Whistleblower Bradley Manning faces military court trial

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US Army private and WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning goes on trial before a military judge rather than a jury, in accordance with his own wishes.

The trial was initially scheduled to take place in March, but was pushed back to allow for more time to deal with classified information. 

Col. Denise Lind, the judge presiding over his case, had previously awarded Manning a 112-day reduction in any eventual sentence after ruling that the treatment he received was "more vigorous than necessary."

However, the thee-month postponement of the trial means that Manning will spend almost the same amount of time in pretrial detention.

At a preliminary hearing early November, the soldier's defence lawyer David Coombs said that Manning would plead guilty to some of the less serious accusations but would deny responsibility for most of the offences charged by the US government. 

Among other charges, Manning has been accused of aiding the enemy, which can carry a life sentence in prison. 

Manning reportedly leaked tens of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks while he was working in Baghdad in 2010. The prosecution claims Manning's actions have left the country vulnerable to attack. 

The private was arrested on May 26, 2010, and has been held in detention ever since.