Protesters outside the gates of US military intelligence base Fort Meade hold signs in support of whistleblower US Army soldier Bradley Manning on June 1, 2013
As protest rallies in support of US Army whistleblower soldier Bradley Manning continue at a major military intelligence base near Washington and in other countries, activists have blasted the negative portrayal of his case by American media and politicians.
Protest rallies continued Sunday at the Fort Meade military base, where Manning faces a court martial on Monday and a likely life-imprisonment sentence for leaking classified US data to WikiLeaks whistleblower website, including video footage of indiscriminate killing of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan by occupying American troops.
This is while human rights activist and writer Craig Murray has challenged US militaryâ„¢s vigorous efforts to punish Manning while allowing perpetrators of civilian killings in Iraq and Afghanistan to walk free, further insisting that Manningâ„¢s actions had not at all had the consequences he is being accused of by the American government, politicians and mainstream media.
Å“Nobody has been able to point to a single instance of anybody being harmed as a result of his disclosures. Nothing he has done in any away approaches the level of criminality of American soldiers who were deliberately shooting and killing soldiers in Iraq,” Murray said in an interview with RT published Sunday.
Over 3,000 protesters gathered outside the huge Fort Meade military and intelligence installation in the US State of Maryland on Saturday in solidarity with Manning, flashing signs reading, Å“Bradley Manning: Jailed for exposing war crimes.”
Demonstrations were also held on Saturday and Sunday in more than a dozen other countries worldwide, including Canada, France, Germany and South Korea, to protest Manningâ„¢s trial in a military court.
The 25-year-old former US Army intelligence analyst was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq for allegedly leaking more than 700,000 military field reports from Iraq and Afghanistan and US diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.
Manning faces 22 charges, including Å“aiding the enemy.” He could face life in prison, if found guilty on all counts.
To sentence Manning to a life term, however, the US military court will reportedly have to prove that he was associating with the shadowy al-Qaeda terror group and its regional affiliates by directly transferring information to them.
MFB/MFB
This article originally appeared on: Press TV