Bradley Manning, the source of WikiLeaks' most famous revelations, has been found not guilty of aiding the enemy, the most serious of 21 counts he faced. Manning was, however, convicted on five counts of violating the espionage act and five counts of theft.
After 16 hours of deliberation over three days, Judge Army Col. Denise Lind announced on Tuesday the verdict (read in full) of perhaps the most-awaited legal battle this decade. The ruling comes after eight weeks of trial and more than three years since hacker Adrian Lamo turned in Manning to the U.S. government.
During the trial, the U.S. government portrayed Manning as a leaker who maliciously siphoned sensitive documents to Julian Assange, knowing they would end up in the hands and digital archives of Al Qaeda and other enemies of the United States.
On the other side of the courtroom, David E. Coombs, Manning's lead lawyer, argued that Manning was a good-natured kid, who didn't intend to do any harm -- in other words, he was just an idealist whistleblower.
Manning already pleaded guilty to 10 charges of which he was accused. He admitted to leaking the Afghanistan and Iraq war logs and the trove of diplomatic cables dubbed "Cablegate." Manning also stepped forward as the source of "Collateral Murder," the video that catapulted WikiLeaks to worldwide notoriety.
Sentencing will begin on Wednesday. Manning faces a possible sentence of 130 years.
Shortly after Tuesday's verdict, the Manning family released a statement. According to The Guardian, Manning's aunt, who's based in the U.S., wrote the comment:
While we are obviously disappointed in today’s verdicts, we are happy that Judge Lind agreed with us that Brad never intended to help America’s enemies in any way. Brad loves his country and was proud to wear its uniform.
We want to express our deep thanks to David Coombs, who has dedicated three years of his life to serving as lead counsel in Brad’s case. We also want to thank Brad’s Army defense team, Major Thomas Hurley and Captain Joshua Tooman, for their tireless efforts on Brad’s behalf, and Brad’s first defense counsel, Captain Paul Bouchard, who was so helpful to all of us in those early confusing days and first suggested David Coombs as Brad’s counsel. Most of all, we would like to thank the thousands of people who rallied to Brad’s cause, providing financial and emotional support throughout this long and difficult time, especially Jeff Paterson and Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network. Their support has allowed a young Army private to defend himself against the full might of not only the US Army but also the US Government.
Amanda Wills contributed to reporting.