The People's Record

An ongoing chronicle of communities of resistance around the world: anti-racism, anti-zionism, anti-imperialism, the Arab Spring, anti-austerity protests in Greece and across Europe, student movements all around the world, the Occupy Movement, anti-capitalist movements, anarchist movements, socialist movements, leftist communities and other relevant international news.

photo

Day One of Manning trial focuses on intent of WikiLeaks sourceJune 3, 2013 The military trial of admitted WikiLeaks source Pfc. B. Manning began Monday morning in Fort Meade, Maryland, more than three years after they were arrested in Iraq. Manning, a 25-year-old soldier who reached the rank of private first class in the United States Army, has been in pretrial custody since May 2010. Manning could spend the rest of their life in prison if a military judge convicts them at the end of the trial for providing support to al-Qaeda. In a small courtroom outside of Baltimore early Monday, Army prosecutors painted a picture of Pfc. Manning that portrayed them as a traitor who released files to WikiLeaks with intent to cause harm to the US. Manning’s defense counsel David Coombs insisted otherwise, however, and rejected the government’s argument that the soldier made contact with the anti-secrecy website in order to bring harm to the country they had taken an oath to protect. Manning previously pleaded guilty to a number of lesser charges lobbed by the US government, but their counsel’s biggest challenge will occur during the court-martial, when they are faced with defending the private against counts of aiding the enemy and espionage. Day one of the court-martial got underway around 10 a.m. Monday with Army prosecutors presenting a slideshow that paved the way for how they intend to prove that Pfc. Manning went to WikiLeaks will ill intentions. By presenting an outline of the evidence they plan to present as the trial continues trough the summer, prosecutors said they will show that Manning knowingly aided the enemy. “This is not a case about an accidental spill of classified information” or “a case about a few documents left in a barracks,” prosecutors said. “This, your honor, this is a case about a soldier who systemically harvested hundreds of thousands of documents from classified databases, and literally dumped that information onto the Internet in the hands of the enemy,” putting the lives of their fellow soldiers at risk. “This is a case about what happens when arrogance meets access to sensitive information.” Prosecutors also argued that Manning conspired with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, citing chat logs alleged to have occurred between the two in which Manning discussed classified intelligence that was publically requested and discussed by the WikiLeaks Twitter feed. “We would like a list of as many .mil email addresses as possible. Please contact editor@wikileaks.org,” one tweet read in part. Manning is accused of supplying WikiLeaks with a list containing the personal information of 74,000 troops shortly thereafter, and the Army may be able to prove that the soldier took a cue from Assange, likely setting the stage for an eventual case against Assange that could finally pressure his extradition to the US. But earlier this year, Manning testified during pretrial hearings that they were never sure who they communicated with during the few chats with a WikiLeaks staffer the government alleges to be Assange. Manning admitted to sending hundreds of thousands of files to WikiLeaks during a February 2013 statement, and on Monday their attorney said they had a very good reason for that. Speaking of one file Manning admitted to leaking — a video of a US Apache chopper opening fire and killing civilians (Collateral Murder) — Coombs said Manning sent it to WikiLeaks in hopes of bringing change to a war in Iraq being fought in a way very much unlike it was being reported. “When he decided to release this information, he believed that this information showed how we value human life,” Coombs said. “He was troubled. And he believed that the American public saw it they too would be troubled. And maybe things would be changed,” he said. Manning also has been attributed with leaking an entire trove of sensitive files to the website, including State Department diplomatic cables, Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment files and other materials. Before he concluded his brief opening statement, Coombs offered insight as to why his client did as charged. “He released these documents because he was hoping to make the world a better place,” Coombs said.“He was 22 years old. He was young. He was a little naïve in thinking the information he selected could actually make a difference, but it was good intentions.” “He had absolutely no actual knowledge that the enemy would get access to it,” Coombs said. The prosecution called a handful of witnesses on Monday, including the Army officials who began the investigation into Pfc. Manning in May 2010 and their roommate in Iraq. The trial will enter day two on Tuesday and is expected to run through the summer.  (Pronouns changed, except in quotes) Source

Day One of Manning trial focuses on intent of WikiLeaks source
June 3, 2013

The military trial of admitted WikiLeaks source Pfc. B. Manning began Monday morning in Fort Meade, Maryland, more than three years after they were arrested in Iraq.

