Washington: The Army private suspected of
giving classified US documents to the anti-secrecy group
WikiLeaks was forced to sleep naked in a military jail at
least once this week, the Marine Corps acknowledged today
after the soldier`s lawyer complained.
Commanders of the prison near Washington ordered all of
Pfc Bradley Manning`s clothing, including his boxer shorts,
taken from him Wednesday night under provisions of the Navy
Corrections Manual, which governs prisoner treatment, said 1st
Lt Brian Villiard, a spokesman for the Marine Corps base.
"It was a situationally driven event but to go into
detail about it would be inappropriate because it would
violate the detainee`s privacy," Villiard said.
Col Thomas V Johnson, another spokesman, said the
treatment was not punitive.
Manning, a former intelligence analyst, is charged with
aiding the enemy and 33 other offenses for allegedly stealing
computer files of more than 250,000 confidential State
Department cables, classified video of a deadly US helicopter
attack and a raft of Iraq and Afghanistan war logs. The video
and thousands of the documents have been published on the
WikiLeaks website.
He was arrested in May and brought to Quantico July 29
from a detention facility in Kuwait.
The Navy Corrections Manual permits clothing removal for
prisoners who have threatened suicide or made a suicidal
gesture, or for strip searches involving suspicion of a crime.
Villiard said Manning hadn`t been placed on suicide
watch.
The 23-year-old remains in maximum custody and on
prevention-of-injury status, designations that keep him
confined alone 23 hours a day, and require removal of all
clothing except his boxer shorts at night.
PTI
