karl
August 22nd, 2013, 06:34 AM
The US soldier convicted of handing a trove of secret government documents to anti-secrecy website Wikileaks has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Pte First Class Bradley Manning, 25, was convicted in July of 20 charges against him, including espionage.
In a statement read by his lawyer after the sentencing, Pte Manning said he had acted "out of love for our country".
His supporters have called on President Barack Obama to pardon the soldier or commute his sentence to time served.
Full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23784288
Bradley Manning: 'I am a woman named Chelsea'
Bradley Manning, the US soldier who leaked secret US government documents to the Wikileaks website, has announced he wants to live as a woman.
"I am Chelsea Manning," Pte First Class Manning, 25, said in a statement to NBC's Today programme. "I am a female."
He said he had felt female since childhood, wanted at once to begin hormone therapy, and wished to be addressed as Chelsea.
He has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for crimes including espionage.
He could be released on parole after at least seven years in jail, his civilian lawyer David Coombs has said.
Mr Coombs has asked President Barack Obama to pardon Pte Manning, and has pledged to appeal against the verdict and sentence.
Full story and photo here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23798253
"I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition."
But Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas, where Manning is due to serve out her sentence, said on Thursday that it would not provide trans treatment beyond psychiatric support, in a move criticised as unconstitutional by activists and LGBT groups.
Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents. She was found guilty of 20 counts, six of them under the Espionage Act, but her lawyers argued during the trial that Manning was acting out of a sense of duty to her country.
"I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility)," Manning's statement read. "I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity to write back."
see here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/22/bradley-manning-woman-chelsea-gender-reassignment
Pte First Class Bradley Manning, 25, was convicted in July of 20 charges against him, including espionage.
In a statement read by his lawyer after the sentencing, Pte Manning said he had acted "out of love for our country".
His supporters have called on President Barack Obama to pardon the soldier or commute his sentence to time served.
Full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23784288
Bradley Manning: 'I am a woman named Chelsea'
Bradley Manning, the US soldier who leaked secret US government documents to the Wikileaks website, has announced he wants to live as a woman.
"I am Chelsea Manning," Pte First Class Manning, 25, said in a statement to NBC's Today programme. "I am a female."
He said he had felt female since childhood, wanted at once to begin hormone therapy, and wished to be addressed as Chelsea.
He has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for crimes including espionage.
He could be released on parole after at least seven years in jail, his civilian lawyer David Coombs has said.
Mr Coombs has asked President Barack Obama to pardon Pte Manning, and has pledged to appeal against the verdict and sentence.
Full story and photo here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23798253
"I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition."
But Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas, where Manning is due to serve out her sentence, said on Thursday that it would not provide trans treatment beyond psychiatric support, in a move criticised as unconstitutional by activists and LGBT groups.
Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents. She was found guilty of 20 counts, six of them under the Espionage Act, but her lawyers argued during the trial that Manning was acting out of a sense of duty to her country.
"I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility)," Manning's statement read. "I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity to write back."
see here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/22/bradley-manning-woman-chelsea-gender-reassignment