(Newswire.net – August 21, 2013) Portland, OR – Manning should be eligible for parole after serving one-third of his sentence. He does receive credit for time served plus an additional 112 days.
Manning will also receive a dishonorable discharge, a forfeiture of pay and a rank reduction from private first class to private.
Manning stood at attention during the reading of the sentence with little show of emotion.
The sentence was unprecedented according to Elizabeth Goiten, of the National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. “It’s more than 17 times the next longest sentence ever served” for providing secret material to the media, Goitein said. “It is in line with sentences for paid espionage for the enemy.”
Back in 2010, Manning handed WikiLeaks upwards of 700,000 classified files, videos and cables. His work was as a low-level intelligence analyst in Baghdad in Baghdad. The leak raised quite a bit of international attention for WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, as well as the ire of the Obama administration.
This case showed how difficult secret keeping is in today’s techno-savvy populace and their use of the internet. There is also strong support for Manning’s actions from anti-secrecy groups. So much so that one U.S. group stated that Manning should be a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. Amnesty International has already called on President Obama to commute Manning’s sentence.
While it is likely that Manning will be imprisoned at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the trial took place at Fort Meade, Maryland. The super-secret National Security Agency (NSA) makes its home there and finds itself under scrutiny as well.