WikiLeaks Suspect May Be Charged with 'Aiding the Enemy'

A U.S. military judge is poised to decide Thursday if WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning can be charged with "aiding the enemy" for allegedly leaking classified documents to the website.

Manning's lawyers asked the judge at pre-trial hearings this week to dismiss the most serious charge facing their client, arguing the government must drop the count unless it can prove the U.S. Army private had "evil intent" to help al-Qaida when he allegedly passed files to WikiLeaks.

Otherwise, defense lawyers argue, the government's case implies any soldier could be prosecuted for espionage if they spilled secrets online or discussed sensitive information with news reporters.

Prosecutors counter that Manning's intent is not at issue and that the government only needed to prove that the intelligence analyst knew al-Qaida would see the leaked the information on the anti-secrecy WikiLeaks site.

At Wednesday's hearing, Manning's civilian counsel, David Coombs, insisted that under the government's interpretation, a soldier could face the charge simply for telling a Washington Post reporter about high suicide rates, low morale or pervasive post-traumatic stress disorder in his unit without authorization.

The 24-year-old Manning faces a possible life sentence if convicted on the aiding the enemy charge, known as article 104 in the military justice code.

The courtroom fight illustrates the legal dilemmas raised by leaks in the digital era and the prosecution's view has dismayed rights groups, who say the government's approach violates the U.S. Constitution.

"The implications of the government's argument are breathtaking," said Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"In its zeal to throw the book at Manning, the government has so overreached that its 'success' would turn thousands of loyal soldiers into criminals," Wizner wrote on ACLU's website.

Manning is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of military field reports from Iraq and Afghanistan and U.S. diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks between November 2009 and May 2010, when he served as a low-ranking intelligence analyst in Iraq.

The judge, Colonel Denise Lind, on Thursday rejected defense motions asking for some of the other 22 counts to be tossed out or consolidated, after Manning's lawyers alleged the prosecution had "over-charged" their client.

Given the "volume of records" leaked, the counts were appropriate and prosecutors had not "piled on the charges" as the defense argued, Lind said.

Manning, who appeared in court clad in a blue Army dress uniform, has yet to enter a plea in the case. His trial is due to begin on September 21.

The U.S. army intelligence analyst was transferred a year ago from a military prison at Quantico, Virginia -- where he had been imprisoned since July 2010 -- to another in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

During Manning's eight months of solitary confinement at Quantico, he was subjected to "cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment," according to a U.N. special rapporteur.

The WikiLeaks document dump embarrassed the U.S. government, and officials said the leaks threatened national security.

But supporters view Manning as a political prisoner and praise WikiLeaks as a vital whistleblower uncovering government secrecy.

"Bradley Manning has now spent over 700 days in pre-trial confinement, in clear violation of his right to a speedy trial," said Kevin Zeese, a legal adviser from the Bradley Manning Support Network.

"Through their own incompetence -- whether deliberate or not -- the Pentagon's lawyers are only exacerbating an unjust persecution of a whistle-blower."