Manning, a 25-year-old soldier who reached the rank of private first class in the United States Army, has been in pretrial custody since May 2010. Manning could spend the rest of their life in prison if a military judge convicts them at the end of the trial for providing support to al-Qaeda.

In a small courtroom outside of Baltimore early Monday, Army prosecutors painted a picture of Pfc. Manning that portrayed them as a traitor who released files to WikiLeaks with intent to cause harm to the US. Manning’s defense counsel David Coombs insisted otherwise, however, and rejected the government’s argument that the soldier made contact with the anti-secrecy website in order to bring harm to the country they had taken an oath to protect.

Manning previously pleaded guilty to a number of lesser charges lobbed by the US government, but their counsel’s biggest challenge will occur during the court-martial, when they are faced with defending the private against counts of aiding the enemy and espionage.

Day one of the court-martial got underway around 10 a.m. Monday with Army prosecutors presenting a slideshow that paved the way for how they intend to prove that Pfc. Manning went to WikiLeaks will ill intentions. By presenting an outline of the evidence they plan to present as the trial continues trough the summer, prosecutors said they will show that Manning knowingly aided the enemy.

“This is not a case about an accidental spill of classified information” or “a case about a few documents left in a barracks,” prosecutors said.

“This, your honor, this is a case about a soldier who systemically harvested hundreds of thousands of documents from classified databases, and literally dumped that information onto the Internet in the hands of the enemy,” putting the lives of their fellow soldiers at risk.

“This is a case about what happens when arrogance meets access to sensitive information.”

Prosecutors also argued that Manning conspired with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, citing chat logs alleged to have occurred between the two in which Manning discussed classified intelligence that was publically requested and discussed by the WikiLeaks Twitter feed.

“We would like a list of as many .mil email addresses as possible. Please contact editor@wikileaks.org,” one tweet read in part. Manning is accused of supplying WikiLeaks with a list containing the personal information of 74,000 troops shortly thereafter, and the Army may be able to prove that the soldier took a cue from Assange, likely setting the stage for an eventual case against Assange that could finally pressure his extradition to the US.

But earlier this year, Manning testified during pretrial hearings that they were never sure who they communicated with during the few chats with a WikiLeaks staffer the government alleges to be Assange. Manning admitted to sending hundreds of thousands of files to WikiLeaks during a February 2013 statement, and on Monday their attorney said they had a very good reason for that.

Speaking of one file Manning admitted to leaking — a video of a US Apache chopper opening fire and killing civilians (Collateral Murder) — Coombs said Manning sent it to WikiLeaks in hopes of bringing change to a war in Iraq being fought in a way very much unlike it was being reported.

“When he decided to release this information, he believed that this information showed how we value human life,” Coombs said. “He was troubled. And he believed that the American public saw it they too would be troubled. And maybe things would be changed,” he said.

Manning also has been attributed with leaking an entire trove of sensitive files to the website, including State Department diplomatic cables, Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment files and other materials. Before he concluded his brief opening statement, Coombs offered insight as to why his client did as charged.

“He released these documents because he was hoping to make the world a better place,” Coombs said.“He was 22 years old. He was young. He was a little naïve in thinking the information he selected could actually make a difference, but it was good intentions.”

“He had absolutely no actual knowledge that the enemy would get access to it,” Coombs said.

The prosecution called a handful of witnesses on Monday, including the Army officials who began the investigation into Pfc. Manning in May 2010 and their roommate in Iraq. The trial will enter day two on Tuesday and is expected to run through the summer. 

(Pronouns changed, except in quotes)

Source

text

Discussion time: Referring to Bradley Manning as Breanna

As we continue to post updates from Pfc. Manning’s trial, we have been getting many messages on how to refer to Manning. So we wanted to open this discussion up to our readers.

In June 2010, conversations between Manning and former hacker Adrian Lamo were released to the public and offered insight into the whistleblower’s involvement with Wikileaks.

