The US Army private charged over the biggest security breach in US history has testified on the third day of a hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland.
Bradley Manning, 24, answered questions relating to his treatment after his arrest in Baghdad, Iraq, in May 2010.
His lawyer is arguing that Pte Manning was treated unfairly in solitary confinement in Quantico, Virginia.
Reporters at the court said Pte Manning seemed nervous, swivelling in his chair and stuttering as he testified.
Before he was sent to Quantico, he spent weeks in a cell in at Camp Arifjan, an Army installation in Kuwait.
There, Pte Manning said he remembered thinking: “I’m going to die, I’m stuck inside this cage.”
‘Senseless’
He also testified that he received little information from a defence lawyer, news agency AFP reported.
Pte Manning said he soon had suicidal thoughts, which he conveyed to mental health counsellors.
“I had pretty much given up. My world had just shrunk,” he said.
At Quantico, he argues he was punished enough when he was locked up alone for 23 hours a day in a small cell for nearly nine months, and had to sleep naked for several nights.
Pte Manning’s defence lawyers say charges against their client should be dismissed because of the harsh conditions he faced at the maximum-security prison.
The military has said Pte Manning was treated properly, and was considered to pose a risk to himself and others.
On Wednesday, Captain William Hocter, a Navy doctor who evaluated Pte Manning nearly every week at Quantico, told the court the suicide watch was “senseless”.
He said commanders had completely ignored his advice to lift the tough measures.
At Quantico, Pte Manning’s glasses were confiscated, he had to request toilet paper and was forced to remove his underwear at night.
Plea limbo
Pte Manning is attempting to plead guilty to some charges of sending secret documents to Wikileaks, a whistle-blowing website, but is seeking to avoid trial for more serious crimes.
Earlier Thursday, the case judge accepted the terms under which Pte Manning would plead guilty to eight charges for sending classified documents to Wikileaks.
He could face up to 16 years in prison for those charges.
Col Denise Lind’s ruling doesn’t mean the pleas have been formally accepted.
The caches of leaked material published by Wikileaks contained video footage from military operations and classified documents.
These included details of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, as well as thousands of state department cables.
Pte Manning is also charged with 14 other counts, including aiding the enemy, a charge for which he could face life in prison if found guilty.
Source: BBC News