from www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julian-assange/julian-assange-bradley-manning-trial_b_3384436.html
Manning: "For me, I stopped keeping track," he told the court last November. "I didn't know whether night was day or day was night. And my world became very, very small. It became these cages... I remember thinking I'm going to die."
After protests from his lawyers, Bradley Manning
was then transferred to a brig at a US Marine Corps Base in Quantico, VA, where
- infamously - he was subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment at
the hands of his captors - a formal finding by the UN. Isolated in a tiny cell
for twenty-three out of twenty-four hours a day, he was deprived of his
glasses, sleep, blankets and clothes, and prevented from exercising. All of
this - it has been determined by a military judge - "punished" him
before he had even stood trial.
Bradley Manning may not give evidence as to his
stated intent (exposing war crimes and their context), nor may he present any
witness or document that shows that no harm resulted from his actions. Imagine
you were put on trial for murder. In Bradley Manning's court, you would be
banned from showing that it was a matter of self-defence, because any argument
or evidence as to intent is banned. You would not be able to show that the
'victim' is, in fact, still alive, because that would be evidence as to the
lack of harm.
The trial is to proceed for twelve straight
weeks: a fully choreographed extravaganza, with a 141-strong cast of
prosecution witnesses. The defense was denied permission to call all but a
handful of witnesses. Three weeks ago, in closed session, the court actually
held a rehearsal. Even experts on military law have called this unprecedented.
To convict Bradley Manning, it will be necessary
for the US government to conceal crucial parts of his trial. Key portions of
the trial are to be conducted in secrecy: 24 prosecution witnesses will give
secret testimony in closed session, permitting the judge to claim that secret
evidence justifies her decision. But closed justice is no justice at all.
But what about "aiding" in that most
serious charge, "aiding the enemy"? Don't forget that this is a show
trial. The court has banned any evidence of intent. The court has banned any
evidence of the outcome, the lack of harm, the lack of any victim. It has ruled
that the government doesn't need to show that any "aiding" occurred
and the prosecution doesn't claim it did. The judge has stated that it is enough
for the prosecution to show that al-Qaeda, like the rest of the world, reads
WikiLeaks.
"Liberty cannot be preserved without a
general knowledge among the people," wrote John Adams, "who have a
right and a desire to know."
