The civilian lawyer for Private Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of leaking classified documents published by WikiLeaks, has asked the presiding officer at his pre-trial hearing to step aside.
Lt Col Paul Almanza’s civilian occupation as a US Justice Department prosecutor was the chief reason defence lawyer David Coombs gave in asking him to stand aside.
The justice department is conducting a criminal investigation targeting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Pte Manning (23) is charged with aiding the enemy by leaking hundreds of thousands of secret documents that ended up on the website. At the time, he was a low-level intelligence analyst in Baghdad.
The case has spawned an international movement in support of Pte Manning, who is seen by anti-war activists as a hero who helped expose American mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To others he is a villain, even a traitor, who betrayed his oath of loyalty by deliberately spilling his government’s secrets.
Lt Col Almanza said he has not formed an opinion about Manning’s guilt or innocence.
Today’s hearing is to determine whether Pte Manning will face a court-martial. If his case goes to trial and he is convicted, Pte Manning could face life in prison. The government has said it would not seek the death penalty.
Dressed in his camouflage army fatigues, Pte Manning sat at the defence table showing little expression.
The hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland, is open to the public, but with limited seating. A small number of reporters were present but not allowed to record or photograph the proceedings.
A US military legal expert told reporters shortly before the proceedings began that the presiding officer is likely to make his recommendation on whether to court-martial Pte Manning within eight days after the hearing ends. The hearing is expected to last over the weekend and possibly well into next week.
The legal expert, who could not be named, said Pte Manning is to be present for all proceedings, including sessions closed to the public for consideration of classified material.
The site of the hearing, Fort Meade, is home to US Cyber Command, the organisation whose mission includes protecting computer networks like the one Pte Manning allegedly breached by illegally downloading huge numbers of classified documents in Iraq.
Pte Manning’s lawyer said that the documents’ release did little actual harm.
Last month, 54 members of the European Parliament signed a letter to the US government raising concerns about Pte Manning’s 18-month pre-trial confinement.
Pte Manning’s supporters planned to maintain a vigil during the hearing and were organising a rally for tomorrow.
A US grand jury is weighing whether to indict Mr Assange on espionage charges, and WikiLeaks is straining under an American financial embargo.
The materials Pte Manning is accused of leaking include hundreds of thousands of sensitive items: Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, State Department cables and a classified military video of a 2007 American helicopter attack in Iraq that killed 11 men, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver.
Pte Manning, who turns 24 tomorrow, was detained in Iraq in May 2010 and moved to a Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Virginia, in July. Nine months later, the army sent him to the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after a series of claims by Manning of unlawful pre-trial punishment.
When it filed formal charges against Pte Manning in March 2011, the army accused him of using unauthorised software on government computers to extract classified information, illegally download it and transmit the data for public release by what the army termed “the enemy.”
AP