Whisteblower Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison with three years credit
The American army private Bradley Manning, who leaked US government documents to Wikileaks has been sentenced 35 years in prison with 1294 days credit. The terms also included the forfeit of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge.
Manning, who has sometimes gone by the name Breanna, has been incarcerated for a period of over three years and has already been convicted of 20 offences.
The US government has sought for Manning to be imprisoned for 60 years, with a maximum possible sentence of 90. The defendant has pleaded guilty to some lesser offences, although not to all.
To compare this with other senteces for whistleblowing, Michael Peri was sentenced for just 30 years in prison for “passing sophisticated defense secrets to communist East Germany.”
An apology has also been offered saying that "I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry I hurt the United States".
#Manning sentenced to 35 years. Means he'll likely serve about 8 to 8.5 yrs more in confinement and be out by the time he's 33 or 34.
— Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) August 21, 2013