The U.S. Army private suspected of leaking a trove of classified documents to WikiLeaks is being treated just like every other maximum security detainee at the military brig in Quantico, Va., an official told FoxNews.com, emphatically denying published reports that Pfc. Bradley Manning, is being subjected to conditions that are "tantamount to torture."
Quantico Lt. Brian Villiard said Manning, 22, "is subjected to the same conditions as anyone else in the pretrial confinement facility. Every single [detainee] gets one hour of TV and recreation time each day."
He said Manning is not allowed to exercise in his cell, but that restriction applies to all detainees, he said.
"That's a safety measure, that's across the board for every detainee," he said, explaining that detainees can become dehydrated or injure themselves if allowed to exercise alone.
Manning, an Army intelligence analyst, has gained support from some anti-war activists who believe he performed a public service by acting as a whistle-blower. Some politicians and veterans' groups, meanwhile, have labeled the soldier's alleged release of classified information an act of treason, a crime punishable by execution.
Villiard spoke with Fox News in response to claims made by Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald and Manning's supporters that the Army intelligence analyst is being subjected to "cruel and inhumane" treatment at the military brig.
Jeff Paterson of Courage to Resist said Greenwald's Dec. 15 Salon.com editorial, which detailed Manning's "inhumane" treatment, was "absolutely accurate" and concurred with information he's received from Manning's attorney, David Coombs, and David House, a 23-year-old researcher who befriend Manning after his arrest in May.
"I understand the brig's position that he's not being tortured, but some people think the conditions he's subjected to are tantamount to torture," Paterson told FoxNews.com on Thursday. "It could be more months or another year until he gets court-martialed."
Paterson stressed that Manning has not been convicted of a crime. Manning, who has not commented publicly on his case, faces up to 52 years in prison if convicted of downloading hundreds of thousands of classified Afghan and Iraq war reports and secret U.S. diplomatic cables while stationed in Iraq. Coombs did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
"There's no basis to be holding in a maximum detaining status for any other reason than to punish him," Paterson continued. "The whole rationale for pretrial confinement is to assure that the defendant shows up."
Paterson said he believed there are "punitive aspects" to Manning's detention, including being locked down for 23 hours per day and not being allowed to exercise in his cell.
But those conditions are the same for all such detainees at the Virginia brig, Villiard said Thursday.
Manning is allowed to watch television on a cart that is wheeled from cell to cell for prisoners' usage daily. Villiard disputed Salon.com's report that Manning is prohibited from watching news or current events during his allotted television time.
"They're allowed to watch anything that comes through our base's cable system," he said. "Anything I can watch in my office, he can watch in his cell."
Villiard declined to comment on Manning's condition because he has not met the soldier. But Manning has had personal and legal-related visits, he said.
He said Manning is provided a pillow that, as a "precautionary measure," cannot be torn, but he emphasized that he is not on suicide watch. He said Manning receives bedding and a piece of material to cover up with that acts as a sheet, contrary to Salon.com's opinion piece by Greenwald that claims he is being denied a "pillow and sheets" for his bed.
On Tuesday, the Berkeley, Calif., City Council indefinitely delayed a vote on whether to honor Manning as a hero.
Some council members in the liberal-leaning California city said they were concerned about the way the resolution was written and wanted more time to investigate. Others said it was premature to call Manning a hero when he has not admitted to being the source of the leaks.
The resolution proposed by the city's Peace and Justice Commission praises Manning for exposing "war crimes" by allegedly leaking a 2007 video of a laughing U.S. Apache helicopter crew gunning down 11 men in Baghdad, Iraq, including a Reuters news photographer.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has won similar support from anti-war groups, including documentary maker Michael Moore and Daniel Ellsberg, the man who famously leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War.
Ellsberg also praised Manning, recently telling reporters at a Washington news conference that the men were no more deserving of prosecution than the New York Times -- which published the Pentagon Papers in 1971 -- or Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward for helping uncover the Watergate conspiracy.
At least one veterans group condemned Berkeley's proposed resolution in support of Manning.
Prior to Tuesday's delayed vote, Ryan Gallucci, a spokesman for AMVETS, which represents roughly 180,000 U.S. veterans, said the Berkeley City Council "would be wise" to refuse the motion in support of Manning.
"AMVETS believes it would be appalling to commend someone like Bradley Manning who has betrayed his country and disgraced the uniform," Gallucci wrote in a statement to FoxNews.com last week. "Manning not only compromised American interests across the globe, but he has blood his hands for our Afghan allies sought out by the Taliban from the first leak."