Thursday, 3 March 2011
Bradley Manning’s Attorney Responds to New Charges Against Him: Is Wikileaks the Enemy?
David Coombs, Bradley Manning’s attorney, released a statement regarding the government’s new charges against Manning:
The government is alleging Manning “knowingly gave intelligence information” and that Wikileaks “received” it. Does that make”Wikileaks” the “enemy” in question?
Update: From Manning’s new charge sheet (PDF):
They want to lock a 23 year-old up for the rest of his life, using a charge designed for terrorists and spies, because he embarrassed them in front of the bad guys?
Seriously?
Jane Hamsher @'FDL'
Over the past few weeks, the defense has been preparing for the possibility of additional charges in this case. The decision to prefer charges is an individual one by PFC Manning’s commander. The nature of the charges and the number of specifications under each reflects his determination, in consultation with his Staff Judge Advocate’s office, of the possible offenses in this case. Ultimately, the Article 32 Investigating Officer will determine which, if any, of these additional charges and specifications should be referred to a court-martial.
Eight months after Bradley Manning was originally charged, the government suddenly claims that he “knowingly gave intelligence information” to “the enemy alleged to have received the intelligence information.”Manning is being charged with “aiding the enemy,” which is an Article 4 offense:
AIDING THE ENEMY—GIVING INTELLIGENCE TO THE ENEMY (ARTICLE 104)
ELEMENTS:
(1) That (state the time and place alleged), the accused, without proper authority, knowingly gave intelligence information to (a) certain person(s), namely: (state the name or description of the enemy alleged to have received the intelligence information);
(2) That the accused did so by (state the manner alleged);
(3) That (state the name or description of the enemy alleged to have received the intelligence information) was an enemy; and
(4) That this intelligence information was true, at least in part.
d. DEFINITIONS AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONS:
“Intelligence” means any helpful information, given to and received by the enemy, which is true, at least in part.
“Enemy” includes (not only) organized opposing forces in time of war, (but also any other hostile body that our forces may be opposing) (such as a rebellious mob or a band of renegades) (and includes civilians as well as members of military organizations). (“Enemy” is not restricted to the enemy government or its armed forces. All the citizens of one belligerent are enemies of the government and the citizens of the other.)
The government is alleging Manning “knowingly gave intelligence information” and that Wikileaks “received” it. Does that make”Wikileaks” the “enemy” in question?
Update: From Manning’s new charge sheet (PDF):
So let me get this straight. The Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, says that the “leaked cables created no substantive damage — only embarrassment.” So they’re going to charge Manning with “aiding the enemy” because they claim he knew Wikileaks would publish them on the internet, the “enemy” can see the internet, and the cables “bring discredit upon the armed forces.”10. ADDITIONAL CHARGE I: VIOLATION OF THE UCMJ, ARTICLE 104.
THE SPECIFICATION:
In that Private First Class Bradley E. Manning, U.S. Army, did, at or near Contingency Operating Station Hammer, Iraq, between on or about 1 November 2009 and on or about 27 May 2010, without proper authority, knowingly give intelligence to the enemy, through indirect means.
ADDITIONAL CHARGE II:
SPECIFICATION 1:
In that Private First Class Bradley E. Manning, U.S. Army, did, at or near Contingency Operating Station Hammer, Iraq, between on or about 1 November 2009 and on or about 27 May 2010, wrongfully and wantonly cause to be published on the internet intelligence belonging to the United States government, having knowledge that intelligence published on the internet is accessible to the enemy, such conduct being prejudicial to good order and discipline in the armed forces and being of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.
They want to lock a 23 year-old up for the rest of his life, using a charge designed for terrorists and spies, because he embarrassed them in front of the bad guys?
Seriously?
Jane Hamsher @'FDL'
Bradley Manning faces 22 new charges
The US Army has charged a soldier held in connection with the leak of US government documents published by the Wikileaks website with 22 extra counts.
The new charges against Private First Class Bradley Manning include aiding the enemy, a capital offence, but prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty. The intelligence analyst is being held at a military jail in Virginia.
He is suspected of leaking 620,000 diplomatic and military documents.
Pte Manning, who joined the US military in 2007, was initially charged in May with 12 counts of illegally downloading and sharing a secret video of a US military operation and secret military and diplomatic documents and cables.
The new charges accuse the soldier of using unauthorised software on government computers to download classified information and to make intelligence available to "the enemy".
Under the US Uniform Code of Military Justice, the offence is punishable by death.
But in a news release, the US Army said prosecutors would not seek the death penalty, although Pte Manning could face life in prison if tried and convicted.
Fresh details Pte Manning's lawyer David Coombs said the soldier's defence team had been preparing for the possibility of additional charges over the past few weeks.
Pte Manning is being held in solitary confinement in a high-security military prison at Quantico marine base, Virginia.
Mr Coombs has said he expects a hearing to determine whether the military has enough evidence to try the soldier to be held in May or June.
The newly released list of charges offers fresh details on the records Pte Manning is accused of obtaining illegally.
