US military judge finds soldier in WikiLeaks case not guilty of aiding enemy

Private Bradley Manning has been found not guilty of “aiding the enemy” but convicted of most of the other counts, including espionage and theft. He was on trial for supplying nearly three quarters of a million classified documents on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to anti-secrecy website Wikileaks. His sentence will be read out tomorrow, he faces a sentence of up to 130 years. Manning pleaded guilty to some of the more minor charges but denied “aiding the enemy”. Speaking earlier this year he explained: “I believe that if the general public … had access to the information … this could spark a domestic debate as to the role of the military and foreign policy in general. I felt I accomplished something that would allow me to have a clear conscience.” The verdict comes on a significant day in whistleblower history. On July 30, 1778 the US Congress passed its first whistleblower protection law that stated: “it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States, as well as all other inhabitants thereof, to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds or misdemeanors committed by an officers or persons in the service of these states, which may come to their knowledge.” Source: Euronews.com