with
only a few dozen journalists so far – around half as many as the
first day of the trial.
Bradley Manning court-martial, day two. The media turnout is roughly one-third of what we saw yesterday. Good job, guys. #Manning
— Andrew Panda Blake (@apblake) June 4, 2013
Adrian Lamo, the hacker who exposed Bradley Manning, is
reportedly on site at Fort Meade, but it is currently uncertain
whether he will testify today. The prospect is in the cards,
according to sources on site.
Despite government resistance, two publicly funded court
stenographers will be in attendance to transcribe the entire trial, according to
Freedom of the Press Foundation.
These hands are working for you: stenographer who will transcribe #Manning trial thanks to @freedomofpress @jcstearns twitter.com/ArunRath/statu…
— Arun Rath (@ArunRath) June 4, 2013
12:40 GMT: The trial of Private Bradley Manning enters its
second day. Monday’s hearing at the military tribunal at Fort
Meade saw statements from the prosecution and defense, and three
witnesses. The main focus of debate was Manning’s motive in
releasing the information, with the prosecution accusing him of
seeking ‘notoriety’ through his actions, and declaring that
through WikiLeaks he intended to allow the ‘enemy’ access to
classified information. Captain Joe Morrow said that he
“literally dumped that information onto the Internet, into the
hands of the enemy.”
However, the defense stated that Manning’s youth at the time of
the leak motivated his genuine desire to expose amoral actions by
the US Military, saying that he was “young, naive but
good-intentioned,” and was additionally selective about what
he leaked, having had access to a great many more cables.
Manning’s defense lawyer David Coombs spoke of the customized dog
tags he wore, branded with the word ‘humanist.’
Monday, June 3
21:23 GMT: Bradley Manning's defense told a US military court that the solider had hoped "to make the world a better place" by releasing classified information to WikiLeaks in the opening day of the trial, which is expected to last months.
19:35 GMT: The court begins to file back in to hear the
second witness testimony.
19:25 GMT: Special Agent Tom Smith has finished testifying
at the Bradley Manning court-martial. Discussion focused around
Smith’s arrival at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Hammer, Iraq, and
going through Manning’s bunk. Smith said that he photographed it,
and went through his possessions, collecting two SIPRnet
computers and a CD from 2007 marked with the words ‘SECRET’ and
‘Reuters FOIA req.’ It is widely thought to be the ‘Collateral
Damage’ Apache helicopter video, which showed the gunning down of
civilians and a Reuters photographer. Prosecutors will call
the second witness shortly.
19:15 GMT: Defense started cross-examining Smith.
18:38 GMT: Glitches appear to be resolved as people return
to the courtroom.
18:30 GMT: Brief recess in Manning court-martial due to
technical difficulties in the courtroom. The court transcriber
was experiencing audio problems, after which Judge Lind said “we
need a verbatim.”
18:30 GMT: The first witness for prosecution has been
describing his job. Special Agent Tom Smith describes himself as
a “senior enlisted case agent and evidence custodian,” and
reports to have investigated some 250 cases, having been the lead
agent on around 150 of them.
Early discussion has been focusing on storage of hard drives and
computers, with prosecution stating “cameras, paper bags, we
gathered tape measures, paper, pen and out computers so that we’d
be able to work once we got down there.”
18:03 GMT: USG said that that they have in their
possession forensic evidence collected from Manning’s computer,
and will place a heavy focus on it. Strong reference has been
made to Manning’s arrogance
17:56 GMT: Prosecution alleged that Manning sought
notoriety and fame, saying he was driven by arrogance.
17:55 GMT: Bradley Manning court-martial about to be back
in session. Three of the prosecution's witnesses are to the stand
over the afternoon.
17:47 GMT: Cornel West and Chris Hedges both spent the
morning at Ft Meade attending Bradley Manning's court-martial.
17:47 GMT: RT’s website is suffering some technical
difficulties.
17:25 GMT: Manning's trial is in recess for an hour for
lunch, after which the three witnesses will be called.
17:10 GMT:
Prosecutor Ashden Fein told Judge Lind that 5 journalists were denied press credentials. Actually, 270 were denied. #manning
— Nathan Fuller (@nathanLfuller) 3 июня 2013 г.
16:40 GMT: Defense reiterated that Manning was unsetteled
by what he saw, and that “he believed that if the American
public saw it they too would be troubled,” going on to add
that the country doesn't 'always' do the right thing.
16: 38 GMT: Manning defense attorney David Coombs has just
wrapped up brief opening statements.
Coombs said Manning was ‘selective’ with the documents he
released, saying that “he had access to literally hundreds of
millions of documents,” stating that he released them
“because he was hoping to make the world a better
place.”
"He was 22 years old. He was young. He was a little naïve in thinking the information he selected could actually make a difference" #Manning
— Andrew Panda Blake (@apblake) 3 июня 2013 г.
16:17 GMT: The court is back in session to hear defense
opening statements. High profile defense attorney David Coombs is
expected to make a 40-45 minute opening statement.
16:05 GMT: The prosecutors stated: “Manning knew the
danger of unauthorized disclosure to an organization like
Wikileaks and he ignored those dangers," going on to claim
that bin Laden requested and received the Afghan War Logs
attributed to Pfc. Bradley Manning and published by
WikiLeaks.
