August 21, 2013

Well, it wasn't the 60 years the government was asking for:

A military judge on Wednesday morning sentenced Army Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

Manning, 25, was convicted last month of multiple charges, including violations of the Espionage Act for copying and disseminating the documents while serving as an intelligence analyst at a forward operating base in Iraq. He faced up to 90 years in prison. Manning, 25, faced up to 90 years in prison for leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks.

According to the military, Manning is required to serve one-third of the sentence before he becomes eligible for parole.

Judge Denise Lind, an Army colonel, said Manning was dishonorably discharged. Manning stood at attention, flanked by his attorneys, to hear the verdict with his aunt, Debra Van Alstyne, sitting behind him. He did not appear to react when the sentence was read.

The decision was immediately condemned by the American Civil Liberties Union.

“When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

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