Manning expected to testify at pretrial hearing
Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier accused of leaking thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents to whistleblower site WikiLeaks, is expected to argue this week that the charges against him should be dropped because he has already been punished enough while in custody awaiting trial.
According to the Associated Press and other news services, Manning was scheduled to appear at a pre-trial hearing in Fort Meade, Md., starting Tuesday afternoon and expected to last until Sunday. The hearing will give Manning his first opportunity to speak publicly since his arrest in Kuwait in May 2010.
Manning is accused of accessing tens of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables, military documents and videos of U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan and Iraq and handing them over to WikiLeaks. He has been charged with a total of 22 crimes, including violation of the Espionage Act, aiding the enemy, and stealing government property. He faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted on all charges.
