Rights group condemns Bradley Manning sentence

Today, war crimes whistleblower Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks which exposed U.S. war crimes and other government misconduct.

In response, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued this noteworthy statement condemning the sentence as well as the law it was based on:

"We are outraged that a whistleblower and a patriot has been sentenced on a conviction under the Espionage Act. The government has stretched this archaic and discredited law to send an unmistakable warning to potential whistleblowers and journalists willing to publish their information. We can only hope that Manning’s courage will continue to inspire others who witness state crimes to speak up.

"This show trial was a frontal assault on the First Amendment, from the way the prosecution twisted Manning’s actions to blur the distinction between whistleblowing and spying to the government’s tireless efforts to obstruct media coverage of the proceedings. It is a travesty of justice that Manning, who helped bring to light the criminality of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, is being punished while the alleged perpetrators of the crimes he exposed are not even investigated. Every aspect of this case sets a dangerous precedent for future prosecutions of whistleblowers – who play an essential role in democratic government by telling us the truth about government wrongdoing – and we fear for the future of our country in the wake of this case.

"We must channel our outrage and continue building political pressure for Manning's freedom. President Obama should pardon Bradley Manning, and if he refuses, a presidential pardon must be an election issue in 2016."

Indeed. But I shall not hold my breath.