"I want to go forward," Manning said. "I understand I must pay the price." PHOTO: AFP.
FORT MEADE/MARYLAND: US soldier Bradley Manning offered an apology in a military court on Wednesday over his disclosures to WikiLeaks, acknowledging he had "hurt" his country and others.
"I'm sorry that my actions have hurt people and have hurt the United States," he told the military judge, Colonel Denise Lind, at a sentencing hearing at Fort Meade, northeast of Washington.
Manning, convicted last month of espionage for his massive leak of classified US battlefield reports and diplomatic cables, said he was ready to face the consequences for his actions.
"I want to go forward," he said. "I understand I must pay the price."
The 25-year-old US Army private faces up to 90 years in prison for his offenses, which include espionage and computer fraud.
It was the first time Manning had expressed regret over his unprecedented leak.
The former junior intelligence analyst has become a folk hero to his supporters, who see him as a whistleblower lifting the lid on America's foreign policy and wars.
But the prosecution has painted him as a traitor who put his fellow soldiers and country in danger.
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People like Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden, Amber Lyon, Julian Assange are real Western heroes. They have already become immortal by taking courageous stands against the tyrants of our time!