Chelsea Manning Found Guilty of Violating Prison Rules, Given Restrictions

The maximum punishment she could have faced was indefinite solitary confinement, according to the AP.

He was accused of violating the Espionage Act after releasing to the Wikileaks website about 700,000 classified or sensitive military and diplomatic documents.

She will now instead face 21 days of restrictions on recreation. Also included in the charges: Manning was in possession of forbidden materials-such as Vanity Fair’s July issue, which featured Caitlyn Jenner on the cover, among other magazines and interviews. This denial of access to information that might help her make her case is especially problematic because lawyers are not permitted to be present with their incarcerated clients at disciplinary hearings.

She is now serving 35-year sentence at a Kansas military prison.

She had campaigned for today’s hearing before an administrative board to be open to the public, but officials denied the request.

Manning’s attorney, Chase Strangio with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement Manning was convicted during a four-hour, closed-door disciplinary hearing without legal representation.

Manning posted the documents alleging misconduct on Twitter, showing “sweeping crumbs onto the floor” as one of the purported infractions.

Manning maintains, via her social media accounts and calls to supporters, that she’s done nothing to warrant the hearing other than speak out on the treatment of prisoners and her struggle as a trans woman behind bars.

Solitary confinement is common in civilian prisons, jails and detention centers across the United States, where there are an estimated 80,000 people in solitary confinement on any given day, said Alexis Agathocleous, deputy legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights. Manning’s supporters say the threat of solitary and the current disciplinary charges amount to torture, and is a kind of vindictiveness and retaliation for Manning’s outspoken criticism of US policies.

Nancy Mancias, of the peace group CODEPINK, said, “The recent charges are inappropriate, extreme and ridiculous, Chelsea Manning has done a great service by leaking U.S. war crimes in Iraq”.