Those include:
- More than 380,000 records from a database of military records from the Iraq war
- 90,000 records from a database of Afghan war files
- 250,000 records from a US state department diplomatic database
- 75 classified US state department cables, including one titled "Reykjavik-13"
- A video file named "12 JUL 07 CZ ENGAGEMENT ZONE 30 GC"
The site has also released a cable titled Reykjavik 13 that summarised US diplomats' discussions with Icelandic officials about that country's financial troubles, and a leaked video of a 2007 helicopter attack in Iraq that killed two Reuters news service employees.
@'BBC'
To be convicted of "aiding an enemy" US must prove alleged recipient @WikiLeaks, was "hostile body"
wikileaks WikiLeaks
'aiding the enemy', following US claims, suggests WikiLeaks will be defined as 'the enemy'. A serious abuse. http://is.gd/0XKqRz
Spielberg lines up WikiLeaks film based on Guardian book
Steven Spielberg looks set to oversee WikiLeaks: the Movie after securing the screen rights to WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, the book by Guardian journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding. Reportedly conceived as an investigative thriller in the mould of All the President's Men, the film will be backed by DreamWorks – the studio founded in 1994 by Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.
Leigh and Harding's book charts Julian Assange's turbulent life and times, from his itinerant childhood through to the creation of the WikiLeaks website in 2006. It also provides the inside story of Assange's explosive partnership with the Guardian newspaper and the release, last December, of over 250,000 secret diplomatic cables.
In addition to snapping up the Leigh and Harding bestseller, DreamWorks have also secured rights to another book, Inside WikiLeaks, by Assange's former colleague, Daniel Domscheit-Berg. This has led insiders to speculate that DreamWorks executives are planning a heavily fictionalised thriller that cherry-picks from a variety of sources.
"A good template for what they are thinking is The Social Network, where Aaron Sorkin not only used the Ben Mezrich book The Accidental Billionaires as a resource, but gathered actual testimony from the lawsuits filed against Mark Zuckerberg that detailed the formation of Facebook and provided high drama," suggests Mike Fleming of the industry website Deadline Hollywood. "That allowed the film to be made without a rights deal from Zuckerberg."
Spielberg's picture is the most prominent of a number of WikiLeaks movies currently at various stages of development. These include a documentary by the award-winning film-maker Alex Gibney, director of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, along with a mooted biopic, based on a New Yorker article by Raffi Khatchadourian and co-produced by HBO and the BBC.
Now in its embryonic stages, the DreamWorks version still requires a scriptwriter, a director and a cast. It may also need an ending, with all the evidence suggesting that the story of Julian Assange has some way left to run.
Reviled by his foes as a "high-tech terrorist", Assange is currently fighting an extradition order to Sweden to face accusations of sexual abuse. This week, he reportedly lashed out at his former collaborators at the Guardian, who, according to Private Eye editor Ian Hislop, he accused of being part of a "Jewish conspiracy" against him. There seems little doubt that Assange's life story provides enough red meat for dramatists. But the final act has surely yet to be written.
Xan Brooks @'The Guardian'
Leigh and Harding's book charts Julian Assange's turbulent life and times, from his itinerant childhood through to the creation of the WikiLeaks website in 2006. It also provides the inside story of Assange's explosive partnership with the Guardian newspaper and the release, last December, of over 250,000 secret diplomatic cables.
In addition to snapping up the Leigh and Harding bestseller, DreamWorks have also secured rights to another book, Inside WikiLeaks, by Assange's former colleague, Daniel Domscheit-Berg. This has led insiders to speculate that DreamWorks executives are planning a heavily fictionalised thriller that cherry-picks from a variety of sources.
"A good template for what they are thinking is The Social Network, where Aaron Sorkin not only used the Ben Mezrich book The Accidental Billionaires as a resource, but gathered actual testimony from the lawsuits filed against Mark Zuckerberg that detailed the formation of Facebook and provided high drama," suggests Mike Fleming of the industry website Deadline Hollywood. "That allowed the film to be made without a rights deal from Zuckerberg."
Spielberg's picture is the most prominent of a number of WikiLeaks movies currently at various stages of development. These include a documentary by the award-winning film-maker Alex Gibney, director of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, along with a mooted biopic, based on a New Yorker article by Raffi Khatchadourian and co-produced by HBO and the BBC.
Now in its embryonic stages, the DreamWorks version still requires a scriptwriter, a director and a cast. It may also need an ending, with all the evidence suggesting that the story of Julian Assange has some way left to run.
Reviled by his foes as a "high-tech terrorist", Assange is currently fighting an extradition order to Sweden to face accusations of sexual abuse. This week, he reportedly lashed out at his former collaborators at the Guardian, who, according to Private Eye editor Ian Hislop, he accused of being part of a "Jewish conspiracy" against him. There seems little doubt that Assange's life story provides enough red meat for dramatists. But the final act has surely yet to be written.
Xan Brooks @'The Guardian'
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