Journalists file suit against Manning trial secrecy

Plaintiffs including Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange demand press, public access to trial and documents

Published May 24, 2013 5:06PM (EDT)

A group of journalists including Glenn Greenwald, Julian Assange, Amy Goodman and Kevin Gosztola -- all of whom have closely followed the Bradley Manning pretrial proceedings -- are filing suit to see the veil of fierce military secrecy lifted from the accused whistleblower's court martial.

The military judge presiding over the case can currently close a courtroom to the press and public for "security" reasons -- citing sensitive classified information. The plaintiffs are calling on the judge to grant public and press access to the historic trial and its attendant documents. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has already had some success in having pretrial transcripts published, but for the most part public access to the proceedings has been provided in the form of rush transcripts compiled by dedicated independent journalist, Alexa O'Brien. Common Dreams reported on this week's filing:

In a complaint filed in a federal district court Wednesday by the Center for Constitutional Rights -- along with journalists Amy Goodman, Jeremy Scahill, Kevin Gosztola, Glenn Greenwald, Julian Assange, and Chase Madar -- the group of plaintiffs motioned for a preliminary injunction that would compel the judge to "grant the public and press access to the government’s filings, the court’s own orders, and transcripts of the proceedings." To date, none of these have been made available to the public.


By Natasha Lennard

Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com.

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Bradley Manning Center For Constitutional Rights Glenn Greenwald Journalists Julian Assange Secrecy