American whistleblower Chelsea Manning could face “indefinite solitary confinement” if she is found guilty of a series of bizarre “crimes”, including the possession of the Caitlyn Jenner cover issue of Vanity Fair and Malala Yousefzai’s autobiography, her lawyer confirmed this week.
The former US army intel analyst is serving a 35 year prison sentence after leaking classified documents — that have been interpreted as evidence of US military abuses in Iraq — to Wikileaks. Manning, who is a transgender woman, won a landmark ruling in February that ensures she will receive hormone therapy, though she is not allowed to grow her hair and is serving her sentence at a men’s military prison.
According to an online petition, Manning is accused of “sweeping some food onto the floor and then asking to speak to her lawyer when a guard confronted her, having books and magazines in her cell about politics and LGBTQ issues including the Vanity Fair issue with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover, and ‘improper medicine use’ for having a tube of toothpaste that was past its expiration date [emphasis theirs].”
Manning is set to stand trial on August 18. According to her lawyer, Manning requested that the trial be held in public, but this has apparently been rejected. The petition asks that the charges against Manning be dropped, and that her trial “be made open to the public, to ensure she is treated fairly”.
“Chelsea is a human being,” the petition continues, explaining that, “She did something brave and now the government is punishing her for it. It’s not just Chelsea’s basic rights that are at stake, it’s all of ours.”
You can sign the petition at freechelsea.com