She also confided in Lamo that she was having gender identity issues and feared being publicized as a man.

“I wouldn’t mind going to prison for the rest of my life, or being executed so much, if it wasn’t for the possibility of having pictures of me… plastered all over the world press… as boy…” 

A few days after Manning had confided in Lamo, she was arrested in Kuwait after Lamo informed the FBI and the Army about the leaked cables.

We want to honor Manning’s identity; however, we also understand she has not come out publicly about her gender & that it isn’t necessarily our place to do so for her. This may be for many reasons, including not being ready and that it may even possibly escalate the torturous conditions of Manning’s imprisonment.

So we want to open this discussion to everyone. How do you feel we should refer to Pfc. Manning? Reply to this post or message us here.

Edit: For posts on Pfc. Manning, we’ll use B. Manning/they.

photo

Pfc. Manning demands dismissal of case due to inhuman punishmentNovember 27, 2012 Breanna, also known as Bradley, Manning is expected to testify in a pretrial hearing that she has been punished illegally by being locked in solitary confinement. The whistleblower hopes that their inhumane punishment is grounds for having all charges dismissed. Manning, who is accused of sending classified information to WikiLeaks, will testify in a pretrial hearing in Fort Meade, Maryland. “Until now we’ve only heard from (Bradley) through his family and lawyers, so it’s going to be a real insight into his personality to hear him speak for himself for the first time,” said Jeff Paterson of the Bradley Manning Support Network. Manning’s lawyers will maintain that her treatment in a small cell at the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia was illegal and unnecessarily severe. If pretrial punishment is particularly flagrant, military judges have the right to dismiss all charges. Manning, a 24-year-old Army private and intelligence analyst, was allegedly involved in the largest security breach in US history and was charged with 22 crimes, including violating the Espionage Act and aiding the enemy. She allegedly accessed 250,000 US diplomatic cables, 500,000 army reports, and videos of the 2007 Baghdad airstrike and the 2009 Granai airstrike, and sending them to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks for publication in 2010. Manning is the only suspect arrested for  involvement in the security leak. But while awaiting trial in Quantico from July 2010 to April 2011, Manning was allegedly mistreated, sparking human rights concerns from Amnesty International, the United Nations and the British government. The UN referred to the treatment as cruel, inhuman and degrading. Leading law scholars and PJ Crowley, former spokesman at the US Department of State, have resigned from their positions in protest of Manning’s treatment. Manning’s lawyers claim she was held in maximum security in a cell so small that it was “the functional equivalent of solitary confinement.” She spent 23 ½ hours confined to his 6-by-8-foot cell with no windows or natural light and was often forced to sleep naked. Manning was also denied a regular blanket and pillow. Manning was also woken at 5 a.m. every morning and forced to stay awake until 10 p.m., making it difficult for her to pass the time in his closet-like cell. Prison guards checked on Manning every five minutes and refused to let her lie on the bed, lean against the cell wall or exercise. Military officials have called the punishment suitable, claiming Manning posed a risk of injury to herself and others and was therefore required to remain locked up as a maximum-security detainee. But records show that psychiatrists made at least 16 official reports to military commanders that Manning was not a threat and should therefore not have been subjected to such severe treatment. While a dismissal of all charges due to pretrial punishment is very rare in a military court, Manning’s lawyers hope that these “egregious” and illegal conditions amount to severe enough punishment to justify dropping the case. According to lawyer David Coombs, these conditions are a “flagrant violation of Pfc. Manning’s constitutional right to not be punished prior to trial.” If the military judge refuses to drop the charge but still considers pretrial punishment as time served, then Manning could receive a lesser prison sentence, former Marine Corps attorney Dwight H. Sullivan told the Baltimore Sun. He is currently seeking a “10-to-1” credit, which means he would receive a credit of 10 days served for every actual day spent in pretrial confinement. If Manning’s lawyers fail to sway the judges, the 24-year-old may face life imprisonment if she is convicted of aiding the enemy, the most serious of the 22 charges. Earlier Manning has also offered to plead guilty to reduced charges for a lesser sentence. After being released from Quantico due to the prison closing down, Manning was moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where she was allowed to interact with other inmates and kept in less strict conditions. But lawyers still hope that the nine-month stay and cruel treatment at Quantico will lead to Manning’s freedom. The pretrial hearing is scheduled to last until Sunday and precedes the full court martial scheduled for Feb. 4, 2013.  Source We will make sure to post any updates from Manning’s trial throughout the week.

