Placard for WikiLeaks and Free Bradley Manning protest. Photograph courtesy of Save Bradley
Bradley Manning, the US Army private and source of the leaks of hundreds of thousands of classified cables to Wikileaks, has been convicted of espionage and other charges, but not of aiding the enemy.
Manning admitted leaking the documents and was convicted of 20 charges in total including espionage, computer fraud, theft, and various military infractions for his actions. He claimed, however, that he leaked the documents to spark a debate on US foreign policy, and not to aid the country’s enemies.
The files Manning sent to Wikileaks are considered the largest leak of secret US government files in history.
He faces up to 136 years in prison, but has avoided the death penalty, with his sentencing due later today.
Whilst the courts did not find Manning guilty of aiding the enemy, the number of guilty verdicts against him has given some commentators pause to reflect on how this trial may affect future whistle-blowers, such as Edward Snowden who currently remains in a fugitive in a Moscow airport. A guilty verdict for aiding the enemy would likely have caused a chilling effect on future whistleblowers in the US, but even seeking such a verdict will have resulted in serious implications for who may look to leak documents in the future.
President Barack Obama had claimed to support whistle-blowers in his rise to power, but now in office he does not appear to hold the same views. The administration has recently removed the section about whistleblowers from the Change.org websites which did the following until last week:
Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange criticised the verdict from the Ecuadorean Embassy in the UK where he is hiding from extradition to Sweden on charges of rape, saying it was “dangerous national security extremism”. Assange went on to praise Manning’s bravery and patriotism, saying:
“Bradley Manning isn’t guilty of anything in that he’s actually very heroic for demanding government transparency and accountability and exposing the American people and the rest of the world to the crimes committed by the American government”