Chelsea Manning, the ex-U.S. army private convicted of leaking classified information to Wikileaks, was sentenced to 21 days of recreational restrictions for violating rules at Fort Leavenworth prison.
One of those violations included possessing the Vanity Fair cover of Caitlyn Jenner; she was facing indefinite solitary confinement.
Manning took to Twitter to express her concern over the 21-day punishment.
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.
— Chelsea Manning (@xychelsea) August 18, 2015
Now these convictions will follow me thru to any parole/clemency hearing forever. Was expecting to be in min custody in Feb, now years added
— Chelsea Manning (@xychelsea) August 18, 2015
And her lawyer, Chase Strangio, thanked the 100,000 people who signed a petition on Chelsea’s behalf.
“No one should have to face the lingering threat of solitary confinement for reading and writing about the conditions we encounter in the world,” Strangio said.
“Chelsea’s voice is critical to our public discourse about government accountability and trans Justice and we can only preserve it if we stay vigilant in our advocacy on her behalf.”