Sunday 16 June 2013

Help Bust Bradley Manning Out Of Jail!

Help Bust Bradley Manning Out Of Jail!

By Dark Politricks

This is a campaign video for the organisation "I am Bradley Manning".

They are campaigning for the release of the young tortured whistleblower who had the balls to see something wrong and stand up and be counted. They also want the charge "aiding the enemy" dropped.

As the video says not many young soldiers would be brave enough to see a war crime committed and try and do and something about it and whistle blowers are supposed to be protected by US law.

However we all know that isn't true as President Obama (a supposed Liberal) has persecuted more whistleblowers than any other President in history.

However instead of being protected Bradley Manning has been tortured and humiliated through lack of visits and daylight, plus forced to stay naked in his cell (for his own safety of course).

He now faces a long time in prison, and maybe even the death penalty, particularly due to the "aiding the enemy" charge.

All the time he is up in court he can be proud to know that he is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and that thousands of people are supporting and thinking about his plight.

Please visit the website iam.bradleymanning.org and show your support.

Also pass the link on and help the site anyway you can by promoting it and subscribing to the mailing list.

The sites mission statement says the following:
Amidst courtroom secrecy, whistleblower and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bradley Manning is on trial after three years of confinement.

The information that Bradley gave to the public has been a catalyst for pro-democracy movements in the Arab world, exposed the unjust detainment of innocent people at Guantanamo Bay, shown us the true human cost of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and changed journalism forever.

There is no evidence that anyone died as a result of the leaked information, yet Bradley faces life in prison or possibly death. The greatest charge against him is that of “aiding the enemy,” a capital offence. As the public who benefited from this information, does that make us the enemy?

What price will future whistleblowers pay?

I have added a link to the "I am Bradley Manning" site to my list of campaigns down the right hand side of the page and I have also just realised I still had a link to the "Free Gary McKinnon" campaign site down there.

Whilst the unfair and unbalanced extradition treaty between the US and UK has still not be resolved yet - particularly due to the feeble version of the Freedom Bill ( or Protection of Freedoms Bill ) that was actually passed when compared to the original proposed Freedom billGary McKinnon himself has won his battle to not be extradited to the USA.

Therefore I will be removing the link as his future has been secured and he will not be prosecuted by English courts either.

Therefore I am happy to tick a campaign off my list!

If you missed the reasons why, and the outrage from the Americans following Theresa May's decision not to extradite him, then the following article from the site explains the reasons why.

 Remember the site is still campaigning to get the extradition laws changed:
Joint CPS/MPS statement on the case of Gary McKinnon

Statement by Keir Starmer QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, and Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service on the case of Gary McKinnon

Between 1 February 2001 and 19 March 2002, Gary McKinnon allegedly gained unauthorised access to 97 United States (US) Government computers. An investigation was launched in the US and a request for assistance was made to the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit in England and Wales. Following discussions between the US Department of Justice, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service in the autumn of 2002, a decision was taken that the appropriate place for Mr McKinnon to be tried was the United States.

The reasons for that decision were:

The harm occurred in the US - the activity was directed against the military infrastructure of the US; An investigation had already been launched in the US; There were a large number of witnesses, most of whom were located in the US; All of the physical evidence (with the exception of Mr McKinnon's computer) was located in the US; The US prosecutors were able to bring a case that reflected the full extent of Mr McKinnon's alleged criminality; and The bulk of the unused material was located in the US. Given the nature of the offence, this inevitably included highly sensitive information and the US courts were best placed to deal with any issues arising in relation to this material.

As a result, the US sought Mr McKinnon's extradition from England and Wales for trial in the US.

The decision that the appropriate place for Mr McKinnon to be tried was the US was affirmed in 2009 and subsequently challenged in the High Court. That challenge failed. As Lord Justice Stanley Burnton said in his judgment: "... [it is] the decision of the DPP, which I consider to be lawful and unchallengeable, not to prosecute him here ... the USA is the appropriate forum for his prosecution."

On 16 October 2012, the Home Secretary decided not to extradite Mr McKinnon to the US on the basis of his health. She also announced that it was now for the DPP to decide whether Mr McKinnon had a case to answer in a UK court. At that stage there was no live criminal investigation in England and Wales, nor had there been for many years.

The DPP and the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police therefore agreed to convene a joint police/CPS panel to consider whether a new criminal investigation should be commenced.

None of the reasons for the original decision in 2002 that the appropriate place for Mr McKinnon to be tried was the United States have altered. So far as the evidence is concerned, the position in 2012 is the same as it was in 2002. Most of the witnesses are in the US, as is nearly all the physical evidence and the bulk of the unused material, some of which is sensitive. Accordingly, in November this year, the CPS and the police met senior officials from the US Department of Justice to discuss the possibility of bringing the US witnesses to England and Wales for trial and of transferring all the US material to this jurisdiction to be considered.

The potential difficulties in bringing a case in England and Wales now should not be underestimated, not least the passage of time, the logistics of transferring sensitive evidence prepared for a court in the US to LONDON for trial, the participation of US government witnesses in the trial and the need fully to comply with the duties of disclosure imposed on the CPS. The prospects of a conviction against Mr McKinnon which reflects the full extent of his alleged criminality are not high.

After consulting with the Metropolitan Police Service and the CPS and having carefully considered matters, on 4 December this year, US authorities indicated to us that they would be willing to co-operate with a prosecution in England and Wales if that would serve the interest of justice. However, they do not consider that making all the US witnesses available for trial in London and transferring all of the US material to this jurisdiction would be in the interests of justice given our representations and the reasons for the decision that the US was the appropriate forum as set out above. That is a decision the US authorities are fully entitled to reach and we respect their decision.

Against this background, the joint CPS/police panel recommended to the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police that he should not commence a new criminal investigation into Mr McKinnon. The Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has accepted that advice.
Therefore I am very happy to remove this link now Gary McKinnon is safe from US prison life.

You can still visit the site at freegary.org.uk to get up to date information on details to any changes to the extradition treaty if and when they happen.

I just hope I can remove this campaign link for iam.bradleymanning.org as soon as possible.

View the original article I Am Bradley Manning - Help Bust Him Out Of Jail! at the main site darkpolitricks.com.

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