Chelsea Manning Could Face Indefinite Solitary Confinement

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/08/13/chelsea-manning-could-face-indefinite-solitary-confinement



Military prison authorities threaten severe punishment for trivial offenses, in what supporters and lawyers say is an attempt to silence the whistleblower

Chelsea Manning Could Face Indefinite Solitary Confinement
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Sarah Lazare

Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, currently serving a 35-year sentence in military prison, now faces the possibility of indefinite solitary confinement for what her supporters and lawyers say are innocuous offenses—like possessing books and magazines related to LGBTQ issues and having expired toothpaste in her cell.

The Chelsea Manning Support Network revealed Tuesday that prison authorities are using the trumped up charges—including "medicine misuse" and "prohibited property"—to silence Manning, who has become a Guardian columnist and outspoken advocate for transgender, privacy, and prisoners' rights during her incarceration.

Twenty-seven-year-old Manning has already been subjected to nearly a year of solitary confinement under U.S. military supervision—a form of punishment widely viewed as torture and condemned by the UN special rapporteur on torture. She is currently incarcerated at a maximum-security military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

"The catalyst for this attack on Chelsea seems to have been an incident in the mess hall where she may have pushed, brushed, or accidentally knocked, a small amount of food off of her table," said the Chelsea Manning Support Network in a statement released Tuesday. "She then asked to speak to her lawyer when confronted by a guard. The absurd charges were tacked on later."

[newfie11]

1. I'm totally disgusted with my country nt