Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Released From US Military Prison

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Chelsea Manning, the army private who released a trove of US state secrets to WikiLeaks, has been released from a military prison in Kansas after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence.

The US military confirmed that Manning was released on Wednesday morning.

Manning was punished by the US military for months in penal conditions that were denounced by the UN as torture

RT reports:

Chelsea Manning, the whistleblower who leaked documents to WikiLeaks on US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was released from military prison on Wednesday. Her 35-year sentence for espionage was commuted by President Barack Obama after seven years served.

A media spokesperson for the Fort Leavenworth military prison confirmed to RT that Manning was released in the early hours of Wednesday morning around 2am. The spokesperson did not comment further as per regular inmate release policy.

A fundraising page set up by friends and family in February to assist Manning after her release has raised $150,000. The money accumulated will go directly to Manning’s rent, utilities, health care, clothing and other living expenses for the first year after she is released, according to the campaign.

Manning, an Army intelligence analyst, was convicted under the Espionage Act in 2013 after admitting guilt, but not wrongdoing, in handing over documents that became known as the Iraq War Logs and the Afghan War Diary to WikiLeaks in 2010.

She was sentenced to loss of rank and forfeiture of all pay.

Manning gave WikiLeaks some 482,832 Army reports and 251,287 diplomatic cables, after watching a 2007 video of US helicopter crews indiscriminately killing Iraqi civilians, which was dubbed ‘Collateral Murder.’

Known as Bradley Manning at the time of her arrest, the whistleblower revealed after the conviction that she identified as a woman and requested to be called Chelsea.

The Army has continued to officially consider Manning male, and has kept her in the men’s section of the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Manning reportedly attempted suicide twice in 2016.

1 Comment

  1. Isnt this a bloke …whose real name is tom or ben or william or something like that?…. so its a man dressing as a woman?..cmon you are kidding me… that is seriously against Gods law.. what a terrible price this bloke will pay….

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