WikiLeaks suspect to be read notification of charges before deciding what kind of counsel he wants and what he will plead

I'm at Ford Meade military base in Maryland, where Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of spilling a massive trove of documents to Wikileaks, is expected to enter a plea to the 22 charges against him.

Manning, 24, from Crescent, Oklahoma, faces 22 counts, including aiding the enemy. That charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

A legal spokesman has told us what will happen today.

Manning will be read a formal notification of all 22 charges. He will then be asked questions about who he wants as his counsel – whether military, civilian, or both – and about what kind of panel he wants at his court martial. He can request a military judge alone; a panel of members, like a jury typically picked from military command who are senior officers; or, he can ask for a third of the panel to be made up of enlisted members, typically sergeant majors or master sergeants.

Manning has the right to a military counsel, at no charge to him, or a civilian counsel. He already has a civilian lawyer, David Coombs, and two military lawyers.

Thursday is the first formal day of his court martial, although it is not the first day of his trial.

After the questions, Manning's counsel will enter a plea for him, although both this plea and the decision about forum selection can be deferred.

The defence and prosecution will then try to work out a schedule of the trial, which they may release.

Any motions, such as a motion to dismiss the case based on the length of time Manning has been in custody, might be mentioned, but they are unlikely to be discussed.

Manning, a former army intelligence analyst, has been locked up since May 2010. Under the US constitution, a court martial must be brought within 120 days of charges being preferred. The prosecution says the delays occurred because of requests from his own defence team, and the time taken to handle classified documents.

Manning is accused of leaking more than 700,000 classified documents and video clips to WikiLeaks while he was serving in Iraq. Defense lawyers say Manning was a troubled soldier who shouldn't have had access to classified material.