Pfc. Manning demands dismissal of case due to inhuman punishment
November 27, 2012

Breanna, also known as Bradley, Manning is expected to testify in a pretrial hearing that she has been punished illegally by being locked in solitary confinement. The whistleblower hopes that their inhumane punishment is grounds for having all charges dismissed.

Manning, who is accused of sending classified information to WikiLeaks, will testify in a pretrial hearing in Fort Meade, Maryland.

“Until now we’ve only heard from (Bradley) through his family and lawyers, so it’s going to be a real insight into his personality to hear him speak for himself for the first time,” said Jeff Paterson of the Bradley Manning Support Network.

Manning’s lawyers will maintain that her treatment in a small cell at the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia was illegal and unnecessarily severe. If pretrial punishment is particularly flagrant, military judges have the right to dismiss all charges.

Manning, a 24-year-old Army private and intelligence analyst, was allegedly involved in the largest security breach in US history and was charged with 22 crimes, including violating the Espionage Act and aiding the enemy. She allegedly accessed 250,000 US diplomatic cables, 500,000 army reports, and videos of the 2007 Baghdad airstrike and the 2009 Granai airstrike, and sending them to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks for publication in 2010. Manning is the only suspect arrested for  involvement in the security leak.

But while awaiting trial in Quantico from July 2010 to April 2011, Manning was allegedly mistreated, sparking human rights concerns from Amnesty International, the United Nations and the British government. The UN referred to the treatment as cruel, inhuman and degrading. Leading law scholars and PJ Crowley, former spokesman at the US Department of State, have resigned from their positions in protest of Manning’s treatment.

Manning’s lawyers claim she was held in maximum security in a cell so small that it was “the functional equivalent of solitary confinement.” She spent 23 ½ hours confined to his 6-by-8-foot cell with no windows or natural light and was often forced to sleep naked. Manning was also denied a regular blanket and pillow.

Manning was also woken at 5 a.m. every morning and forced to stay awake until 10 p.m., making it difficult for her to pass the time in his closet-like cell. Prison guards checked on Manning every five minutes and refused to let her lie on the bed, lean against the cell wall or exercise.

Military officials have called the punishment suitable, claiming Manning posed a risk of injury to herself and others and was therefore required to remain locked up as a maximum-security detainee. But records show that psychiatrists made at least 16 official reports to military commanders that Manning was not a threat and should therefore not have been subjected to such severe treatment.

While a dismissal of all charges due to pretrial punishment is very rare in a military court, Manning’s lawyers hope that these “egregious” and illegal conditions amount to severe enough punishment to justify dropping the case.

According to lawyer David Coombs, these conditions are a “flagrant violation of Pfc. Manning’s constitutional right to not be punished prior to trial.”

If the military judge refuses to drop the charge but still considers pretrial punishment as time served, then Manning could receive a lesser prison sentence, former Marine Corps attorney Dwight H. Sullivan told the Baltimore Sun. He is currently seeking a “10-to-1” credit, which means he would receive a credit of 10 days served for every actual day spent in pretrial confinement.

If Manning’s lawyers fail to sway the judges, the 24-year-old may face life imprisonment if she is convicted of aiding the enemy, the most serious of the 22 charges. Earlier Manning has also offered to plead guilty to reduced charges for a lesser sentence.

After being released from Quantico due to the prison closing down, Manning was moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where she was allowed to interact with other inmates and kept in less strict conditions. But lawyers still hope that the nine-month stay and cruel treatment at Quantico will lead to Manning’s freedom.

The pretrial hearing is scheduled to last until Sunday and precedes the full court martial scheduled for Feb. 4, 2013. 

