released this statement on July 31.
***
The conviction of US Private First Class Bradley Manning for 19 offences, including five counts of espionage, is a travesty of justice.
Manning is not a spy who betrayed his country, but a courageous whistleblower who acted on his conscience when he leaked US government documents to WikiLeaks.
He should have been commended, not prosecuted, for revealing evidence of war crimes, human rights abuses and corruption.
Chelsea Manning
US military lead prosecutor Major Ashden Fein summed up his case against Bradley Manning for "aiding the enemy" with these chilling words: "He was not a troubled young soul. He was a determined soldier with the knowledge, ability and desire to harm the United States in its war effort.
"Your honor, he was not a whistleblower, he was traitor."
We totally disagree.
Manning witnessed a terrible crime and he reported it to the people of the world using the most effective available news medium 鈥 WikiLeaks.
The Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition released this statement on March 4.
***
On March 2, the Sydney Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition (SAWC) entered their 100-people walking float in Sydney鈥檚 Mardi Gras parade. Supporters came from all over Australia to help raise awareness of the plights of Bradley Manning's and Julian Assange.
Participants in the first section of the float held up an image of Bradley and chanted 鈥淔ree Bradley Manning鈥, whilst carrying banners displaying the website bradleymanning.org.
The Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition (SAWC) is inviting people to join their float in this year鈥檚 Mardi Gras parade on March 2.
Spokesperson Linda Pearson said: 鈥淪AWC is entering a float in this year鈥檚 Mardi Gras to raise awareness about Bradley Manning and Julian Assange, and to聽demonstrate our solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex communities. We also wanted to offer our supporters this opportunity to take part in what will be a unique and enjoyable event.
On December 17, activists gathered in Perth鈥檚 city centre for a speakout as part of an international day of action for accused Wikileaks' whistleblower . The action defied attempts by the Perth City Council to close down stalls and take down banners for the action.
In May 2010, 24 year old Bradley Manning was arrested over suspicion of leaking secret US military and government documents to Wikileaks.
After the initial furore of the release of thousands of secret United States embassy cables by WikiLeaks, much of the mainstream media coverage has largely ignored or hidend the most important aspect of the saga 鈥 the damning contents of the secret documents that incriminate the powerful and expose their lies.
Much of the coverage has devolved into negative stories and allegations about the personal lives of WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange and the alleged source of the secret US documents, Bradley Manning.
The editor-in-chief of whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, told the Belfast Telegraph that the United States was working behind the scenes to put WikiLeaks and himself out of business.
A request by the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, to visit alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower, United States soldier Bradley Manning, was denied in April.
At the time, Manning was being held in solitary confinement at Marine Corps Brig, Quantico in Virginia.
Speaking through his lawyer, Manning accused the guards at Quantico of treating him differently to other prisoners and reported he had been forced to strip naked by guards every night.
Mendez said US authorities had 鈥渘ot been receptive to a confidential meeting鈥 with Manning.
Below is an abridged version of a speech by NSW Greens MLC David Shoebridge in Sydney on April 10. The action was part of an international weekend of solidarity calling for an end to the persecution of alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning. **** First, I'd like to acknowledge that this is Aboriginal land that we are standing on. It always has been, always will be Aboriginal land. And in fact sovereignty has never been ceded over this land that we are standing on here today.
The US Army announced on March 2 that it has charged 22-year-old Private First Class Bradley Manning with a further 22 charges. Manning is being held on suspicion of having leaked classified information to WikiLeaks.
One of the new charges is 鈥渁iding the enemy鈥. This means Manning could face the death penalty if convicted.
So far, Pentagon and military officials have found no direct link between Manning and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Time magazine chose to crown Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg as its Person of the Year for 2010. But for so many people, it was Julian Assange, who won the popular vote, who was more definitive of the year that was.
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