‘Wikileaking’ fetches Manning 35 years in military gulag

Bradley Manning, the US soldier convicted of the biggest leak of classified documents on record, was today sentenced to 35 years in prison by a military court.

Private First Class (Pfc) Manning managed to provide more than 700,000 government files to Julius Assange's WikiLeaks, which exposed US diplomatic communications from around the world.

It has not yet been made clear how a mere private gained access to so many supposedly secret communications between Washington and its embassies abroad, including India.

The sentence is the longest ever handed down in a case involving a leak of United States government information to be reported to the public.

The judge, Colonel Denise Lind, who last month found Manning guilty of 20 charges, including espionage and theft, could have sentenced him to as many as 90 years in prison. Prosecutors had asked for 60 years.

Manning, 25, will also be handed a dishonourable discharge from the US armed services forfeit some pay, under the judgement.

Wearing his dress uniform, Manning stood at attention as the sentence was read, seeming to show no emotion. As he was escorted out of the courtroom, supporters shouted "Bradley, we are with you."

Manning was working as a low-level intelligence analyst in Baghdad when he handed over the documents, catapulting WikiLeaks and its founder Assange into the international spotlight.

During a pre-trial hearing, Colonel Lind had determined that the eventual sentence would be reduced by 112 days because of harsh treatment dished out to Manning after his arrest in 2010.

He will probably be imprisoned in the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Earlier this month, a US rights group collected enough signatures to ensure that Manning is a candidate for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

Amnesty International called on President Barack Obama to commute Manning's sentence.

"Instead of fighting tooth and nail to lock him up for the equivalent of several life sentences, the US government should turn its attention to investigating and delivering justice for the serious human rights abuses committed by its officials in the name of countering terror," said Widney Brown, senior director of international law and policy at Amnesty International.

Manning's trial at Fort Meade, Maryland, home of the ultra-secret National Security Agency, wound down as US officials sought the return of Edward Snowden, another leaker of classified documents.

Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who disclosed details of secret and globe-spanning US surveillance programme, is now living in Russia under temporary asylum.

The Guardian said on Tuesday that British authorities had forced the newspaper to destroy material leaked by Snowden.'