Alleged Wikileaks Source Formally Charged

The alleged source of a controversial US military video that ended up on Wikileaks has now been formally charged. Army Spc Bradley Manning is accused of copying classified data from US Army computers and later passing it on to unauthorized persons. The data includes a video file, which is said to be a video Wikileaks revealed, but also other information like 150,000 diplomatic cables.

The case will now go to court but it has not been decided yet if it will be a court-martial or if the proceedings will be made public. If he is found guilty of all charges he may be facing 50 to 70 years in prison. Manning has been in the custody of the US Army since May 29 when he was detained but has only now been formally charged.

Manning is said to have retrieved confidential information and data from US military computers and has sent at least part of it to Wikileaks, the controversial whistleblower site. This includes a famous video of an US helicopter attack in Iraq. The attack left several civilians dead or injured including two Reuters employees. The video was revealed by Wikileaks earlier this year and caused quite a stir.

The man allegedly confessed to former hacker Adrian Lamo to being the source of the video and also of being in possession of some 150,000 diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world. He is also said to be the source of the US Army document assessing Wikileak as a threat and offering ways to discredit the site. The former hacker turned him in to the authorities claiming that he feared his country’s security.

Wikileaks says it can’t determine whether Manning is really the source of the video since it does not keep records of its sources. What’s more, the site claims it has not received any of the alleged diplomatic cables. However, at least one from the US embassy in Iceland has been published on the site.