Whistleblower Chelsea Manning to receive 5,000 birthday cards from supporters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2015

Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

Soldier who exposed government abuses to WikiLeaks just turned 28 in prison

More than 5,000 people have sent imprisoned WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning birthday cards for her 28th birthday using a campaign site organized by digital rights group Fight for the Future.

Manning has been in prison since she was 22, and is serving a 35 year sentence for exposing some of the U.S. government’s worst abuses.

To celebrate Chelsea’s birthday and highlight the ongoing support for her fair treatment and release, Fight for the Future launched a website yesterday that allows anyone to send Chelsea a physical birthday card with a customized message with just a few clicks.

See the website here: HappyBirthdayChelsea.com

“The world needs more people like Chelsea Manning who speak out when they see injustice and government abuse, that’s why we’re making sure she gets more birthday cards this year than ever before in her life,” said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future. “The fact that Chelsea is spending her 28th birthday in a military prison where she is being denied basic health care and dignity is an indictment of the U.S. government’s treatment of whistleblowers and human rights activists.”

“Chelsea Manning is a brave woman who should not be in prison, and she deserves to have a happy birthday,” added Jeff Lyon, Fight for the Future’s CTO, who built the site in his spare time, “There are so many people all over the world who support her, I wanted to make it easier for them to send her some birthday wishes, so I made a page that makes sending her a real live birthday card as easy as sending an email.”

Fight for the Future, a digital rights group best known for organizing massive online protests against SOPA, NSA surveillance, and for net neutrality, has been vocally supporting Manning over the past year and maintains the website FreeChelsea.com to run dedicated campaigns that help amplify Chelsea’s voice as an advocate. In August, Fight for the Future and other groups delivered more than 100,000 petition signatures (PHOTOS) in support of Chelsea when she faced potential solitary confinement as part of ongoing harassment by military officials.

The group is also currently running a petition calling for members of Congress to read and consider a 129 page surveillance reform bill that Chelsea wrote while in prison.  

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Fight for the Future is a grassroots advocacy group with more than 1.4 million members that fights to protect the Internet as a powerful platform for freedom of expression and social change. They’re best known for organizing the massive online protests against SOPA, for net neutrality, and against government surveillance. Learn more at https://www.fightforthefuture.org and https://www.twitter.com/fightfortheftr. Follow Chelsea on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/xychelsea