Deal on bin Laden evidence made in WikiLeaks case
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Print | Originally published: May 21, 2013 - 12:28 pm
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) - Lawyers in the court-martial of an Army private who gave U.S. secrets to WikiLeaks say they've reached a deal on evidence involving Osama bin Laden.
They announced the agreement at a pretrial hearing Tuesday for Army Pfc. Bradley Manning.
It involves evidence that the slain al-Qaida leader saw some of the classified information that Manning has admitted he caused to be published on the WikiLeaks website.
If the judge approves the deal and allows the evidence at Manning's trial starting June 3, a member of the Navy SEAL team that killed bin Laden may not have to testify.
Prosecutors contend Manning aided the enemy by sending the documents to WikiLeaks.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
The government will accept an Army private's guilty plea to a lesser version of one of the 22 counts he faces for sending more than 700,000 classified U.S. documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, a military prosecutor said during a pretrial hearing Tuesday.
But prosecutors still will try to convict Pfc. Bradley Manning at his trial next month of other serious offenses, including aiding the enemy, which carries a maximum life sentence.
Army Maj. Ashden Fein told the military judge, Col. Denise Lind, that prosecutors had changed their minds about trying to convict Manning of violating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in connection with the release of a State Department cable known as Reykjavik-13. WilkiLeaks posted the cable in early 2010 about a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, summarizing U.S. Embassy discussions with Icelandic officials about the country's financial troubles.
Manning has acknowledged sending the cable to WikiLeaks after he found it on a secure government computer network while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. According to his courtroom confession on Feb. 28, Manning believed the cable indicated the United States was refusing to help the Icelandic government "due to the lack of long-term geopolitical benefit."
The cable was the basis for a charge alleging violation of a federal law, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Manning pleaded guilty in February to lesser versions of that and other offenses, acknowledging violations of military law that, in total, carry maximum prison term of 20 years. Prosecutors said in March they would continue to seek conviction for the more serious offenses.
Fein did not give a reason for the change.
Manning's trial is scheduled to begin June 3.
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