Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of having been the source of the massive WikiLeaks dump of state secrets, is one step closer towards the possibility of spending the rest of his life in military confinement after the officer who presided over his pre-trial hearing recommended he be sent to a full court martial.
Colonel Paul Almanza, the investigating officer at last month's hearing in Fort Meade, Maryland, has written to his superiors recommending that all 22 charges against Manning be referred to a general court martial – the most serious military trial. An announcement from the military district of Washington said that Almanza had found that "reasonable grounds exist to believe that the accused committed the offenses alleged."
A final decision will be made by colonel Carl Coffman of the special court martial convening authority, though he has the option of passing it further up the chain of command to major general Michael Linnington.
The outcome of the pre-trial hearing means that a full military trial is almost certain to follow, and is likely to be held within the next three to four months. That will set the scene for what promises to be a dramatic clash of wills between the Obama administration and the military high command on the one hand, and Bradley Manning and his forceful defence lawyer David Coombs on the other. » | Ed Pilkington in New York | Thursday, January 12, 2012
