London, March 04: The lawyer representing the US Army Private accused of sharing classified documents with WikiLeaks claims his client was stripped of his clothes and left naked in a cell for seven hours.
David E. Coombs wrote about the incident at the Quantico Marine base in Virginia, where Pfc Bradley Manning has been held since July, in an entry on his website, the New York Times reported.
“This type of degrading treatment is inexcusable and without justification,” Mr Coombs wrote. “It is an embarrassment to our military justice system and should not be tolerated.
“Pfc Manning has been told that the same thing will happen to him again tonight. No other detainee at the brig is forced to endure this type of isolation and humiliation.”
Mr Coombs said the incident happened on Wednesday and Manning’s clothes were returned to him yesterday morning after he had taken part in a naked inspection outside his cell.
First Lt. Brian Villiard, a Marine spokesman, confirmed that Manning’s clothing had been taken from him, but would not elaborate — saying to do so would violate Manning’s privacy.
“It would be inappropriate for me to explain it,” Lt Villiard told the Times.
“I can confirm that it did happen, but I can’t explain it to you without violating the detainee’s privacy.”
The United States Military filed 22 additional charges against Manning on Wednesday.
Following a seven-month investigation, the Army alleged that Manning, 23, used government property to extract confidential information and share it with the enemy for public consumption, a statement from the military said.
The most serious offense of aiding the enemy –which is equivalent to treason for civilians – is punishable by death, but the prosecution team is not seeking the death penalty in this case, the military said.
Last year Manning was charged with disclosing classified information concerning national defense and transferring classified data onto his personal computer.
Manning was arrested in June 2010 and has been held in custody since.
Read more accused WikiLeaks source Manning stripped, left naked in military cell.
———Agencies