Manning WikiLeaks Hearing Ends

Bradley Manning's court hearing ended today almost a week after it began. Prosecutors revealed an alleged al-Qaeda propaganda video that featured militants describing how they used leaked documents to their advantage. Manning, prosecutors said, "aided in the publication of those files, knowing that our enemies would use those files." Defenders called him a naive and emotionally troubled young man who didn't get the support he needed from the military, the New York Times reports.

Manning's lawyers didn't suggest he was innocent of giving material to WikiLeaks, but they said prosecutors were "over-charging" a young private who hadn't threatened national security. Manning thought of himself as a whistleblower who "thought he could make a difference," they said, adding that he was troubled by having to keep his homosexuality a secret for years. On Jan. 16, the officer running the hearing will decide whether to proceed with a court-martial, notes the Christian Science Monitor. A trial is likely on at least some of the charges, according to experts. (More Bradley Manning stories.)