Chelsea Manning in NZ

Stuff reports:

National is calling on the Government to bar ex-US 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. …

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. …

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.

I’m actually agreeing with Ghahraman on this one.

I dislike what Manning did and think it was right she went to jail. But she is now free, and if people in NZ want to hear what she has to say then they should be able to.