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A military judge has refused to dismiss the most serious charge against the Army private who gave reams of classified information to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
The charge of aiding the enemy faced by Pfc Bradley Manning is punishable by up to life in prison without parole.
Colonel Denise Lind, the judge in Manning's court-martial, on Thursday denied defence requests to drop that charge and a computer fraud charge, ruling that the government had presented some evidence to support each element of the charges.
Lind is still considering defence motions to acquit Manning of five theft counts.
To convict Manning, the government must prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt; however, they had to meet a less stringent standard in convincing Lind that the charges should stand.
Read more @: US judge rules not to drop Manning charge - Americas - Al Jazeera English
This could seriously cause a very very slippery slope to define what "aiding the enemy is".