Prosecutors presented tweets from @wikileaks during opening statements: twitter.com/wikileaks/stat… and twitter.com/wikileaks/stat…#Manning
— Andrew Panda Blake (@apblake) 3 июня 2013 г.
16:00 GMT: Prosecutors on Manning: "This is a case about
what happens when arrogance meets access to sensitive
information." Prosecutors opened and closed
initial statements with quotes from Manning to Adrian Lamo made
during May 2010 online chats.
Manning downloaded State Dept. cables at a rate of 1,000/hour, prosecutors said
— Andrew Panda Blake (@apblake) 3 июня 2013 г.
15:50 GMT:Nineteen major media organizations have joined
together to request the Military District of Washington to
“issue two press passes to allow professional court
stenographers access to the media room,” in order to ensure
that transcriptions of official public parts of the court martial
are available to aid the public in assessing the court’s process
and decisions. It also suggests that the trial should be
broadcast in an “appropriately-sized overflow theater” to
allow journalists to effectively report on the trial - over 280
were refused credentials.
15:40 GMT: The prosecution's Captain Joe Morrow has
declared that Bradley Manning dumped classified documents on to
the Internet and into enemy hands, according to Associated Press.
They also alleged that Manning helped to edit Collateral Murder.
15: 25 GMT: Prosecutor's opening statement declares that
classified information Bradley Manning gave to WikiLeaks fell
into enemy hands.
14:45 GMT: The court reconvenes. Following prosecution and
defense statements, the order of the aforementioned three
witnesses will be Special Agent Tom Smith, then Special Agent
Toni Graham, followed by Manning's former roommate Special
Agent Eric Baker.
14:35 GMT: The court remains undecided over whether the slide
show will be used.
14:30 GMT: Manning judge asks, "What are the procedures
that have been put in place for public access to this trial?"
to a few chuckles from the media.
14:24 GMT: The trial has been arranged to take place between
the hours of 9:30 am and 6pm local time, every day this week.
Time has been put aside for 12 weeks. Space for viewers is
expected to remain a problem.
Only room for 16 spectators in the actual Manning courtroom, but the military has viewing accommodations for hundreds on site.
— RT America (@RT_America) 3 июня 2013 г.
14:20 GMT: A stenographer is posted in the courtroom and is
transcribing events. It was previously said that they would not
be allowed to be present.
14:15 GMT: Manning's trial has taken a brief recess after
only 20 or so minutes. This will be partly due to the need
to debate a slide show that prosecution has proposed using in the
opening statements, which will be given after recess.
He is still opting to be tried by Judge Lind as opposed to a
military jury.
Govt prepared slide show for opening argument that they didn't let defense see. Judge, defense & govt are in secret conference #Manning
— Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) 3 июня 2013 г.
14:55 GMT: Manning's court martial has started.
13:35 GMT: At least three witnesses will be called today,
including two special agents who inspected the crime scene in
Iraq, and Manning's former roommate, Eric Baker, a military
police officer. Baker said at the pre-trial that Manning
suggested the army wasn't 'for him.'
Dozens of witnesses were expected to take part in the trial,
among them a handful of military personnel whose testimonies will
be conducted behind closed doors to protect the sensitive nature
of Manning’s alleged crimes. Proceedings will begin with a one
hour opening statement from prosecution, shortly followed by
defense's 45-minute statement.
13:25 GMT: A Wikileaks-branded van pulls up to the
courtroom.
13:20 GMT: Demonstrations in support of Manning which
exploded over the weekend have continued into the day of the
trial, as his allies keep vigil outside in the rain.
Very large media turnout for start of Bradley #Manning trial this AM. And protesters out in force too twitter.com/Edpilkington/s…
— Ed Pilkington (@Edpilkington) 3 июня 2013 г.
13:11 GMT: Around 350 aimed to secure one of the 70 spaces
available to observe the trial.
All 70 or so seats in the Ft. Meade media center are full as the court-martial of Bradley Manning is finally about to begin.
— Andrew Panda Blake (@apblake) 3 июня 2013 г.
13:00 GMT: Proceedings begin at the trial of Private
Bradley Manning. 'Truth' T-shirts are reportedly banned from the
courtroom, with their wearers being directed to turn them inside
out, as influencing judicial opinion is not allowed.
13:00 GMT: RT starts live updates from the courtroom. RT’s
own correspondent, Andrew Blake, is reporting live from Fort
Meade.
Manning, 25, has already pleaded guilty to charges of leaking information to the anti-secrecy website, which alone could confine him to prison for 20 years. However, it is a small fraction of the further 21 counts the prosecutors are seeking to convict him on, one of which includes allegedly aiding of the enemy, which he did not believe he was doing.
The court-martial trial is being held at Fort Meade military base
in Baltimore. Military tribunals are frequently held in extremely
secretive conditions. He has reportedly opted to have it heard by
a judge instead of a jury and the final verdict could take as
long as three months to be announced.
Manning stated at a pre-trial hearing in February that the scenes
he witnessed left him deeply unsettled.
“The most alarming aspect of the video” was the
“seemingly delightful bloodlust the aerial weapons team
happened to have,” he said, suggesting the soldiers were akin
to children “torturing ants with a magnifying glass.”
Worldwide demonstrations in support of Manning took place over
the weekend at Fort Meade, Toronto, Berlin, Paris and even South
Korea’s Seoul.