Source

We will make sure to post any updates from Manning’s trial throughout the week.

photo

Pfc. Manning offers to plead guilty to partial charges, including leaking to WikileaksNovember 8, 2012 In a surprising turn of events, accused WikiLeaks leaker Pfc. Bradley (Breanna) Manning offered on Wednesday to plead guilty to parts of the charges he is facing, in exchange for the government pursuing lesser charges. Manning did not plead guilty but indicated in a plea notice submitted by his attorney, David Coombs, that he is willing to accept responsibility for some of the lesser included charges, but not the charges as they stand in whole. The move is known as “pleading by exceptions and substitutions” and is a strategy for negotiating the charges against him, which his attorney has tried repeatedly to do, unsuccessfully, via other means during pre-trial hearings. Defense attorney Coombs wrote on his blog that Manning “is not pleading guilty to the specifications as charged” by prosecutors, but rather “is attempting to accept responsibility for offenses that are encapsulated within, or are a subset of, the charged offenses.” This includes pleading guilty to providing hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks, according to blogger Kevin Gosztola who was at a hearing for Manning on Wednesday and broke the news. But it might not include pleading guilty to the espionage charge that Manning is facing or to aiding the enemy or exceeding authorized access on government networks. “Coombs told the court Manning had submitted a plea notice indicating he would would accept general responsibility for providing all charged information to WikiLeaks,” Gosztola noted. The move would help his attorney focus his defense on fewer points of contention, since it would take parts of the charges off the table, though not eliminate charges in their entirety, which is what he has previously tried to do. It could also help reduce the sentence Manning faces. Manning currently faces life in prison if convicted of all the charges. The most serious charge he currently faces — aiding the enemy — carries a possible death penalty. Prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty, however. Manning did not approach the defense about a plea deal, but instead simply asked the court to decide whether what he’s suggesting is a permissible plea. If the court determines that his plea is legally permissible, prosecutors can still decide to prove the charges against him. “Pleading by exceptions and substitutions, in other words, does not change the offenses with which PFC Manning has been charged and for which he is scheduled to stand trial,” Coombs wrote. Coombs has tried unsuccessfully both to have the number of charges against his client reduced — they currently stand at 22 charges — and to have the most serious charges of espionage and aiding the enemy dropped. Manning also told the court on Wednesday that he was electing to have a trial by military judge, instead of a trial by jury. His trial is currently set for February. Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified and sensitive U.S. government documents to the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks, including the headline-making “Collateral Murder” video showing a deadly 2007 U.S. helicopter air strike in Baghdad that claimed the lives of several innocent civilians including two employees of the Reuters news agency. In online chats with former hacker Adrian Lamo, Manning boasted of leaking a separate video related to the notorious 2009 Garani air strike in Afghanistan that Wikileaks has previously acknowledged is in its possession, as well as the large databases that later formed WikiLeaks’ most high-profile releases. Those include over 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables, more than 400,000 U.S. Army reports from the Iraq War and some 90,000 reports from the Afghanistan War. Source For those who haven’t followed this story, the information Manning leaked to Wikileaks includes the Collateral Murder video, which exposes indiscriminate killing of civilians & journalists in Iraq by the US military, files on Guantanamo Bay, the Afghan War Logs & the Iraq War Logs, which all exposed corruption, torture & war crimes committed by the US.  Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime. Manning has been in prison without charge for 900 days.  Those who actually committed the war crimes have not been charged or imprisoned. 

Pfc. Manning offers to plead guilty to partial charges, including leaking to Wikileaks
November 8, 2012

In a surprising turn of events, accused WikiLeaks leaker Pfc. Bradley (Breanna) Manning offered on Wednesday to plead guilty to parts of the charges he is facing, in exchange for the government pursuing lesser charges.

Manning did not plead guilty but indicated in a plea notice submitted by his attorney, David Coombs, that he is willing to accept responsibility for some of the lesser included charges, but not the charges as they stand in whole.

The move is known as “pleading by exceptions and substitutions” and is a strategy for negotiating the charges against him, which his attorney has tried repeatedly to do, unsuccessfully, via other means during pre-trial hearings.

Defense attorney Coombs wrote on his blog that Manning “is not pleading guilty to the specifications as charged” by prosecutors, but rather “is attempting to accept responsibility for offenses that are encapsulated within, or are a subset of, the charged offenses.”

