Call to bar Manning from speaking in NZ
National is calling on the Government to bar ex-United States army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning from visiting the country next month.
Former immigration minister Michael Woodhouse said the ‘‘convicted felon’’ should not be allowed to earn money talking about her crimes, and it would ‘‘not enhance’’ New Zealand’s relationship with the US.
Manning, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified American diplomatic and military documents, has two speaking events scheduled early next month.
Her conviction for espionage and computer fraud means she is likely to require a ‘‘special direction’’ from the Government to allow her into the country.
This can come from a senior immigration official or Associate Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi.
Manning was granted a commuted sentence, not a pardon, by former US president Barack Obama, so her convictions still stand.
A spokeswoman for Faafoi said a request had not yet been received, and he would not be commenting on a decision ahead of actually making it.
Immigration New Zealand said no visa application had been received as of Monday night, but Manning’s representatives in New Zealand said they were in the process of requesting a special direction.
Woodhouse said if an application from Manning had landed on his desk while he was immigration minister, he would have denied it, and called on the Government to do the same.
‘‘This is a convicted felon, sentenced to 35 years in jail, coming in here for money,’’ Woodhouse said. ‘‘She is wanting to be hailed as a hero for stealing military secrets and state secrets. She was convicted of very serious crimes.’’
The prosecution in Manning’s court martial was unable to prove that her leaks caused any harm to human life, and a recent Pentagon analysis found they had no strategic impacts on the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.
But Woodhouse said it was basically impossible to prove harm because of the nature of the crimes.
‘‘I’m a firm believer in free speech. But I don’t believe there is a basis to say that her crimes are victimless. We will never know, because of the nature of her offending, whether there are people that were put in harm’s way,’’ Woodhouse said.
Green Party foreign affairs spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman said Manning should definitely be let into New Zealand.
‘‘She got her criminal convictions for acts that were in fact in the public interest. She doesn’t pose a risk for New Zealand in relation to anything that dates back to those convictions. It’s not like she was a drug or sex offender,’’ Ghahraman said.
Free Speech Coalition member Chris Trotter said the group was preparing a response he was confident would be supportive of Manning’s right to speak.
‘‘I’m absolutely supportive of the efforts to bring her here and have her speak,’’ Trotter said.