Judge in Manning Case Allows Charge of Aiding the Enemy

By ERIN BANCO
Published: July 18, 2013

The military judge in the trial of Pfc. Bradley Manning decided on Thursday not to drop a charge accusing Private Manning of “aiding the enemy.” If he is found guilty of the charge, he faces a possible life sentence in military custody with no chance of parole.


Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Pfc. Bradley Manning outside court in Maryland on Monday. He gave documents to WikiLeaks.

In February, Private Manning, a 25-year-old Army intelligence analyst, admitted to having leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks. He denied that he was guilty of 12 counts, including aiding the enemy, but pleaded guilty to 10 lesser offenses that could have put him in jail for up to 20 years.
The government has said it will not pursue the death penalty against Private Manning.

The decision of the judge, Col. Denise Lind, centered on the prosecution’s evidence that some of the classified documents Private Manning admitted giving to WikiLeaks were posted on the Internet and later reached Osama bin Laden.

The judge heard a request from the defense on Monday to drop the charge. David E. Coombs, the lead defense lawyer, argued that Private Manning did not have “actual knowledge” that by leaking the documents to WikiLeaks he was aiding the enemy.

In the past, the government had argued that through his extensive training, Private Manning should have known that the information could end up with groups that wanted to harm American military personnel. But the government acknowledged Monday that “should have known” was not enough to define “actual knowledge.”

Ben Wizner, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, said that despite the arguments, he does not think “actual knowledge” is enough to charge Private Manning with aiding the enemy.
“There has to be specific intent,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/us/judge-in-manning-case-allows-charge-
of-aiding-the-enemy.html?_r=0