Update 2/12/13: Overprosecution – thinking about Aaron Swartz and Bradley Manning
Was Aaron Swartz aggressively prosecuted after having filed freedom of information requests to investigate Bradley Manning’s treatment? Swartz is deeply missed after he took his own life last month. He faced the possibility of spending much of his life in prison for having accessed thousands of academic articles with the purpose of making them freely accessible online.
“Americans should be considering the connection between the prosecutions of Manning and Swartz.” Both prosecutions involved young passionate activists with strong ideals. Both involved offenses where no one was harmed. Both involved making information available to the public. Swartz ended up taking his own life under the stress of the threat of a life in prison – all for having accessed thousands of purely academic articles that he intended to make public. Bradley Manning has been imprisoned for almost 1,000 days. He was placed in solitary confinement for almost a year. All for having exposed war crimes and hundreds of thousands of government documents that he intended to motivate “worldwide debate and reform”. The prosecution against Manning is trying to charge him with ‘aiding the enemy’, a charge that former government administration members called “counterproductive and ridiculous”. Absolutely no one was harmed by either action. What is there to stop the government from making up excessive charges that are no doubt intended to break people down? And are they linked?
“Three weeks ago Texas Senator John Cornyn sent a letter to President Obama’s attorney general Eric Holder. In that letter Cornyn wondered if Swartz had faced aggressive prosecution because of his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests related to Manning’s treatment in prison”
The government has already been reprimanded, having lost a law suit, for having unlawfully held and searched the notebook of a supporter of Bradley Manning. Was the overprosecution related to Swartz’s interest in Bradley Manning? (Read more…)
“Was Aaron Swartz’ Effort to FOIA Bradley Manning’s Treatment Why DOJ Treated Him So Harshly?” was the question asked to attorney general Eric Holder. Swartz had filed a number of freedom of information requests investigating the treatment of Bradley Manning – including tapes that would have revealed how Bradley Manning was being treated in Quantico prison (treatment that has since been revealed to have amounted to “unlawful pretrial punishment”.) (Read more…)
As Bradley Manning’s 1000th day imprisoned nears, supporters are taking action internationally.
Protests have been organized in Montrose, CA, Minneapolis MN, Tuscon, AZ, Denver, CO, Chicago, IL, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Seattle, WA, Vancouver, BC, Palm Coast, FL, Boston, MA, San Francisco, CA, Pensacola, FL, Tempe, AZ, San Diego, CA, Detroit, MI, Philadelphia, PA, Portland, Maine, Tallahase, FL, Fairford Gloucestershire, London, England, Berlin, Germany, Rome, and more are being registered every day! Find events in your area or host your own!
We must speak out against the perversion of our country’s principles. We The People not the corporation, We The People of the United States of America.
It is the time to stand up for our believes or lose the right to even express those as desires let alone have liberty, freedom and the pursuit of happiness!
If we do not stand up for Bradley and other brave whistleblowers, we will be asking for our own demise. These valiant citizens like Bradley and Aaron exposed themselves to the wrath of relentless prosecutors to expose the hidden agenda of those in power. We are indebted to these young men and to all of the other whistleblowers, and we must spread their message as best we can. We must also try harder to pass laws that protect whistleblowers.
Bradley is being DENIED by the so-called “judge” a defense as a whistleblower! She has decreed that Bradley’s MOTIVE will NOT be allowed to be used as part of his defense!!! If anyone knows how to make a big stink about this in Congress, please DO SO!