This includes pleading guilty to providing hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks, according to blogger Kevin Gosztola who was at a hearing for Manning on Wednesday and broke the news. But it might not include pleading guilty to the espionage charge that Manning is facing or to aiding the enemy or exceeding authorized access on government networks.

“Coombs told the court Manning had submitted a plea notice indicating he would would accept general responsibility for providing all charged information to WikiLeaks,” Gosztola noted.

The move would help his attorney focus his defense on fewer points of contention, since it would take parts of the charges off the table, though not eliminate charges in their entirety, which is what he has previously tried to do.

It could also help reduce the sentence Manning faces. Manning currently faces life in prison if convicted of all the charges. The most serious charge he currently faces — aiding the enemy — carries a possible death penalty. Prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty, however.

Manning did not approach the defense about a plea deal, but instead simply asked the court to decide whether what he’s suggesting is a permissible plea. If the court determines that his plea is legally permissible, prosecutors can still decide to prove the charges against him.

“Pleading by exceptions and substitutions, in other words, does not change the offenses with which PFC Manning has been charged and for which he is scheduled to stand trial,” Coombs wrote.

Coombs has tried unsuccessfully both to have the number of charges against his client reduced — they currently stand at 22 charges — and to have the most serious charges of espionage and aiding the enemy dropped.

Manning also told the court on Wednesday that he was electing to have a trial by military judge, instead of a trial by jury. His trial is currently set for February.

Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified and sensitive U.S. government documents to the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks, including the headline-making “Collateral Murder” video showing a deadly 2007 U.S. helicopter air strike in Baghdad that claimed the lives of several innocent civilians including two employees of the Reuters news agency.

In online chats with former hacker Adrian Lamo, Manning boasted of leaking a separate video related to the notorious 2009 Garani air strike in Afghanistan that Wikileaks has previously acknowledged is in its possession, as well as the large databases that later formed WikiLeaks’ most high-profile releases. Those include over 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables, more than 400,000 U.S. Army reports from the Iraq War and some 90,000 reports from the Afghanistan War.

Source

For those who haven’t followed this story, the information Manning leaked to Wikileaks includes the Collateral Murder video, which exposes indiscriminate killing of civilians & journalists in Iraq by the US military, files on Guantanamo Bay, the Afghan War Logs & the Iraq War Logs, which all exposed corruption, torture & war crimes committed by the US. 

Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime. Manning has been in prison without charge for 900 days. 

Those who actually committed the war crimes have not been charged or imprisoned. 

photo

Protesters gather outside American embassy to demand Manning’s freedomAugust 25, 2012 A group of 40 campaigners gathered outside the American embassy in London on Saturday to protest against the incarceration of a US Army private accused of leaking information to whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. Breanna, also known as Bradley, Manning, 24, is charged with passing classified data and delivering national defence information to an unauthorised source It is claimed she sent hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and war logs to Julian Assange’s Wikileaks website while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. Manning could be sentenced to life imprisonment if convicted of the most serious offence, aiding the enemy. On Saturday, protesters gathered in front of the heavily guarded Grosvenor Square building for more than an hour bearing “Free Bradley Manning” placards. Ben Griffin, 34, a former SAS soldier and founding member of Veterans For Peace UK, addressed the crowd after observing a 30-minute silent vigil. He said: “The most significant piece of resistance to the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan came when a young soldier released information that the US and UK governments would rather we did not know about. “Among the files released through Wikileaks were the Afghan War Diaries which showed the day-to-day ritual killing and torture that has been going on in Afghanistan for years. “Then the Iraq War Logs were released. As a result of those logs we found out about thousands of people killed in Iraq by US and UK troops that we did not know about. “Through the diplomatic cable release we now know about the sneaky little deals with other governments so we do not know the reality of the wars. “As a result of these leaks a young soldier has spent years in prison and still has not come to trial. “As a result of action around the world the US military was forced to move him from Quantico (Virginia), to Fort Leavenworth (Kansas). “That guy is still being held and for the last six months we’ve been coming here when Bradley Manning has been taken to a pre-trial hearing, when the military decide what is going to be allowed to come out in his case and what is not, and standing in solidarity.” Among the dozens of protesters were several wearing the V For Vendetta mask that has become associated with the hacking group Anonymous. Others carried banners saying “Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime” and “Free Assange, Free Manning, End the war”. One demonstrator who gave her name only as Val, from Bedford, said: “Bradley Manning, I think, is a hero. “If anybody should have got the Nobel Peace Prize it is him.” Fellow campaigner 38-year-old Glyn Jukes, from Wales, said: “He stands for truth and justice at a time when very few others are.” Source Exposing war crimes is not a crime!

