Various outlets are reporting that Chelsea Manning’s sentence has just been commuted by President Obama.
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President Obama has commuted the 35-year prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the army private who leaked military secrets to WikiLeaks.
Earlier this month, WikiLeaks said it would agree to a USA extradition request for the site’s founder, Julian Assange, if Obama granted clemency to Manning.
Manning is now set to be freed on 17 May of this year, according to The New York Times.
“The decision by Mr. Obama rescued Ms. Manning, who twice tried to commit suicide a year ago, from an uncertain future as a transgender woman incarcerated at the male military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan”.
The president’s decision comes after an outpouring of support for Manning since her unfair and egregious sentence and the ongoing mistreatment throughout her incarceration.
Among the records and cables that Manning released through WikiLeaks, one video showed United States forces executing an airstrike in Iraq that killed two Reuters journalists and at least 16 more civilians. The anti-secrecy group upped the ante by dangling Assange, who resides in exile in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Confirmation came from the White House today, with many praising the decision, one that could have saved Manning’s life.
The internet has already been asking what this might mean for another major leaker of the era, Edward Snowden, but the situation there is different since Snowden has not actually been in the country to face any charges. She was acquitted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy.
Due to the restrictive nature of her imprisonment, there’s no word yet from Manning herself, but her Twitter feed has been filled with a campaign urging her freedom. Incident reports, and the names of local residents who cooperated with the USA military and thousands of State Department from around the world, were also released.
It seems that a former soldier who was imprisoned after leaking thousands of documents will be released from prison.
Manning ended a hunger strike in September after the US Army agreed to provide her with gender confirming surgery.
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Ward said that Manning’s sentence exceeds even worldwide legal norms. White House press secretary Josh Earnest recently noted a “stark difference” between the Manning and Snowden cases.
