WikiLeaks soldier Bradley Manning pleads guilty to ten charges over intelligence leaks The 25-year-old soldier admitted unlawfully taking State Department cables, detailed logs of the Iraq and Afghan wars, and video showing a US Apache gunship killing civilians in Baghdad from a secret military network, and passing them to WikiLeaks, the whistleblowing website. Col Denise Lind, the military judge presiding over the court martial in Fort Meade, Maryland, also granted Pfc Manning permission to read from a 35-page statement where he is expected to justify the leaks as whistle-blowing in the public interest. His appearance may also shed light on how he came into contact with Mr Assange and how the two men allegedly extracted hundreds of thousands of secret files. Pfc Manning also waived his right to a trial by jury, opting instead to be tried by Col Lind alone. The judge repeatedly asked him if he understood the significance of his decision before granting his request.