U.S. Army Private First Class Chelsea Manning, the U.S. soldier convicted of giving classified state documents to WikiLeaks, is pictured dressed as a woman in this 2010 handout photograph obtained from the U.S. Army August 14, 2013. The U.S. military is considering options for the detention of the transgender soldier who is serving 35 years in prison for turning over secret files to WikiLeaks and has requested hormone therapy, including moving the private to a civilian prison, the Pentagon said May 14, 2014. (REUTERS/U.S. Army/Handout)
Whistleblower Chelsea Manning, serving 35 years in prison for releasing hundreds of thousands of US Army and diplomatic cables, exposing scores of human rights abuses, has a hearing today, 18 August, in which she faces indefinite solitary confinement as punishment for appallingly trivial charges. Manning, who already endured torturous pretrial conditions for which military judge Denise Lind took 112 days off of her sentence, is being penalised for possessing magazines like Vanity Fair and Cosmopolitan, the Senate Torture Report and “expired” toothpaste, as well as brushing food crumbs onto the floor and “being disrespectful” to a prison official. The websiteFreeChelsea.com documents the charges and hosts a petition supporting Manning with more than 100,000 signers.
As Courage Advisory Board member Norman Solomon writes for Al Jazeera,
Washington is determined to make an example of her, to warn and intimidate other would-be whistleblowers. From the president on down, the chain of command is functioning to wreck the life of Chelsea Manning. We should not let that happen.
Chelsea will not be allowed to have a lawyer with her during the hearing, which is closed to the press and public, and yet she was barred from visiting the prison’s legal library, crippling her ability to properly defend herself. Courage strongly condemns this attack on a heroic whistleblower who’s already been punished far too much.
Update
Chelsea Manning tweets, “I was found guilty of all 4 charges @ today’s board; I am receiving 21 days of restrictions on recreation–no gym, library or outdoors.”