Washington -
A military appeals court is recognising the transgender defendant accused of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks as a woman.
The US Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Washington issued the order pertaining to Chelsea Manning on Wednesday.
The court says references to Manning in all future filings, orders and decisions shall use either feminine pronouns or gender-neutral phrases such as “Private First Class Manning.”
The 27-year-old intelligence analyst, formerly known as Bradley Manning, obtained a legal name change in April.
She was cleared last month to receive hormone therapy at the US Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Manning is serving a 35-year sentence for leaking reams of war logs, diplomatic cables and battlefield video to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks in 2010.
Sapa-AP