According to the Guardian, seven days of the sentence will be suspended, unless prison officials decide she poses further disciplinary problems.
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If she loses the appeal, she’ll have to serve seven days in solitary, and then another seven if she commits another perceived infraction in the next six months. This hurt me more than any physical injury or hardship I have lived through. I don’t like the feeling of isolation. “I don’t know how to explain it”, she shared.
Manning is serving a 35-year sentence at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth.
The punishment stems from administrative charges the United States Army brought against Manning after she attempted suicide in July. I expect to get them in the next few days.
After she receives written notification of her solitary confinement sentence, Chelsea has 15 days to appeal the disciplinary board’s decision.
At the hearing, for which Manning was not provided access to an attorney, she was found guilty of “conduct which threatens”, and that her suicide attempt “interfered with the good order, safety, and running of the facility”.
Since her arrival in prison, Manning has endured one form of mistreatment after another – including denial of recommended medical care, repeated threats of solitary confinement, and punishment for frivolous charges, like having an expired tube of toothpaste in her cell. Because the “force cell remove team” were called in after she was discovered unconscious in her unit, Manning’s suicide attempt was seen by the army as an act of resistance or interference, a Category IV or V offense, the same as extortion, tampering with locks, arson, or possession of drugs.
Manning released a statement through the organization, saying that she was “presented evidence and was allowed to question witnesses through the board president”.
“I am unendingly relieved that the military is finally doing the right thing”, Manning said in a statement at the time.
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Last week saw the end of a hunger strike Manning began in early September, after the USA military agreed to allow her treatment for gender dysmorphia. It has disturbed me. “I saw the face of woman who, for years, has politely asked, formally requested, and desperately begged for help”. The Pentagon agreed in 2015 to begin providing her with hormone treatment, and last week said it would let the soldier seek gender transition surgery from behind bars. However, it remains unclear whether they will fulfill this promise.
