GI claims trial delays in WikiLeaks case warrant dismissal of all charges at pretrial hearing
Posted Jan 16, 2013 02:21:44 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
FORT MEADE, Md. – An Army private charged with sending U.S. secrets to WikiLeaks contends that lengthy delays have violated his right to a speedy trial.
Pfc. Bradley Manning returns to Fort Meade for a pretrial hearing Wednesday. He is seeking dismissal of all charges.
It’s been two years and eight months since Manning was detained in Iraq. He is accused of sending hundreds of thousands of classified war logs and diplomatic cables to the anti-secrecy website. His trial is set to begin in June.
Defence attorney David Coombs says the commander of the Military District of Washington rubber-stamped all prosecution requests to delay Manning’s arraignment. Coombs says other periods were improperly excluded from the speedy-trial clock.
He says the delays made a mockery of a requirement that an accused be arraigned within 120 days.
