FORT MEADE, Md.—Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday for leaking classified American information to WikiLeaks, the culmination of a trial that posed tough questions about government secrecy and national security.
Pfc. Manning stood impassively as the presiding judge, Col. Denise Lind, delivered a sentence that means he will likely have to spend at least eight more years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.
Along with the prison term, the judge ordered the former intelligence analyst in Iraq to be dishonorably discharged, forfeit all pay and benefits, and have his Army rank reduced.
One supporter in the small courtroom let out a gasp as the judge announced a decision that was shorter than the prosecution requested but longer than the defense said would be fair.
Pfc. Manning, 25 years old, was facing a maximum 90-year sentence. The prosecution had asked for 60 years and the defense no more than 25. He received credit for 1,294 days in confinement, which analysts said would mean that he could be eligible for parole when he is in his mid-30s.
Pfc. Manning will serve his sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., though the Army wouldn't say when he would be transferred to the military prison. The case will be immediately appealed, and he could be granted clemency by the Army parole board, though that seems unlikely.
Mary-Rose Papandrea, a professor at Boston College Law School, said the government would likely view the sentence as a victory that sends "a strong message that all leakers will be punished" to the full extent of the law.
"The Manning prosecution has vividly demonstrated that under our current legal system, there is little difference between the way we treat those who engage in espionage and those who disclose information to the press with the intent of informing public debate," she said.
Associated Press
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is escorted to a security vehicle outside a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., on Tuesday after a hearing in his court martial.
After an eight-week court-martial, Pfc. Manning was convicted in July of espionage for downloading volumes of classified military and diplomatic information that he handed to antisecrecy group WikiLeaks for public release. Col. Lind rejected the U.S. government's most serious charge—aiding the enemy—which could have led to a much harsher sentence.
Supporters of Pfc. Manning in the courtroom, who have held constant vigil during the trial, shouted out to the Army private as he was quickly escorted out of the room.
"We'll keep fighting for you, Bradley," a small group shouted. "You're our hero."
Yochai Benkler, a Harvard Law School professor who testified for the defense, called it an "extreme and unjustified sentence" that was "unprecedented in American constitutional history."
"The extreme threat of decades of imprisonment will make it increasingly difficult for the American public to hold its elected officials to account in one of the most important areas with which every democracy must struggle: what kind of national-security activity we want—and at what cost to democratic accountability," he said.
Pfc. Manning won international notice after his May 2010 arrest at a U.S. military base in Iraq. Supporters, including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, hailed Pfc. Manning as a heroic whistleblower who risked his own freedom in an attempt to rouse opposition to American foreign policy and its "war on terror."
The prosecution cast Pfc. Manning as a low-level military analyst who recklessly released classified information that could be used against American troops and their allies around the world.
During the court-martial, Pfc. Manning defended his decision to release the information as an effort to spark a broad debate about American foreign policy. Last week, in a final appeal for leniency, he issued a public apology and cast himself as a misguided young soldier who didn't realize that his actions would hurt the U.S.
"I look back on my decisions and wonder how on earth could I, a junior analyst, possibly believe I could change the world for the better," he told the judge.
Over the course of seven months in 2010, based on documents and data provided by Pfc. Manning, WikiLeaks released 250,000 diplomatic cables, nearly 400,000 military reports and video of a controversial 2007 U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed three Reuters employees.
Defense attorneys portrayed Pfc. Manning as a troubled young man struggling with his sexual identity while serving in a hostile, antigay military climate. His defense team argued the military didn't do enough to counsel Pfc. Manning and that his supervisors in Iraq should have removed him from his post as in intelligence analyst long before his arrest.
Pfc. Manning is a high-profile example of the Obama administration's crackdown on leaks of confidential information. It has used the 1917 Espionage Act to prosecute more than twice as many people for mishandling confidential government information as all previous administrations combined. Seven people, including Pfc. Manning and National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, have been charged under the act. Before President Barack Obama took office, only three people faced similar charges.
The trial posed awkward questions over whether leakers provide a public service by revealing secrets or whether that effort is outweighed by the damage to national security. The release of classified intelligence documents by Mr. Snowden, a former NSA contractor, ensures the debate will continue. As with Pfc. Manning, Mr. Snowden said he released details of some of America's most far-reaching spying programs to spark a re-examination of U.S. counterterrorism policies.
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