Manning campaigners hold protests

Campaigners gathered outside the United States Embassy in London on Saturday in support of a US soldier arrested over the leaking of classified documents to whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

The protest was organised to mark Private Bradley Manning's 1,000th day in prison without trial.

He was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq on suspicion of having passed classified material to WikiLeaks, whose founder Julian Assange has sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

A court martial is set to be held in June at Ford Meade in Maryland, with supporters treating him as a hero, but opponents describing him as a traitor.

A series of protests and demonstrations took place today across the United States and Europe, including London, Yorkshire and Cardiff.

Ciaron O'Reilly, 52, attended the event with the London Catholic Worker group, one of a number of organisations to participate.

He said: "I think the persecution of Bradley Manning and Julian Assange are the anti-war show trials of our generation. These people risked their lives and liberty to expose the truth about the wars (in Afghanistan and Iraq)"

Paul Davis, 25, a stuntman from Surrey, also attended with his friends.

He said: "Whistleblowers should not be persecuted for exposing the crimes of their governments and armies. Whistleblowers has become a by-word for victims and martyrs."

About 30 people were outside the embassy at around 4pm when the protest ended. After repeated shouts of "Free Bradley Manning", some campaigners moved on to the Ecuadorian Embassy to support Mr Assange.