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US Army
soldier Bradley Manning arrives at a US military court facility on
August 21, 2013 (AFP, Saul Loeb)
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FORT MEADE,
Maryland — US Army Private Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in jail
Wednesday for handing over to WikiLeaks files that formed the biggest breach of
official secrets in American history.
Manning
could apply for parole and be freed within a decade, after a months-long trial
that laid bare the scale of the 25-year-old soldier's access to government
information.
Wednesday's
sentence was slightly more than half the 60 year term that prosecutors had
pushed for.
Manning
appeared ashen-faced moments before he heard his fate in a courtroom at Fort
Meade military base in Maryland, close to the US capital.
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US soldier
Bradley Manning arrives alongside
military officials at Fort Meade, Maryland on
August 21, 2013 (AFP, Saul Loeb)
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Military
judge Colonel Denise Lind delivered her verdict in a less than two-minute
statement in which she said the soldier would be demoted from Private First
Class to Private E1 status, and later dishonorably discharged.
Under
military law Manning is eligible for parole on completion of one third of his
sentence. His jail time will be shortened by a total of 1,293 days on account
of the more than three years he has already served, which means he could be
freed in nine years.
A video
link to the courtroom cut out as soon as Lind stopped speaking, but several
Manning supporters were seen in tears outside immediately following the
sentencing announcement.
Civil
liberties groups condemned the sentence, but WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy
website headed by Julian Assange, hailed it as a "significant strategic
victory."
Manning was
convicted of espionage and other crimes last month, having earlier admitted
being the source of hundreds of thousands of battlefield reports from the wars
in Afghanistan and Iraq and confidential US diplomatic cables.
Publication
of the documents caused deep embarrassment to the United States and rankled
American allies, prompting warnings from US officials that troops and
intelligence sources had been jeopardized.
The 35-year
jail term will be considered especially important as another leaker -- the
former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, currently in Russia -- is wanted
in the United States on espionage charges, having disclosed details of the
National Security Agency's secret electronic monitoring operations.
Army lawyers
had pressed for a much longer sentence, arguing that significantly more jail
time would send a message to people contemplating the theft of classified
information.
Lead
defense attorney David Coombs, however, appealed for leniency for his client.
He said Manning had expressed remorse, cooperated with the court and deserved a
chance to have a family and one day walk free.
Coombs is
scheduled to speak to reporters at 1:30 pm (1730 GMT) and outline the next
steps in the soldier's case. Under military law Manning's sentence will
automatically be reviewed in the Army Court of Criminal Appeal.
Manning was
a junior intelligence analyst at a US base near Baghdad when he handed over the
data -- about 700,000 documents -- to WikiLeaks.
He was
arrested in Iraq in 2010 and has since been in military custody.
The
years-long legal process that finally culminated in his conviction and
sentencing offered an astonishing view inside the young soldier's mind before,
during and after he was deployed in Iraq.
The most
notorious material that he brought to light was a video file, dubbed
"Collateral Murder" by WikiLeaks, showing graphic cockpit footage of
two US Apache attack helicopters opening fire and killing 12 people in Baghdad
in 2007.
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Supporters
of US Army Private First
Class Bradley Manning leave Fort Meade, Maryland on August 21, 2013 (AFP, Mladen Antonov) |
Manning, a
hero to supporters who regard him as a whistleblower who lifted the lid on
America's foreign policy, openly condemned the remarks of the pilots, who had
branded the victims "dead bastards."
Though
found guilty of 20 of the 22 offenses leveled against him, Manning was cleared
of the most serious charge -- "aiding the enemy," chiefly Al-Qaeda.
More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for Manning's
nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize.
The
American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday's sentence was sad for Manning
but also sad "for all Americans who depend on brave whistleblowers and a
free press for a fully informed public debate."
"When
a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more
harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is
seriously wrong with our justice system," they added in a statement.
Expert
witnesses testified during the sentencing phase of Manning's trial that the
soldier was confused about his gender and sexuality and under enormous
psychological stress at the time he committed the leaks.
Manning
also apologized. He told Lind during a hearing last week: "I'm sorry that
my actions have hurt people and have hurt the United States."
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Bradley
Manning, condemed to 35 years in prison (AFP/Graphic)
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