Update 10/1/12: Prosecution under fire for trial delays, whistleblower protections
Bradley Manning will have spent 983 days in prison by the time he reaches trial.
“Bradley Manning lawyer alleges slow trial is ‘an absolute mockery’ of rights”, headlines the Guardian. Ed Pilkington writes,
“Under the US military rule book, a soldier must be arraigned and his trial officially started within 120 days of him being put into captivity. Yet in an exhaustive 117-page motion that Manning has been so far spent 845 days in pretrial confinement ‘and still has not had his day in court’”
Once Bradley finally reaches trial in February, he will have spent 983 days in prison. Further, without ever having been found guilty, Bradley was unlawfully punished – tortured – having spent a year in solitary confinement without ever having been convicted of a crime, and this abuse was done against the recommendations of medical professionals. The orders to abuse Bradley Manning came from higher up, by a three star general. Pilkington points out that the right to a speedy trial is enshrined in the constitution, and that David Coombs, Bradley’s lawyer, has accused the government of dragging its feet. Finally, the military has had no explanation for over 347 days of trial delays. (read more…)
Courthouse News also reports on the slow trial and the ongoing foot dragging by prosecutors, writing that “to bypass the military’s 120-day speedy trial clock, prosecutors have allegedly characterized ‘federal weekends and holidays’ as ‘excludable delays.’” The article stresses that never before have weekends and holidays been excluded, showing that indeed the prosecution is making a mockery of the military court. (Read more…)
Jesselyn Radack. Whistleblower and National Security and Human Rights director at the Government Accountability Project.
The House of Representatives unanimously passed a whistleblower protection bill. The bill implements important protections for federal workers, but as Jesselyn Radack states, it fails to protect intelligence officers that the Obama administration had promised to protect. She writes,
“The House’s move in passing the WPEA is an important step for whistleblower reform, and the WPEA will provide increased protections for millions of federal workers. But, there are still many whistleblowers who risk sacrificing their careers for their consciences, or in cases of whistleblower subjected to criminal prosecution, their very freedom.”
Jesselyn Radack is a former ethics advisor to the United States Department of Justice, and National Security and Human Rights director at the Government Accountability Project. She spoke last night on behalf of Bradley Manning at “Truth on Trial”, where she stressed Bradley’s role as an important courageous whistleblower. (Read more…)
Obama must pardon Bradley Manning, writes Thomas Hellinger. He points to the important public debates that have developed after diplomatic cables were published by WikiLeaks: in particular that citizens were kept in the dark, and lied to, about what was happening in the war. Further,
“Since Sept. 11, the American government has shown a dangerous increase in the level of secrecy, willingness to violate U.S. citizens’ civil rights in the name of national security and a complete lack of accountability for high-ranking officials. In 1991, the U.S. government classified 6 million documents and by 2010 that number had ballooned to 77 million — an increase of nearly 1,200 percent.”
There is no doubt that the government has lost control over its classification procedures, and this has allowed the military and government officials to run amok, accountable to only themselves. The author concludes by asking how the government could possibly be charging Bradley Manning with aiding the enemy when high ranking officials and numerous investigations have revealed that there was little damage, if any. (Read more…)
“Bradley Manning is a hero and should get a nobel peace prize.” Submit your photo
bradley manning should be released or pardoned!
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/release-bradley-manning-or-pardon-young-whistleblower-he-has-been-confined-way-too-long-and-should/47fZ8CVH