Arraignment date set for WikiLeaks suspect

FORT MEADE, Md. - An Army private accused of leaking classified material to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks will be back in a military courtroom for an arraignment later this month.

The arraignment for Pfc. Bradley Manning will be held at Fort Meade on Feb. 23.

Manning faces a general court-martial on 22 counts, including aiding the enemy, which carries a possible life sentence.

At the arraignment, Manning can request a trial by military judge or jury. The jury would include at least five officers, and Manning can ask that at least one-third of the soldiers on the panel be enlisted.

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Military prosecutors say Manning gave WikiLeaks a trove of sensitive battlefield reports and diplomatic cables. Defense lawyers say Manning was a troubled soldier who shouldn't have had access to classified material.

Last week, an Army officer ordered a court-martial for Manning. Military District of Washington commander Maj. Gen. Michael Linnington referred all charges against  Manning to a general court-martial, the Army said in a statement.

At a preliminary hearing in December, military prosecutors produced evidence that Manning downloaded and electronically transferred to WikiLeaks nearly half a million sensitive battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables, and video of a deadly 2007 Army helicopter attack that WikiLeaks shared with the world and dubbed "Collateral Murder."

Manning's lawyers countered that others had access to Manning's workplace computers. They say he was in emotional turmoil, partly because he was a gay soldier at a time when homosexuals were barred from serving openly in the U.S. armed forces. The defense also claims Manning's apparent disregard for security rules during stateside training and his increasingly violent outbursts after deployment were red flags that should have prevented him from having access to classified material. Manning's lawyers also contend that the material WikiLeaks published did little or no harm to national security.