VETERANS VIGIL FOR BRADLEY MANNING

Today Veterans For Peace UK and supporters held a vigil for Bradley Manning at the U.S. Embassy in London. Bradley begins a pre-trial hearing on Friday at Fort Meade, Maryland  and faces charges that could lead to a lifetime in prison.

Michael Lyons spoke about how reading the Afghan War Logs had confirmed his doubts about the legality of the actions carried out by coalition forces in Afghanistan. In 2010 Michael applied for Conscientious Objector status refused to carry out rifle training in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan. He was sentenced to 7 months in military prison and was released in November 2011. Michael  travelled up from Plymouth to show his support for Bradley Manning who faces a lifetime in prison.

Ben Griffin spoke about the importance of supporting war resisters. “If we are not actively engaged in war resistance then we should be offering our support to those that are. If it is true that Bradley Manning leaked The Afghan War Logs, The Iraq War Logs and the Collateral Murder video then the last place he should be is in prison. As far as I am concerned he is a Hero. Our countries have committed terrible crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and it is only right that we should all know exactly what has been happening.”

An International day of action has been called for Saturday 17th December. See here for more information www.bradleymanning.org

A further vigil in London has been called by Veterans for Peace UK, London Catholic Worker, Payday and other supporters of Bradley Manning, for Saturday 17th of December, 1400hrs at the U.S. Embassy. Please join us.