Vol. 77/No. 26 July 8, 2013
The trial opened as media worldwide carried front-page stories on National Security Agency programs to collect metadata on patterns of telephone numbers, lengths of calls and other information on domestic phone calls, as well as on all foreign communications from nine major Internet companies. Edward Snowden, who had access to NSA files as an employee of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, told the London-based Guardian he was the source of the leaks.
The Army kept Manning in solitary confinement for much of his pre-trial detention in the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va., under conditions that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Méndez said were “cruel, inhumane and degrading.”
Manning was told he was “on duty,” having to stand or sit straight for hours at a time. He was allowed only 20 minutes a day outside his cell and was forbidden from speaking to other inmates. At night, lights were left on and if guards couldn’t see his face clearly, they would wake him up. He was forced to sleep naked and stand uncovered for review each morning.
While Manning has admitted leaking the files and pleaded guilty to some lesser charges, the Army brass, backed by the Barack Obama administration, is bringing the case to trial, seeking conviction on more severe charges.
Prosecutions under Espionage Act
The administration has taken an aggressive stance on leaks by government officials, conducting six such prosecutions using the 1917 Espionage Act — double that of all previous administrations combined. In the last few weeks, it was revealed that the Justice Department secretly spied on The Associated Press and targeted Fox News reporter Jeff Rosen.The government argues that leaking the secret files to WikiLeaks in effect communicated them to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
In his opening statement to military judge Col. Denise Lind, prosecutor Capt. Joe Morrow argued that Manning acted from a craving for “notoriety” that led him to take actions to the “aid of our adversaries.” He also introduced new allegations that Manning had directly collaborated with Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks.
Many believe the prosecution aims to use the court martial to prepare for charges against Assange, who has spent the last year in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden on charges of rape and sexual assault, according to the Guardian. Assange says he fears he will end up being taken to the U.S. to face charges.
“He released these documents because he was hoping to make the world a better place,” Manning’s lawyer David Coombs told the judge. “He was 22 years old — he was young, he was a little naïve in believing that the information would actually make a difference.”
The trial is expected to last months. The prosecution says it will call as many as 141 witnesses. The judge has ruled that much of the trial will be held behind closed doors and that some prosecution witnesses will testify in disguise.
The judge has already said that Manning cannot present his motives for the leaks as part of his defense. If found guilty, he can raise them in arguing for a lighter sentence.
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Whistleblowers neither heroes nor traitors for working class
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