Protesters gather outside American embassy to demand Manning’s freedom
August 25, 2012

A group of 40 campaigners gathered outside the American embassy in London on Saturday to protest against the incarceration of a US Army private accused of leaking information to whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

Breanna, also known as Bradley, Manning, 24, is charged with passing classified data and delivering national defence information to an unauthorised source

It is claimed she sent hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and war logs to Julian Assange’s Wikileaks website while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq.

Manning could be sentenced to life imprisonment if convicted of the most serious offence, aiding the enemy.

On Saturday, protesters gathered in front of the heavily guarded Grosvenor Square building for more than an hour bearing “Free Bradley Manning” placards.

Ben Griffin, 34, a former SAS soldier and founding member of Veterans For Peace UK, addressed the crowd after observing a 30-minute silent vigil.

He said: “The most significant piece of resistance to the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan came when a young soldier released information that the US and UK governments would rather we did not know about.

“Among the files released through Wikileaks were the Afghan War Diaries which showed the day-to-day ritual killing and torture that has been going on in Afghanistan for years.

“Then the Iraq War Logs were released. As a result of those logs we found out about thousands of people killed in Iraq by US and UK troops that we did not know about.

“Through the diplomatic cable release we now know about the sneaky little deals with other governments so we do not know the reality of the wars.

“As a result of these leaks a young soldier has spent years in prison and still has not come to trial.

“As a result of action around the world the US military was forced to move him from Quantico (Virginia), to Fort Leavenworth (Kansas).

“That guy is still being held and for the last six months we’ve been coming here when Bradley Manning has been taken to a pre-trial hearing, when the military decide what is going to be allowed to come out in his case and what is not, and standing in solidarity.”

Among the dozens of protesters were several wearing the V For Vendetta mask that has become associated with the hacking group Anonymous.

Others carried banners saying “Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime” and “Free Assange, Free Manning, End the war”.

One demonstrator who gave her name only as Val, from Bedford, said: “Bradley Manning, I think, is a hero.

“If anybody should have got the Nobel Peace Prize it is him.”

Fellow campaigner 38-year-old Glyn Jukes, from Wales, said: “He stands for truth and justice at a time when very few others are.”

Source

Exposing war crimes is not a crime!

video

MUST WATCH: Julian Assange speaks from the Ecuadorian embassy in London in his first appearance in two months. 

“The US must renounce its witch hunt on Wikileaks… Bradley Manning must be released. If Bradley Manning did as he is accused, he is a hero & an example to all of us & one of the world’s more foremost political prisoners. Bradley Manning must be released.”

photo

Today is the two year anniversary of the release of the Afghan War LogsJuly 25, 2012  After exposing horrific war crimes, including the murder of hundreds of civilians, air strikes on entire villages, psychological warfare, US Department of Defense contracted employees engaging in child prostitution among many other inhumane incidents, Wikileaks & whistleblower Breanna Manning are still considered to be terrorists to the United States & other international governments.  Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been detained without charge in any country for 596 days. Manning has been tortured & in prison for 793 days without trial. 

Today is the two year anniversary of the release of the Afghan War Logs
July 25, 2012 

After exposing horrific war crimes, including the murder of hundreds of civilians, air strikes on entire villages, psychological warfare, US Department of Defense contracted employees engaging in child prostitution among many other inhumane incidents, Wikileaks & whistleblower Breanna Manning are still considered to be terrorists to the United States & other international governments. 

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been detained without charge in any country for 596 days.

Manning has been tortured & in prison for 793 days without trial. 

Following