Bradley Manning to Testify on ‘Unlawful Pretrial Punishment’ He Endured

A comprehensive motion containing allegations and evidence from the defense for Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of releasing classified information to WikiLeaks, was filed on July 27. The 110-page motion, which Manning’s defense lawyer said should “shock the conscience of the court” during a motion hearing this month, included a request to the Fort Meade court to dismiss all charges with prejudice because he was subjected to “illegal pretrial punishment” while imprisoned at the Quantico Marine Brig for nine months.

The defense’s motion was not approved for publishing; however, two other motions involving the defense’s request for witnesses to appear during argument on “unlawful pretrial punishment” were posted to the defense’s website. One of the motions reveals Manning will likely take the stand to give testimony on how he was subjected to “unlawful pretrial punishment”—what many have called cruel and inhuman treatment or even torture. His testimony may include what he knows about a video of his interrogation at Quantico, which the government claims does not exist.

Argument on this motion (known as an Article 13 motion) was scheduled for the next pretrial motion hearing, August 27 to August 31. Coombs had scheduled his first public speaking engagement at the Georgetown Law University on August 26, where he would do a presentation specifically on how Manning had been treated at Quantico. But, on Friday the defense’s website reported it had received “additional information” that would impact their argument. The “information” would require “additional witnesses to be called.” The argument on Manning’s “unlawful pretrial punishment” was postponed to October 1 through October 5.

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