Manning Ruled Competent to Stand for Court Martial
- By Kim Zetter
- April 29, 2011 |
- 1:10 pm |
- Categories: Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning has been deemed competent to face a court martial, according to news reports.
A panel of experts, convened for a so-called 706 board evaluation, determined that the former Army intelligence analyst was both physically and mentally fit to stand trial, Army officials disclosed on Friday. The decision clears the way for an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a Grand Jury, to determine if a court martial trial against Manning should proceed.
The 706 board had been requested by Manning’s attorney, David Coombs, to determine if Manning suffered a ?severe mental disease or defect? at the time of his alleged leaking. Coombs said last year that Army records showed the military had been concerned that Manning might be suicidal during his deployment, and ?did document prolonged periods of disassociated behavior, quite a bit of nonresponsiveness from Pfc. Manning. And, again, that progressed from the very beginning of the deployment and deteriorated somewhat toward the end.? The Army’s concern was serious enough that Manning’s superior had ordered Manning’s firearm disabled.
Manning, 23, is facing 22 charges for illegally downloading classified information and passing it to a third party. The charges include allegations of espionage and unauthorized computer access under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Manning, who has been in prison since his arrest last May, was removed from solitary confinement this week, after experts at the Leavenworth facility where he is imprisoned in Kansas determined he was fit to live and mix with other inmates at the facility.
(Image: Anti-war protesters rally for Bradley Manning in Quantico, Virginia last year. Creative Commons photo courtesy�mar is sea Y/Flickr)
Kim Zetter is a senior reporter at Wired covering cybercrime, privacy, security and civil liberties.Follow @KimZetter on Twitter.
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