Her lawyers say she is being harassed

Posted 2015-08-13 16:10 by Grunt Report

Chelsea Manning, the transgender Army private convicted of leaking national security secrets, faces a hearing Tuesday for prison infractions that could result in solitary confinement.

Manning, who was intelligence analyst Bradley Manning when pleading guilty to espionage in 2013, is charged with disrespect of a prison officer and is accused having books and magazines including Vanity Fair and Cosmopolitan, among other offenses.

Her lawyers say she is being harassed.

The ACLU said in an email that Manning was charged with disrespect of an officer for requesting a lawyer when she felt she was being accused of misconduct. Other charges included disorderly conduct for sweeping food on the the floor, possessing an expired tube of toothpaste and possessing “prohibited property” — some of them documents pertaining to trans rights and government transparency including the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Torture.

The prison’s pre-charging documents also list several books and magazines, including a  Cosmopolitan issue that included an interview with Manning and a Vanity Fair issue with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover.

“This kind of action has the potential to chill Chelsea’s speech and silence her altogether,” ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio told USA TODAY. “We are hopeful that the prison will respond by dismissing these charges and ensuring that she is not unfairly targeted based on her activism, her identity, or her pending lawsuit.”

The ACLU said prison documents confirm that all the charges are classified as “serious.” The ACLU said Manning could face solitary confinement indefinitely

Manning, 27, was arrested in May 2010, accused of violating the Espionage Act after releasing to Wikileaks about 700,000 classified or sensitive military and diplomatic documents. Charges against Manning ultimately included aiding the enemy, which could have brought the death sentence. She pleaded guilty in February 2013 to 10 of the charges and months later was convicted of more charges but acquitted of aiding the enemy.

Her lawyers argued she had been disillusioned by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and believed the documents, including diplomatic cables and military reports, should be seen by the public. She was sentenced a few weeks later, and the next day her lawyers issued a press release announcing that Manning was a female and asking that she be referred to as Chelsea and with feminine pronouns.

Source: US NEWS