Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy, Guilty of Espionage

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By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2013-07-30 17:11:52 UTC

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Bradley Manning, the source of WikiLeaks' most famous revelations, has been found not guilty of aiding the enemy. He was, however, found guilty of other charges.

Col. Denise Lind, the military judge presiding over his court martial, announced on Tuesday the verdict of perhaps the most-awaited legal battles this decade. The ruling comes after eight weeks of trial and more than three years since hacker Adrian Lamo turned in Manning to the U.S. government.

See also: Julian Assange Launches WikiLeaks Party in Australia

During the trial, the U.S. government portrayed Manning as a leaker who maliciously siphoned sensitive documents to Julian Assange, knowing they would end up in the hands and digital archives of Al Qaeda and other enemies of the United States.

On the other side of the courtroom, David E. Coombs, Manning's lead lawyer, argued that Manning was a good-natured kid, who didn't intend to do any harm — in other words, he was just an idealist whistleblower.

Manning already pleaded guilty to 10 charges of which he was accused. He admitted to leaking the Afghanistan and Iraq war logs and the trove of diplomatic cables dubbed "Cablegate." Manning also stepped forward as the source of "Collateral Murder," the video that catapulted WikiLeaks to worldwide notoriety.

Image: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Topics: bradley manning, julian assange, U.S., US & World, whistleblower, whistleblowing, WikiLeaks, World