No clemency for Manning

Bradley Manning, now known as Chelsea Manning, is seen in Fort Meade, Maryland. File picture: Patrick Semansky

Bradley Manning, now known as Chelsea Manning, is seen in Fort Meade, Maryland. File picture: Patrick Semansky

Published Apr 15, 2014

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New York - A US Army general has denied clemency for Chelsea Manning and upheld the former soldier's 35-year prison sentence for providing secret files to WikiLeaks in the biggest breach of classified materials in US history, the Army said on Monday.

Major General Jeffrey S Buchanan's decision to uphold the findings of Manning's 2013 court-martial will automatically send the case to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, an Army statement said.

The soldier, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was working as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad in 2010 when she gave the pro-transparency site WikiLeaks 700 000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts.

The trove included a 2007 video of a US Apache helicopter firing at suspected insurgents in Iraq, killing a dozen people, including two Reuters news staffers.

Manning pleaded guilty to 10 charges but was convicted last year on 20 counts, including espionage and theft.

She was found not guilty of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy.

Manning's request for leniency followed an application for a presidential pardon filed last September, where her defence team maintained that she had released information to the media for the public good.

Manning's sentence was the longest ever handed down for turning over secrets to the media. - Reuters

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