Accused Wikileaker, Private First Class Bradley Manning, turned 25 on December 16, 2012. This young man, who is considered a hero by some and a trader by others, has now been held by the US Military for two-and-a-half years.
Locked away and unable to talk publicly, the world has not heard much about or anything from Manning over this entire time. It seems he really did become the forgotten man. However, Manning was back in the news on March 12, 2013, when a full audio recording of the whistleblower was released despite a court prohibition on such recordings
Now in pretrial hearings at Ft. Meade Maryland, Manning has plead guilty to crimes which could earn him up to 20 years in prison, and more charges are have been filed. These include "aiding the enemy", a military Article 104 . Though Article 104 is a capital offense, the prosecution team has notified the defense that they will not recommend the death penalty. But if manning should be found guilty it could mean he will spend the rest of his life in prison, without the possibility of parole.
According to The Guardians Glenn Greenwald who posted the prohibited recordings:
Whatever else is true, Bradley Manning is responsible for the most significant and valuable leaks since Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers. It is a cause for celebration that the US government's efforts to silence his voice, literally, have now been thwarted. Now, people can and should hear directly from Manning himself and make their own assessment. Whoever made this illicit recording (as well as the FPF in publishing it) acted in the best spirit of Manning himself: defying corrupt, unjust and self-protecting government secrecy rules in order to inform the world about vital matters.
Read more and hear recordings
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