Chelsea Manning’s lawyers and family say they are being kept in the dark about her condition after the former U.S. Army soldier was hospitalized Tuesday.
After what a U.S. official told CNN is believed to be a suicide attempt, Manning was taken to a local hospital near the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where she is being held for violating the Espionage Act.
U.S. Army spokesman Colonel Patrick Seiber confirmed to CNN that Manning was taken to the hospital “during the early hours of July 5” before returning to the barracks. The spokesman said that officials “continue to monitor the inmate’s condition.”
Nancy Hollander, Manning’s lead defense attorney, said in a statement that the Army is not releasing information to them or her family. Hollander said the Army will only connect them Friday morning at the earliest.
“We call on the Army to immediately connect Chelsea Manning to her lawyers and friends who care deeply about her well-being and are profoundly distressed by the complete lack of official communication about Chelsea’s current situation,” Hollander said.
Messages left with the Army seeking a response to Hollander’s claims were not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.
Manning, 28, is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence for her role in leaking government documents to WikiLeaks.
In May, her attorneys formally appealed that conviction, arguing that “(n)o whistleblower in American history has been sentenced this harshly.”
Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was born male. In 2013, she asked to be recognized as a woman, and last year, the Army agreed to provide her with hormone therapy.