US Gay Soldier May Face Death Penalty Over Wikileaks
Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on March 3, 2011
Openly gay Private 1st Class Bradley Manning has been in custody since July when he was accused of downloading thousands of classified documents and leaking them to Wikileaks. The charges have just been announced, and they include several punishable by death.
PFC Brad Manning
The list of charges is extensive, but the most serious is the charge of “Aiding The Enemy,” which carries with it the possibility of a death sentence.
The charges continue not to mention Wikileaks by name, rather claiming that Manning released the classified information to an “unauthorized source.”
Manning currently is being held at the Quantico military base in Washington DC. He’s spent the last 8 months in a 6-12 foot cell for 23 hours a day.
While conviction on the charge of “aiding the enemy” could result in the death penalty, military prosecutors recommended that he be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on that charge alone. But the presiding military judge would have the authority to dismiss the prosecution’s recommendation and impose the death penalty.
"Eric, trying to have this (civil rights) conversation with you is ultimately like trying to teach a pig to dance, it just annoys the pig. So Eric, sorry to annoy you."
-Paul Mero, The Sutherland Institute.
Cruel.
It still seems like he’s being denied due process…. of any kind….
And now this:
WikiLeaks suspect kept naked
Michael.