Bradley Manning, an Army private suspected of leaking hundreds of thousands of cables and military data to WikiLeaks, testified in court that he thought he was “going to die” while in military custody.
“I remember thinking: ‘I’m going to die. I’m stuck inside this cage,’” Manning said Thursday at a hearing in Fort Meade, Md., according to The Associated Press.
Manning’s lawyers have claimed that his pretrial confinement at a Marine Corps jail in Quantico, Va., was too harsh, arguing that it is enough to throw the trial out.
“I just thought I was going to die in that cage. And that’s how I saw it—an animal cage,” Manning said.
The 24-year-old Army private has offered to plead guilty on less serious charges than what he faces, his lawyers have previously said.
A Navy psychiatrist also testified that recommendations to ease Manning’s confinement status in Quantico were not followed, according to CNN. It “was higher than anything I'd previously seen,” Capt. William Hoctor said.
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
