Bradley Manning Trial Could Have Complicated Verdict

Bradley Manning will learn his fate Tuesday for charges of aiding the enemy, but legal experts say the Army Pfc. accused of giving secrets to WikiLeaks could bring an unusual conclusion.

Manning faces 21 counts of espionage, computer fraud, and theft and faces a possible life sentence for a charge of aiding the enemy. A military judge hearing the court-martial case of the former analyst will announce her decision on Tuesday.

Legal experts say it will be a test to see how laws on espionage written during past eras will be applied in a digital age.

“Most of the aiding-the-enemy charges historically have had to do with POWs who gave information to the Japanese during World War II, or to Chinese communists during Korea, or during the Vietnam War,” Duke law school professor and former Air Force judge advocate Scott Silliman told The Associated Press.

Bradley Manning has admitted to sending more than 470,000 battle reports from Iraq and Afghanistan and 250,000 diplomatic cables from the State Department. Most of the material was published on WikiLeaks, including footage of a 2007 helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed nine men, one of which was a Reuters photographer.

In closing remarks last week, prosecutors said Manning was a traitor. He was portrayed as a “calculating” and “self-interested” young man who only wanted to make a name for himself and become famous.

The Bradley Manning verdict could have an impact on the fate of another whistleblower, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. US officials are trying to obtain Snowden, who is seeking asylum in Latin America against prosecution.

Supporters of Manning and Snowden have drawn similarities between the two and see them not as traitors but as conscientious whistleblowers, willing to risk prosecution to uncover abuses.

The Bradley Manning verdict is expected to be delivered on Tuesday afternoon.,