Update 7/30/13: ACLU, Amnesty Int’l call verdict attack on whistleblowers: gov’t priorities upside down
Judge Lind reached her verdict today, convicting Bradley Manning on 19 charges that can carry a max sentence of approximately 135 years. However Bradley Manning was found NOT GUILTY of the most serious offense of ‘aiding the enemy’.
The American Civil Liberties Union responds:
NEW YORK – A military court-martial today found Pfc. Bradley Manning guilty of multiple charges under the Espionage Act for giving classified material to WikiLeaks, but not guilty of aiding the enemy.
“While we’re relieved that Mr. Manning was acquitted of the most dangerous charge, the ACLU has long held the view that leaks to the press in the public interest should not be prosecuted under the Espionage Act,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. “Since he already pleaded guilty to charges of leaking information – which carry significant punishment – it seems clear that the government was seeking to intimidate anyone who might consider revealing valuable information in the future.”
And Amnesty International called the governments priorities “upside down” in its statement:
“The government’s priorities are upside down. The US government has refused to investigate credible allegations of torture and other crimes under international law despite overwhelming evidence.
“Yet they decided to prosecute Manning who it seems was trying to do the right thing – reveal credible evidence of unlawful behaviour by the government. You investigate and prosecute those who destroy the credibility of the government by engaging in acts such as torture which are prohibited under the US Constitution and in international law.
Bradley Manning is a hero.
I agree with Amnesty International’s statement regarding “unlawful behavior by the government”. Resources have been spent going after the messenger. Will any effort by the government be made to go after those responsible for the atrocities? If not, the lack of action on the government’s part in pursuing the perpetrators of the atrocities speaks volumes. No worries the world is watching.
So, Manning joins the growing ranks of heroes and martyrs prosecuted under the infamous Espionage Act of 1917.
Here is a partial list:
Kate Richards O’Hare (Socialist, for giving anti-war speech [in North Dakota] during WWI);
the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) (same crime as above);
Eugene V. Debs (Socialist, same crime as above);
Charles Schenck (Socialist, same crime as above; landmark free speech decision by U.S. Supreme Court in Schenck v. United States, [announcing "clear and present danger test"], modified by Brandenburg v. Ohio);
That is just the start of the list (from the Act’s first few years); but the list goes on and on…
Thugs around the world are trying to stifle jornalism and intimidate jornalistd and their sources. In mexico in the past several years well over 100 jornalists have been murdered by the narcos and hay it works. Example, in reynosa tamaulipas one of the dailys entered into an agreement with the narcos, the newspaper agreed to stop reporting on the actividades of the narcos and in exchange the narcos agreed to stop killing their reporters. Those who persue manning, wikileaks and snowden, who bomb the offices of al jezera, in my opinion are of the same stripe as the zetas in mexico with a common goal. To keep us from knowing about their crimes.