Bradley Manning , who was convicted of turning over state secrets to the transparency advocacy website WikiLeaks, said on Wednesday that he was sorry for his actions and for hurting the United States.
“I’m sorry I hurt people. I’m sorry that I hurt the United States,” Manning said during the sentencing portion of his court martial.
“I’m apologizing for the unexpected results of my actions. The last three years have been a learning experience for me.”
Manning also said that he knew what he was doing, but not that leaking information would cause any harm, reports NBC News. If he could do it again, he said from the witness stand, he would have done things differently.
“I should have worked more aggressively within the system. Unfortunately, I can’t go back and change things,” he said.
He also said that he understands that he must “pay the price” for his choices. He did not appear to be reading from notes, and wrapped up his statement in under four minutes, reports The Guardian .
The 25-year-old former Army intelligence analyst faces up to 90 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to Julian Assange’s anti-secrecy website Wikileaks. He was convicted in July of espionage and other charges, but not of aiding the enemy, the harshest charge leveled against him.
Still, Bradley Manning faces up to 90 years in prison for his actions. His statement Wednesday is thought to be part of his defense team’s effort to get the judge to issue a lighter sentence against him in the coming days.
[Image: Wikimedia Commons ]