By Belarmino Dabalos Saguing, Rome, Tuesday, 31.07.2013
News Item :Julian Assange says Bradley Manning verdict
is 'dangerous precedent' as whistleblower faces 136 years in prison despite
aiding the enemy acquittal http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/julian-assange-says-bradley-manning-verdict-is-dangerous-precedent-as-whistleblower-faces-136-years-in-prison-despite-aiding-the-enemy-acquittal-8738615.html
 |
| Pvt. Bradley Manning |
Bradley
Manning, the former military intelligence analyst who gave classified
information to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks in 2010and is facing
charges of aiding the enemy, anhd many other charges from spionage, to computer
fraud and theft of classified informations.
He was acquitted of aiding the enemy, the gravest
charge laid against him by the US government. He was, however, found guilty of
19 other charges including espionage, theft and computer fraud.
The acquittal on the aiding the enemy charge
was a large if somewhat symbolic victory for the defence and to Manning
supporters worldwide. All the other guilty verdicts - including six on charges
of espionage - still mean that Manning faces spending the rest of his life in
prison.
According
to Julian Assange of Wikileaks fame, “The verdict is a dangerous precedent and
an example of national security extremism. It is a short-sighted judgment that
cannot be tolerated and it must be reversed.”
"The
government kept Bradley Manning in a cage, stripped him naked and isolated him
in order to break him, an act formally condemned by the United Nations Special
Rapporteur for torture. This was never a fair
trial," Assange said from inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in
London, his home for more than a year.
Press
freedom advocates had warned that a guilty verdict on aiding the enemy could
have cast a chill on journalists trying to hold governments to account and on
would-be whistle-blowers. But there was still widespread dismay among
civil liberties groups over the full array of the other guilty verdicts.
###
No comments:
Post a Comment