A military judge
rejected Friday dropping a slew of charges against WikiLeaks suspect Bradley
Manning and said his trial would likely be delayed by two months until
November.
Judge Denise
Lind denied defense motions to dismiss 10 of 22 charges against Manning for
allegedly spilling a trove of US intelligence secrets to the WikiLeaks
website.
The judge
rejected defense claims that eight charges of unauthorized possession and
disclosure of classified information were "unconstitutionally vague," noting
that the Supreme Court had rejected similar claims and had concluded there was
no uncertainty in the law.
"The court finds
there's no uncertainty in the statute," she said.
On the third and
final day of a first slab of hearings, Lind also denied the defense's bid to
drop two additional charges that Manning exceeded his authorization to use a
Defense Department intranet system.
Lind said the
military trial, which had been scheduled for September 21, would now be pushed
back either to November or January so that more preliminary hearings could be
held, the next on June 25. AP
Bradley Manning,
24, could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted of aiding the enemy
by handing hundreds of thousands of classified documents -- including military
logs from Iraq and Afghanistan and sensitive diplomatic cables -- to the
WikiLeaks website. He has not yet entered a plea.
indiatimes.com The Welsh-born
US army intelligence analyst was transferred a year ago from a military prison
at Quantico, Virginia - where he had been imprisoned since July 2010 - to
another in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. capitalfm.co.ke During Manning's
eight months of solitary confinement at Quantico, he was subjected to "cruel,
inhumane and degrading treatment," according to a UN special rapporteur.
indiatimes.com Manning is
painted as a traitor for his alleged role in the worst ever breach of US
intelligence, which embarrassed Washington and dismayed US allies.
spacewar.com
AN/ARA
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