Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr
with David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
warisacrime.org
August 21, 2013
TheRealNews on Aug 21, 2013
David Swanson: Private Manning becomes latest victim of President Obama’s war on whistleblowers and efforts should be made to remember him as a hero not a traitor.
David Swanson‘s books include “War Is A Lie.” He blogs at http://davidswanson.org and http://warisacrime.org and works for http://rootsaction.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook.
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Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years behind bars
RussiaToday on Aug 21, 2013
A US military judge has sentenced Army Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison in the WikiLeaks case. The Private was earlier found guilty of 20 criminal counts, including espionage and theft. Manning will be credited with the 1,294 days he spent in pre-trial confinement plus an additional 112 days. He was also dishonorably discharged, saw his rank reduced to private from private first class and was forced to forfeit all pay and benefits. No additional fine, however, was levied against him. Manning will have to serve a third of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. RT web producer Andrew Blake, who was in the courtroom during sentencing, reports live from Ft. Meade.
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Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years behind bars
RussiaToday on Aug 21, 2013
A US military judge has sentenced Army Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison. Manning faced up to 90 years behind bars, while prosecutors sought to put the whistleblower away for a minimum of six decades. READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/p60dfn
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Price for Truth: ‘Manning gets harsh sentence while exposed criminals stay free’
RussiaToday on Aug 21, 2013
Whistleblower Bradley Manning has been sentenced to 35 years behind bars. The former Army private, who leaked thousands of classified US documents to Wikileaks, will also be dishonourably discharged. Human rights activist Peter Thatchell joins RT to discuss Manning’s sentence.
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Bradley Manning Sentencing Breakdown
wearechangect on Aug 21, 2013
Michael Ratner President of the Center for Constitutional Rights talks to Jeff Durkin of We Are Change CT about his thought’s on Bradley Manning’s sentencing, including the implications of his case.
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Manning asks Obama for pardon, but ready to pay ‘heavy price for free society’
RussiaToday on Aug 21, 2013
Whistleblower Bradley Manning has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. The former Army private, who leaked thousands of classified US documents to Wikileaks, will also be dishonourably discharged. Manning’s attorney, now plans to call on President Barack Obama to release him. RT’s producer Andrew Blake heard what the attorney David Coombs had to say.
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Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years, defense moves for Presidential Pardon
www.bradleymanning.org
August 21, 2013
WikiLeaks whistle-blower Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison today, an outrage that flies in the face of America’s essential ideals of accountability in government, and which seeks to instill a chilling effect on those who’d dare to expose the United States’ illegality. A heroic soldier of conscience, Manning witnessed war crimes, rampant corruption, and covert abuse while stationed in Baghdad in 2009-10, and exposed what he saw by releasing hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic files to the transparency website WikiLeaks. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three years in a row. Earlier this month, more than 100,000 signatures in support of his 2013 nomination were delivered to the Nobel committee in Norway. Military judge Col. Denise Lind’s sentence is an outright injustice that we cannot accept.
“The only person prosecuted for the crimes and abuses uncovered in the WikiLeaks’ releases is the person who exposed them,” said Pentagon Papers whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg. “That alone proves the injustice of one more day in prison for Bradley Manning.”
Manning can subtract more than three and a half years off of that sentence, for the time he has already served and the mere 112 days he was credited for enduring torture while detained at the Quantico Marine Brig. He will be eligible to reduce his sentence by 10% for good behavior.
The fight for Manning’s freedom is far from over. Supporters and attorney David Coombs will demand Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, Military of the District of Washington commander and Convening Authority of Manning’s court martial, to reduce the sentence, which he has the legal authority to do. The Bradley Manning Support Network will collect and deliver thousands of lesser in support of Manning’s clemency to Maj. Gen. Buchanan.
“By successfully funding Bradley’s legal efforts, and by mobilizing worldwide support, we won an acquittal on “aiding the enemy,” says Jeff Paterson, the Support Network’s director. “We move forward today on every available front to win his freedom.”
Mr. Coombs is applying for a Presidential Pardon, and the case will be brought to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, to address several deprivations of Manning’s due process rights. He was detained without trial for more than three years, in violation of his Constitutional right to a speedy trial. He was only awarded four months off of his sentence for the psychological torture he suffered while in solitary confinement for more than nine months at Quantico, which fails to hold the Marines accountable for that treatment. President Obama declared Manning guilty in April 2011, more than two years before his trial began, which constitutes unlawful command influence, in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Finally, Military Judge Col. Denise Lind allowed the prosecution to change its charge sheet at the 11th hour, after both the government and defense had questioned their witnesses and rested their cases.
The Bradley Manning Support Network is responsible for 100% of Manning’s legal fees, as well as international education efforts. Funded by 21,000 individuals, the Support Network has mustered $1.4 million in Manning’s defense.
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Update 8/21/13: Amnesty International calls on Obama to commute sentence to time served
www.bradleymanning.org
August 21, 2013
Immediately following Judge Lind’s sentencing announcement that Bradley Manning would be imprisoned for 35 years, Amnesty International issued a statement calling on President Obama to commute the sentence to time served:
Bradley Manning should be shown clemency in recognition of his motives for acting as he did, the treatment he endured in his early pre-trial detention, and the due process shortcomings during his trial.
The President doesn’t need to wait for this sentence to be appealed to commute it; he can and should do so right now.
Bradley Manning acted on the belief that he could spark a meaningful public debate on the costs of war, and specifically on the conduct of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. His revelations included reports on battlefield detentions and previously unseen footage of journalists and other civilians being killed in US helicopter attacks, information which should always have been subject to public scrutiny.
Instead of fighting tooth and nail to lock him up for several decades, the US government should turn its attention to investigating and delivering justice for the serious human rights abuses committed by its officials in the name of countering terror.
Read the entire press release here.
Take Action:
Pardon Bradley Manning campaign launched – sign the petition and show your support!
Join Amnesty International and the Bradley Manning Support Network in signing a petition to President Obama….
see
Screaming in Bradley Manning’s Trial by David Swanson
Bradley Manning apologizes to court for ‘unintended consequences’ of his actions
Vijay Prashad: Bradley Manning, the Nuremberg Charter and Refusing to Collaborate with War Crimes
The Courage of Bradley Manning Will Inspire Others To Seize Their Moment of Truth By John Pilger
Dandelion Salad 
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Bravo David Swanson.
Bravo Loz Kaye.
Bravo Peter Tatchell.
Bravo Michael Ratner.
Your words ring true, the rest is empty “government” rhetoric and criminal propaganda ~ lies and disinformation.
Bravo Dandelion Salad.
We will not be silenced.
Great comment, David. Thanks!
Bravo to all the whistleblowers and future ones, too.
AMEN !
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