Chelsea Manning's Suicide Attempt May Land Her New Charges, Solitary

Chelsea Manning could be facing new charges in connection to her suicide attempt earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement Thursday, noting that the whistleblower could even be put in indefinite solitary confinement.

Manning, the 28-year-old U.S. Army soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning, is currently serving a 35-year sentence for funneling classified information to WikiLeaks, including U.S. State Department diplomatic cables and U.S. Army war reports, according to The Atlantic.

The Army confirmed that Manning was taken to a local hospital "during the early hours of July 5" after what was believed to be a suicide attempt at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where she is being held for violating the Espionage Act, CNN reported.

The ACLU said in a statement that Manning received documents from military officials this week stating that she is being investigated in connection to the July 5 incident.

The new "adminstrative offenses" include resisting the force cell move team, prohibited property, and conduct which threatens, the ACLU said in its statement. If convicted, Manning could be sent to solitary confinement indefinitely, reclassified into maximum security, and sentenced to an additional nine years in medium custody.

"It is deeply troubling that Chelsea is now being subjected to an investigation and possible punishment for her attempt to take her life," ACLU staff attorney Chase Strangio said in the statement. "The government has long been aware of Chelsea's distress associated with the denial of medical care related to her gender transition and yet delayed and denied the treatment recognized as necessary."

"Now, while Chelsea is suffering the darkest depression she has experienced since her arrest, the government is taking actions to punish her for that pain. It is unconscionable and we hope that the investigation is immediately ended and that she is given the health care that she needs to recover," Strangio continued.

The ACLU said the new charges could even prevent Manning from receiving parole.

In May, Manning appealed her 2013 conviction on six counts of espionage to the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals, calling it "grossly unfair and unprecedented" and adding that "no whistleblower in American history has been sentenced this harshly," according to the website The Intercept.

Manning was born male and, in 2013, asked to be recognized as a woman, according to CNN. The Army agreed last year to provide her with hormone therapy.

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