US Army Private Bradley Manning faces trial more than three years after his arrest for transmitting 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks. The US is pursuing further accusations of aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence.<\/p>\n
\n 13:11 GMT:<\/b> Around 350 aimed to secure one of the 70
\n available spaces to observe the trial.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n 13:00 GMT:<\/b> Proceedings begin at the trial of Private
\n Bradley Manning. ‘Truth’ T-shirts are reportedly banned from the
\n courtroom, with their wearers being directed to turn them inside
\n out, as influencing judicial opinion is not allowed.
\n <\/p>\n
\n 13:00 GMT:<\/b> RT starts live updates from the courtroom. RT\u2019s
\n own correspondent, Andrew Blake, is reporting live from Fort
\n Meade.
\n <\/p>\n
\n Manning, 25, has already pleaded guilty to charges of leaking
\n information to the anti-secrecy website, which alone could
\n confine him to prison for 20 years. However, it is a small
\n fraction of the further 21 counts the prosecutors are seeking to
\n convict him on, one of which includes allegedly aiding of the
\n enemy, which he did not believe he was doing.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The court-martial trial is being held at Fort Meade military base
\n in Baltimore. Military tribunals are frequently held in extremely
\n secretive conditions. He has reportedly opted to have it heard by
\n a judge instead of a jury and the final verdict could take as
\n long as three months to be announced.\n <\/p>\n
Manning stated at a pre-trial hearing in February that the scenes
\n he witnessed left him deeply unsettled.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cThe most alarming aspect of the video\u201d<\/i> was the
\n \u201cseemingly delightful bloodlust the aerial weapons team
\n happened to have,\u201d<\/i> he said, suggesting the soldiers were akin
\n to children \u201ctorturing ants with a magnifying glass.\u201d<\/i>\n <\/p>\n
Worldwide demonstrations in support of Manning took place over
\n the weekend at Fort Meade, Toronto, Berlin, Paris and even South
\n Korea\u2019s Seoul.
\n <\/p>\n