Manning was 'illegally punished', will get 112 days lopped off any sentence

US Army private Bradley Manning, who is accused of "aiding the enemy" by allegedly handing over classified Army documents to Wikileaks, will get 112 days cut from any prison sentence he could get if he's convicted on the charges. This is after a military judge ruled that Manning had been "illegally punished" in a Marine Corps brig.

The judge said that Manning's treatment in Quantico, when he was kept in a windowless cell for 23 hours a day, sometimes without clothing, was "excessive", the Associated Press, The Washington Post and others have reported.

Manning's defence had claimed that he was woken every day at 5am and forced to stay awake until 10pm that night without lying on his bed or leaning against the wall. His lawyer was trying to have all the 22 charges he's facing thrown out over the treatment.

Manning's charges include "aiding the enemy", a charge that carries a life sentence.

Manning has offered a partially guilty plea in the case, which doesn't admit to all of the charges, but does accept responsibility for some of the offences.

The trial is scheduled to start on 6 March. ®