US Army Private Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday for providing a trove of classified documents to anti-secrecy website Wikileaks, a military judge ruled according to dpa report. Judge Denise Lind also dishonorably discharged Manning, 25, from the military at the court martial at Fort Meade, a US Army base in Maryland. He will forfeit any military pay and benefits. Manning will receive credit for three and a half years already served, and will be eligible for parole after at least a third of the sentence, meaning he could be free in about a decade. Manning had faced a maximum of 90 years for turning over classified government documents to Wikileaks more than three years ago. Last month, Lind found Manning guilty on 20 of 22 charges, but found him not guilty of the most serious one - aiding the enemy. Prosecutors had asked that Manning be sentenced to at least 60years in prison. Manning apologized in court last week, saying he was sorry his actions hurt people and hurt the United States. He told the court that he had "only wanted to help people, not hurt people" and acknowledged he must face the consequences of his actions. Manning claimed he had not appreciated the broader impact of what he had done. -- SPA 23:23 LOCAL TIME 20:23 GMT تغريد
