For the first time since his arrest in 2010 for allegedly passing classified documents to Wikileaks, Army Private Bradley Manning will speak in public.
Manning has been kept in prison, often in solitary confinement, for the last two and a half years. His supporters say he had been abused and tortured at the hands of the United States government in retaliation for revealing secrets.
Many in the government and the public call Manning a hero. His supporters say he is a whistleblower, driven by conscience to expose illegal activity and surveillance by the American government.
Manning will appear today at a pre-trial hearing at Fort Meade, Pa. The hearing will run from Tuesday through Sunday, so manning may not actually get a chance to speak until later in the week, after military prosecutors present their case.
His lawyers contend that his harsh treatment at the hands of military interrogators and jailers should result in his release, a possible but unlikely scenario.
The last time a soldier was released due to poor treatment before a trial was in 1956.
The Unites Nations has already called Manning's detention and treatment cruel, inhuman and degrading, but they did not call it torture.
Manning is accused of sending more than 250,000 diplomatic cables and war logs to the open-information group Wikileaks, which released the documents online, causing a diplomatic fiasco and earning the organization the ire of the United States government.
Manning is being charged with 22 criminal counts, including aiding the enemy, which could result in life imprisonment.
He has offered to plead guilty to lesser charges, but military prosecuters have not yet said whether they will accept that deal.
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