December 1, 2012

Wikileaks suspect Bradley Manning chokes up at hearing

... Manning’s state of mind when he was transferred from Kuwait to Quantico in July, 2010 had a major impact on the rest of his detention there. Required to fill out a questionnaire when he arrived at Quantico, Manning said he sarcastically wrote, “always planning, never acting,” when asked if he ever had suicidal thoughts.

He said he’d forgotten about the entry when brig staff raised it with him at a meeting on Jan. 21, 2011, when he was seeking a downgrade from the Prevention of Injury status he had been in since arriving from Kuwait.

But Fein asked how that could be possible given that three days before he had openly spoken about the written comments with brig officials during an incident that led to his being placed on suicide risk watch ...

A sheepish Manning told Fein, “I’d forgotten about that” ...

http://www.wlsam.com/Article.asp?id=2584986&spid=

November 29, 2012

Bradley Manning was kept in restrictive custody to prevent suicide, officer testifies

By David Dishneau, The Associated Press

9:08 p.m. EST, November 28, 2012

An Army private accused of sending reams of classified U.S. documents to the secret-spilling website WikiLeaks was kept in tight pretrial confinement partly because another prisoner had recently committed suicide, the former security chief at the Quantico, Va., Marine Corps base testified Wednesday.

Marine Col. Robert Oltman appeared as a witness on the second day of a pretrial hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is seeking dismissal of all charges, claiming his confinement in the Quantico brig amounted to illegal punishment.

Oltman and others have testified that psychiatrists who examined Manning at Quantico repeatedly recommended that his conditions be eased. But Oltman, whose command included the brig, said he was skeptical about at least one of those recommendations because another detainee had killed himself in December 2009 after his custody status was reduced based upon the advice of the same doctor, Navy Capt. William Hocter, the psychiatrist assigned to the brig.

"He didn't have the strongest credibility with me with regards to his recommendations," Oltman said under questioning by civilian defense attorney David Coombs ...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-manning-wikileaks-20121128,0,7910406.story

November 23, 2012

"... Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is set to appear in Cambridge via a video link –

from the Ecuadorian embassy in London ... He is to speak on a topic yet to be revealed followed by a question and answer session with Cambridge Union members on November 27 ... "
Assange to address Union Society - by video from embassy
Jordan Day
Published: 14/11/2012 08:22 - Updated: 15/11/2012 09:58
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Assange-to-address-Union-Society-by-video-from-embassy-14112012.htm


"... The CUSU Women's Campaign have launched a petition to revoke Julian Assange's invitation to speak at the Cambridge Union. Assange is currently scheduled to speak at the Union from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London via videolink on November 27th and is currently facing extradition to Sweden to face trial for sexual assault if he steps foot on British territory. The petition, which is open to anyone to sign and has already received over 400 signatures, criticises the Union for 'riding on a tide of publicity created from the traumatic experiences of rape survivors to raise the profile of their own name' ..."
Update: CUSU launch petition to stop Assange speaking at the Union
CUSU Women's Campaign claims that Assange's invitation to speak at the Cambridge Union "trivialises rape"
by Charlotte Keith, Alice Udale-Smith
Wednesday 14th November 2012, 16:15 GMT
http://www.varsity.co.uk/news/5292


"... A CUSU Women’s Campaign spokeswoman said: 'We are deeply disappointed the current committee of Cambridge Union Society has decided to re-invite Assange. Yet again, the Cambridge Union Society is enabling the rebuilding of the public persona of an alleged rapist. By inviting Assange the Cambridge Union Society are colluding in the horrific silence and shame around rape' ..."
Protest planned over Julian Assange appearance
Published: 15/11/2012 08:14 - Updated: 15/11/2012 09:58
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Assange-protest-planned-15112012.htm


"Mr Assange has cancelled his upcoming Q&A session at the Union due to technical issues with the video feed at the Ecuadorian Embassy. Because the Embassy does not have a strong internet connection, the only way to produce the live 2-way video feed was by relying on two broadcast vans. The broadcast agency scheduled to handle the feed is no longer able to, and no other broadcast agencies which may be interested have the capability and availability on the 27th ..."
Julian Assange's Q&A Cancelled
Added 1 day 13 hours ago
http://www.cus.org/news/julian-assanges-qa-cancelled


"It has recently been announced that Mr Assange will be delivering the keynote address via video link to the ConventionCamp conference in Hanover, Germany, on 27th November. This announcement comes only one day after his spokesperson claimed that his Q&A at the Cambridge Union Society must be cancelled because his preferred broadcaster, Russia Today, was unable to arrange the technical aspects of the video link. The Union Society is disappointed in Mr Assange’s apparent dishonesty. We would have hoped that any individual or institution claiming to represent the interests of free speech and openness would be more straightforward in their dealings. We apologise to members for the confusion this has caused and the doubts that have arisen following Mr Assange’s misleading statement ..."
Julian Assange's Q&A Cancelled -- UPDATE
Added 1 day 13 hours ago
http://www.cus.org/news/julian-assanges-qa-cancelled-update