On July 30, Mr. Bradley Manning, who leaked thousands of secret files belong to the US government to Wikileaks, was under sentence of maximum 136 years imprisonment.
Bradley Manning faces 136-year jail sentence for leaking files
Mr. Manning was found guilty of the 20 crimes identified by the court. The total term of the imprisonment will be over his rest life. This 25 year old man hardly gets back into society.
However, he was acquitted of aiding the enemy, extremely heavy crime. The court did not admit that his behavior was equal to an act of terrorism. This verdict struck the US government.
The US administration has pursued some other whistleblowers. The aim of the government is prevention, or threatening against more leakage cases. It is painful for the government to fail to make an example of a guilty case of aiding the enemy.
The Wall Street journal: Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy
Nonetheless, it is horrible that a person who committed only a leakage is going to be jailed for life. Mr. Manning did not kill any person, nor damaged any property. After knowing that, Mr. Edward Snowden will never be back to the US forever.
This trial took only 8 weeks, since it began in June 3. Even if 3 years had passed after the incident, it is quite speedy. In Japan, it would take many more years.
It is also surprising that Mr. Manning is only 25 years old man. A young man ignited the US to terminate his own social life. Maybe it is one of the negative aspects of post internet era. I am doubtful he is sincerely willing to cause this result. His acts are illegal, but if he was dominated by transient indignation, it would be rational to give him a chance of repentance.
(*sequel)
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