June 1, 2013

19:05 GMT: Manning has decided not to have his case heard by a jury. This has led to speculation that his lawyers believe a military jury would not be sympathetic to someone many regard as a traitor. PJ Crowley a State Department spokesman who was forced to resign following the military's alleged harsh treatment of Manning while in custody said "A private first class does not get to decide whether a conversation between a high-level US official and the King of a Gulf nation should be made public." 

19:00 GMT: Two of America's best known champions of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, Floyd Abrams and Yochai Benkler, wrote that if this assertion was to be accepted then no media outlet could safely publish leaked material. 

18:58 GMT: Protesters at Forte Meade are shouting 'We are all Bradley Manning'!  

18:45 GMT: Over 3000 protesters are now at Forte Meade with Code Pink putting up a strong showing.

1830 GMT: The prosecution in the Manning Case is arguing that because he leaked material to Wikileaks, which he would have known could be read by Al-Qaeda, he was in effect communicating with the enemy.  

18:15 GMT: Manning has denied the more serious charges under the Espionage Act for which he would be imprisoned for life. The prosecution has said it will not pursue the death penalty. 

18:00 GMT: Manning has pleaded guilty to 10 of 22 charges in relation to information he passed on to Wikileaks and faces up to 20 years in prison. 

17:50 GMT: Anonymous, the group of hacktivists, has announced a twitterstorm for Manning to get higher trends for the cause. The hashtag #FreeBrad is proposed.

17:30 GMT: Crowd funded stenographers who were set to create daily trial transcripts of the trial have been denied press passes to the court martial. The Freedom of the Press Foundation has hired one citing the military's limits on access to the proceedings viewed as one of the most important trials in 40 years.

More here http://rt.com/usa/bradley-manning-protest-support-117/