Pentagon Papers whistleblower joins calls demanding Chelsea Manning not be punished for July suicide attempt while imprisoned over WikiLeaks leak

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg has joined calls for Chelsea Manning to face no charges or punishment related to her suicide attempt in jail last month.

Army employees told Manning – who is serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified information to WikiLeaks – she was being investigated on multiple charges stemming from her 5 July suicide attempt, according to her lawyers. If convicted, the US army soldier could be placed in solitary confinement or be subjected to other punishment.

“These new charges ... seem designed to cause her to break down, basically to break her down as a human being,” said Ellsberg, a former US military analyst whose Pentagon Papers leak in 1971 revealed the full scope of the US government’s action during the Vietnam war.

Ellsberg and other supporters spoke to reporters after a group of organizations delivered a petition demanding that Manning not be punished. The petition, which organizers said had more than 115,000 signatures, was submitted Wednesday morning to the secretary of the army, according to multiple activist groups supporting Manning. The petition also demanded that Manning receive adequate treatment for “both her gender dysphoria and her suicide attempt”.

The US army public affairs division did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the petition. Army officials have not spoken on the administrative charges against Manning, who is a Guardian columnist.

Ellsberg expressed personal admiration for Manning and outrage at her treatment in military custody, calling the charges levied against her “absurd”.

“I would like to see more Chelsea Mannings,” Ellsberg said. “Obviously the government wants the exact opposite.

“There are of course differences in each of these situations, but no essential difference between what she did and I did,” he added.

Chase Strangio, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who represents Manning, said army officials have charged her with three administrative offenses: “resisting the force cell move team”, “prohibited property” and “conduct which threatens”.

The path forward for Manning is unclear, although Strangio said the charges will likely be resolved via an administrative hearing during which Manning can appear, although she will not be permitted legal counsel.

“The idea that the government could be trying to punish her for surviving and so clearly destabilizing her mental health is something that is just completely untenable and egregious,” Strangio said.