On International Women’s Day, Chelsea Manning was wrongfully jailed for refusing to participate in a secret WikiLeaks Grand Jury investigation. While in jail she was served with a second subpoena. After being released, Chelsea Manning was wrongfully jailed a second time for again refusing to testify in front of a WikiLeaks Grand Jury.The U.S. government’s continued imprisonment of Chelsea Manning is nothing more than full-scale harassment.
Petition
We urge the U.S. Attorney for the East District of Virginia G. Zachary Terwilliger to show compassion and grant a medical release of our sister Chelsea Manning.
Chelsea is a trans woman who has suffered harsh treatment during her detention in Quantico. She was held in solitary confinement, stripped of her garments, and tortured. While in federal prison, she attempted suicide more than once. She was dishonorably discharged from the Army; and had already served 1,294 days in prison when she was sentenced in August 2013 to 35 years confinement with the possibility of parole in 8 years. She was convicted in July 2013 for a series of offenses including violations of the Espionage Act, after leaking more than 700,000 classified files of diplomatic cables and other documents to Wikileaks widely known as “Cablegate.” Included in these were videos of the massacre of civilians in both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Manning has testified repeatedly on the issue. With our support, we generated a massive outcry, influencing President Obama to use his last days in office to do the right thing and commute her sentence.
We are urging U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger to do the right thing and grant Chelsea a medical release from jail.
Sincerely,
