Plead guilty to 10 lesser charges. Found guilty of 9 more. Innocent of one minor, though important, charge (relating to Wikileaks). Innocent of "aiding the enemy" As ACLU lawyer Ben Wizner explained last year, the aiding the enemy charge threatened every single soldier who spoke publicly. “Article 104 is not limited to sensitive or classified information — it prohibits any unauthorized communication or contact with an enemy,” Wizner explained. “So, if the government is right that a soldier ‘indirectly’ aids the enemy when he posts information to which the enemy might have access, then the threat of criminal prosecution hangs over any service member who gives an interview to a reporter, writes a letter to the editor, or posts a blog to the internet.” Moreover, a charge of “aiding the enemy” is not limited to military figures. Civilians, too, can be charged. Nor would the charge have been limited to outlets like WikiLeaks. While in its closing arguments, the government tried hard to describe WikiLeaks as different from other news outlets, when asked in a hearing in March whether the government would have charged Manning with “aiding the enemy” had he leaked directly to the New York Times, they said he would. salon/2013/07/30/manning_verdict_what_you_need_to_know/
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 17:43:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015