Washington: The Army private suspected of illegally passing US government secrets to the WikiLeaks website was transferred on Wednesday to an Army prison in Kansas from the Marine brig in Virginia where he has spent the past nine months.
Pfc Bradley Manning, suspected of having obtained the classified documents while serving as an Army intelligence analyst in Iraq, is awaiting a determination by the Army on whether he is mentally competent to stand trial.
An Army spokesman at the Pentagon, Colonel Tom Collins, said Manning arrived safely at the Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on Wednesday afternoon. Over the coming five to seven days he will undergo an in-depth physical and behavioural assessment by Leavenworth staff, Collins said.
Shortly after the Pentagon announced its decision to transfer Manning, the soldier`s lawyer, David Coombs, wrote on his blog that his client`s treatment at Quantico was substandard.
"While the defence hopes that the move to Fort Leavenworth will result in the improvement of Pfc Manning`s conditions of confinement, it nonetheless intends to pursue redress at the appropriate time for the flagrant violations of his constitutional rights by the Quantico confinement facility," Coombs wrote.
The Pentagon said Manning would be returned to the Washington, DC, area as needed for legal proceedings, since his case is under the jurisdiction of the Army`s Military District of Washington. No trial date has been set.
Bureau Report
