A U.S. soldier goes on trial Monday for allegedly leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the WikiLeaks website.
Army Private Bradley Manning's court-martial before a military judge will take place at Fort Mead, Maryland. Manning is already facing 20 years in prison after pleading guilty back in February to 10 of the 22 total charges brought against him. But, he faces a life sentence if convicted on the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.
The 25-year-old Manning was arrested in 2010 while serving as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. He has admitted giving WikiLeaks scores of diplomatic cables and battlefield reports from the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying he wanted to spark public debate on U.S. policy.
The leaked information includes videos of a U.S. helicopter strike in Baghdad that killed civilians.
Manning's backers say he exposed mistakes the Pentagon would never admit. But prosecutors will argue that he put the lives of U.S. soldiers in danger.
Army Private Bradley Manning's court-martial before a military judge will take place at Fort Mead, Maryland. Manning is already facing 20 years in prison after pleading guilty back in February to 10 of the 22 total charges brought against him. But, he faces a life sentence if convicted on the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.
The 25-year-old Manning was arrested in 2010 while serving as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. He has admitted giving WikiLeaks scores of diplomatic cables and battlefield reports from the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying he wanted to spark public debate on U.S. policy.
The leaked information includes videos of a U.S. helicopter strike in Baghdad that killed civilians.
Manning's backers say he exposed mistakes the Pentagon would never admit. But prosecutors will argue that he put the lives of U.S. soldiers in danger.