14 DAY TRIAL // WikiLeaks was the sole beneficiary of the documents leaked by Bradley Manning and, now that a verdict has been reached into his case, it doesn’t feel too optimistic about the whistleblower’s fate.
Manning might have been acquitted of aiding the enemy, the biggest charge brought to him, but he’s been found guilty of 20 other counts, which could sum up to 136 years behind bars.
The 25-year-old has been convicted of five counts of espionage, as well as theft and computer fraud.
The sentencing will begin on Wednesday morning, so it won’t be long before we know how long he has to stay in prison for leaking important army documents and diplomatic notes.
“Well, of course I’m pleased that the judge decided to throw out the most serious charges of aiding the enemy, which of course was ludicrous to start with and would’ve meant, basically, that proper journalism was treason. However, we have now 20 charges that he’s found guilty of and which I believe, could mean up to 100 years imprisonment,” WikiLeaks’ Kristinn Hrafnsson told RT.
The WikiLeaks spokesperson said, however, that Manning isn’t going to jail in vain and that things have changed since he made his exposures.
“Things have changed. We have seen now a new era beginning and expansion of the limits of journalism. An ear that of course began prior to 2010, but with the WikiLeaks revelation in 2010 the world saw a new opportunity and a chance for information getting out bypassing the mainstream media, who often act as lapdogs of administrations – instead of being the watchdogs they should be,” Hrafnsson said.
Furthermore, this trend is continued by Snowden’s actions, who informed everyone about the grave attack on their privacy by putting a spotlight on NSA programs such as PRISM and the metadata collection project.