WASHINGTON - January 4 -  

What: Pretrial hearing, U.S. vs PFC Bradley Manning
Where: Reece Rd. and Rt. 175, Fort Meade, MD
When: January 8-11, 2013

PFC Bradley Manning, the whistle-blower on trial for passing hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the transparency website WikiLeaks.org, returns to Ft. Meade, MD, from January 8-11, 2013, for another pretrial hearing. The government prosecutors will argue their motion to preclude discussion of PFC Manning’s motive from the merits portion of his trial. If granted by military judge Col. Denise Lind, this would undercut PFC Manning’s long-argued whistle-blower contention: that he released these documents to uncover crimes and abuse and to better inform the American public.

This hearing could also see a ruling from Judge Lind on the defense motion to dismiss charges based on the abusive treatment PFC Manning endured at the Quantico Marine brig prison. PFC Manning was kept in solitary confinement for over nine months, against the consistent recommendations of brig psychiatrists. If Judge Lind finds this treatment was punitive, she could throw out the charges against PFC Manning, or she could award him multiplied credit for sentencing.

PFC Manning’s court-martial trial is currently scheduled to begin March 6, 2013. Following next week’s hearing, PFC Manning is scheduled to return to Fort Meade on January 16 and 17, to conclude the defense’s motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. When that motion is argued, PFC Manning will have been awaiting trial in prison for nearly 1,000 days.