Chelsea Manning facing 'indefinite solitary confinement' for seemingly minor infractions

Chelsea Manning may be placed in solitary confinement "indefinitely" for allegedly being in possession of the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair, her lawyer said on Wednesday.

The US whistleblower is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence after being convicted of espionage for leaking over 700,000 classified documents to Wikileaks while working for the military in Iraq.

Her hearing, in front of a panel of three people, will take place in private at the Fort Leavenworth men’s military prison, according to her lawyer Nancy Hollander.

This is like prison disciplinary infractions in a civilian prison and there will be a hearing, but frankly it looks to me like harassment.

• Nancy Hollander, lawyer

Manning was also allegedly found with other reading material, an expired tube of toothpaste and is accused of disorderly conduct for sweeping food onto the floor and of showing disrespect, according to the Associated Press. The maximum penalty Manning could face is indefinite solitary confinement.

Her supporters have launched an online petition claiming she is being punished for “speaking out” and listed the four charges against her, which include ‘medicine misuse’ for the expired toothpaste.

More: The latest WikiLeaks revelations: What you need to know