Bradley Manning trial postponed amid debate over pre-trial confinement [View all]
Source: The Guardian
As defence looks to get charges thrown out over treatment, judge says trial will not begin until March at the earliest
Matt Williams and agencies
Sunday 2 December 2012 13.21 EST
... Military judge Colonel Denise Lind announced Sunday that Manning's trial, which had been set to begin on 4 February, would now take place from 16 March at the earliest.
Lind is currently hearing evidence relating to restrictions placed on Manning during a nine month stint in military cells in Quantico, Virginia. Defence lawyers have claimed that the extreme custodial regime he was placed under – which included being confined to a 6ft-by-8ft cell for all but 20 minutes every day and being deprived of his clothes at night – amounted to unlawful pre-trial punishment ...
The article 13 hearing current taking place is just one of several ways in which Manning and his defence team are seeking to reduce the severity of any possible sentence. Under the most severe of the 22 counts he faces – "aiding the enemy" – he could be detained in military custody for the rest of his life.
In the hope of avoiding that fate, Manning has effectively admitted that he transferred government information to WikiLeaks while he was working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/02/bradley-manning-trial-postponed-march
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