WASHINGTON – It seems that former soldier Chelsea Manning, who was imprisoned after leaking thousands of documents, will be released from prison.
On Tuesday,the New York Times reportedthat President Obama largely commuted the remaining prison sentence for Manning.
After spending seven years in prison, Manning is set to be freed on May 17, 2017.
Earlier this month, asource at the Justice Department told NBC Newsthat Manning’s sentence may be commuted.
Chelsea Manning, who was known as Bradley, was imprisoned in 2010 after leaking 700,000 military files and diplomatic cables to Wikileaks.
Manning pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 35 years for the crime, which is 10 times longer than most other whistle-blowers.
The day after the verdict, Manning announced that she was a transgender woman.
During the past year, Manning tried to commit suicide twice and went on a hunger strike in an attempt to get gender reassignment surgery.
While at the military prison, Manning has been receiving hormone therapy and is allowed to wear women’s undergarments. However, a military doctor has refused to change her gender on her Army records.
In 2016, her attorneys formally appealed that conviction, arguing that “(n)o whistleblower in American history has been sentenced this harshly.”
Last month, NBC News reports that 100,000 people signed an online petition that sought a commutation of Manning’s sentence.
