FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — A former Marine Corps brig commander testified Thursday that a vague rule meant he could keep Pfc. Bradley Manning on suicide watch even after a psychiatrist determined that wasn’t necessary, as lawyers for the soldier at the center of the WikiLeaks case chipped away at inconsistencies in the military’s rationale for how it jailed Manning.

The Army private has argued in the pretrial hearing that the conditions of his confinement at the Marine base at Quantico, Va., were so harsh that the charges — including aiding the enemy by giving classified information to WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy website — should be dropped.