On Wednesday evening it emerged that the serviceman had been flown out of Afghanistan to a "pre-trial confinement facility" in another undisclosed country.

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For nearly a year, Magnitsky was held in pre-trial confinement.

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At the start of the four-day pre-trial hearing in Fort Meade, Maryland, Judge Denise Lind ruled that Pfc Manning's confinement was "more rigorous than necessary".

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