Quick Update on Bradley Manning’s Case (January 22 2012)
This week a few important things happened:
- A second recommendation to court-martial Bradley was sent to Maj. Gen. Michael S. Linnington, commander of the Military District of Washington, who will make the final decision.
- The Bradley Manning Support Network started a campaign: Call Maj. Gen. Linnington and tell him to drop the ‘aiding the enemy’ charge against Bradley.
- The US Government again refused to allow the production of key defense witnesses.
- Bradley Manning’s defense filed a new discovery request for information on damage assessments by the US government regarding WikiLeaks.
- Alexa O’Brien, who is investigating the US government’s investigation on Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, analysed the lack of impartiality of Investigating Officer Almanza, the judge at Bradley Manning’s Article 32 pre-trial hearing, and established a likely connection between him and intelligence contractors investigating WikiLeaks.
- Salon provided a concise explanation of the court-martial process Bradley Manning is likely to face, by a military law expert who expresses concern over the independence of assigned military judges due to court-martial tenure only lasting three years.