NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - U.S. soldier Bradley Manning is just one of a handful of self-described whistleblowers that the U.S. government contends have damaged national security by disclosing classified information.
A military judge is expected on Tuesday to announce her verdict in Manning's court-martial. The most serious of the 21 counts, aiding the enemy, carries the possibility of life in prison without parole for leaking more than 700,000 cables - including Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports - to the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website.
The decision could offer an indication of how the U.S. justice system might deal with two other men who the federal government contends similarly damaged national security: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Below is a chronology of some recent events in cases related to disclosure of classified information:
July 7, 2010 - Bradley Manning, a private first class in the U.S. Army serving as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad is charged under the military code of justice for turning over documents to WikiLeaks, the first U.S. soldier charged for so broadly releasing classified information.
June 19, 2011 - WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, who had encouraged Manning's action, takes refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London and asks for asylum in a last-ditch bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crime accusations.
February 28, 2013 - Manning pleads guilty to misusing classified material he felt "should become public," but denies the most egregious charge of aiding the enemy. Prosecutors continue with their case, aiming for a conviction on the greater charge, which carries a penalty of life in prison without parole.
June 5, 2013 - Britain's Guardian newspaper publishes a secret court order that shows the National Security Agency collecting millions of U.S. telephone records.
June 9, 2103 - In Hong Kong, Edward Snowden, 29, identifies himself as the main source for the Guardian and Washington Post stories on NSA surveillance programs. The Post quotes him as saying: "It's important to send a message to government that people will not be intimidated."
June 14, 2013 - U.S. authorities charge Snowden with theft of U.S. government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person - the latter of the two charges falling under the Espionage Act. A warrant is issued for his arrest, though Snowden is not on U.S. soil and is not arrested.
July 1, 2013 - Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Snowden, who is holed up in the transit area of a Moscow airport, may stay if he stops "harming our American partners".
July 19, 2013 - Assange says he will not leave the sanctuary of the Ecuadorean embassy in London even if Sweden stops pursuing sexual assault claims against him because he fears arrest on the order of the United States, in part for charges related to Manning's leak. (Reporting by Francesca Trianni; Editing by Scott Malone and Gunna Dickson)
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