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07:10Last update on: 13 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Tue 13 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair? Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform. SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
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NEWS - INTERNATIONAL
| 2013-07-29
Judge to decide on Manning case
FORT MEADE – A US judge began deciding the fate of Army soldier Bradley Manning, who could face life in prison for giving thousands of pieces of classified military and diplomatic information to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks in one of the largest leaks in American history.
The prosecution says the 25-year-old is a traitor. His defence lawyers call him a young, naïve intelligence officer who wanted people to know about the atrocities of war.
The judge did not say when she would rule, but she will give public notice a day in advance.
Manning faces 21 charges, including the most serious one of aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence in prison.
During closing arguments on Friday, defence attorney David Coombs said Manning was negligent in releasing classified material, but he did not know al-Qaeda would see it and did not have “evil intent” - a key point prosecutors must prove to convict Manning of aiding the enemy.
Prosecutors argued that Manning knew the material would be seen around the world, even by Osama bin Laden.
“Worldwide distribution, that was his goal,” said the military’s lead prosecutor, Major Ashden Fein. “He knew he was giving it to the enemy, specifically al-Qaeda.”
Manning also faces federal espionage, theft and computer fraud charges. He has acknowledged giving WikiLeaks some 700 000 battlefield reports, diplomatic cables and videos, but he says he didn’t believe the information would harm troops in Afghanistan and Iraq or threaten national security.
“The amount of the documents in this case, actually, is the best evidence that he was discreet in what he chose, because if he was indiscriminate, if he was systematically harvesting, we wouldn’t be talking about a few hundred thousand documents - we’d be talking about millions of documents,” Coombs said. Giving the material to WikiLeaks was no different than giving it to a newspaper, Coombs said. The government disagreed and said Manning would also be charged if he had leaked the classified material to the media.
Coombs showed three snippets of video from a 2007 US Apache helicopter attack Manning leaked, showing troops firing on a small crowd of men on a Baghdad sidewalk, killing several civilians, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver. Coombs said the loss of civilian lives horrified the young soldier.
“You have to look at that from the point of view of a guy who cared about human life,” Coombs said.
Coombs has said Manning wanted to do something to make a difference, and he hoped revealing what was going on in Iraq and Afghanistan and US diplomacy would inspire debate and reform in foreign and military policy.
Coombs also countered one of prosecutor Fein’s arguments that attempted to show Manning was seeking fame: A photo Manning took of himself, smiling in front of a mirror while on leave. Fein said it showed a “gleeful, grinning” Manning who was proud to be “on his way to notoriety” he wanted.
Coombs asked the judge to take a closer look at the photo, pointing out that Manning was wearing makeup and a bra.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Friday in a telephone press conference that if the aiding the enemy charge is allowed to stand, it will be “the end of national security journalism in the United States”.
He accused the Obama administration of a “war on whistleblowers” and a “war on journalism”.
Meanwhile, one of Manning’s most visible supporters was banned from the trial after the judge said someone posted threats online. - Nampa-AP
The prosecution says the 25-year-old is a traitor. His defence lawyers call him a young, naïve intelligence officer who wanted people to know about the atrocities of war.
The judge did not say when she would rule, but she will give public notice a day in advance.
Manning faces 21 charges, including the most serious one of aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence in prison.
During closing arguments on Friday, defence attorney David Coombs said Manning was negligent in releasing classified material, but he did not know al-Qaeda would see it and did not have “evil intent” - a key point prosecutors must prove to convict Manning of aiding the enemy.
Prosecutors argued that Manning knew the material would be seen around the world, even by Osama bin Laden.
“Worldwide distribution, that was his goal,” said the military’s lead prosecutor, Major Ashden Fein. “He knew he was giving it to the enemy, specifically al-Qaeda.”
Manning also faces federal espionage, theft and computer fraud charges. He has acknowledged giving WikiLeaks some 700 000 battlefield reports, diplomatic cables and videos, but he says he didn’t believe the information would harm troops in Afghanistan and Iraq or threaten national security.
“The amount of the documents in this case, actually, is the best evidence that he was discreet in what he chose, because if he was indiscriminate, if he was systematically harvesting, we wouldn’t be talking about a few hundred thousand documents - we’d be talking about millions of documents,” Coombs said. Giving the material to WikiLeaks was no different than giving it to a newspaper, Coombs said. The government disagreed and said Manning would also be charged if he had leaked the classified material to the media.
Coombs showed three snippets of video from a 2007 US Apache helicopter attack Manning leaked, showing troops firing on a small crowd of men on a Baghdad sidewalk, killing several civilians, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver. Coombs said the loss of civilian lives horrified the young soldier.
“You have to look at that from the point of view of a guy who cared about human life,” Coombs said.
Coombs has said Manning wanted to do something to make a difference, and he hoped revealing what was going on in Iraq and Afghanistan and US diplomacy would inspire debate and reform in foreign and military policy.
Coombs also countered one of prosecutor Fein’s arguments that attempted to show Manning was seeking fame: A photo Manning took of himself, smiling in front of a mirror while on leave. Fein said it showed a “gleeful, grinning” Manning who was proud to be “on his way to notoriety” he wanted.
Coombs asked the judge to take a closer look at the photo, pointing out that Manning was wearing makeup and a bra.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Friday in a telephone press conference that if the aiding the enemy charge is allowed to stand, it will be “the end of national security journalism in the United States”.
He accused the Obama administration of a “war on whistleblowers” and a “war on journalism”.
Meanwhile, one of Manning’s most visible supporters was banned from the trial after the judge said someone posted threats online. - Nampa-AP
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