Washington, Jul 31 (IANS): A US military judge Tuesday ruled Bradley Manning, the army private accused of leaking classified information to whistleblower site Wikileaks, not guilty of aiding the enemy, the most serious of the charges he faced, but guilty of most other charges.
The judge, Col. Denise Lind, found the 25-year-old Manning not guilty of aiding the enemy, when he released hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks. The charge carried a possible punishment of life in prison, Xinhua reported.
The verdict stated that Manning was convicted of multiple counts of other serious charges, including five charges espionage. He could still face long years of prison time.
The verdict was read in a courtroom in Fort Meade, a place in Maryland, not far from Washington D.C., while supporters gathered outside to demand his freedom.