Whistleblower Chelsea Manning released from prison

Whistleblower Chelsea Manning has left prison just months after most of her 35-year sentence was commuted by former US President Barack Obama.

Chelsea Manning recently tweeted that she would like to live in Maryland once released.

Chelsea Manning recently tweeted that she would like to live in Maryland once released. Source: U.S. Army

Whistleblower Chelsea Manning has reportedly been released from prison after serving seven years for leaking hundreds of thousands of military files to Wikileaks.

An army spokesperson confirmed Manning had left Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas on Wednesday morning.

In January she tweeted that she wanted to move to Maryland after being released.

"She's ready to finally be able to live as the woman that she is," her lawyer Nancy Hollander told the BBC.


The 29-year-old, born Bradley Manning, had been deployed to Iraq as an intelligence analyst when she leaked hundreds of thousands of files to Wikileaks.

The files included video footage of an Apache helicopter killing 12 civilians in Baghdad in 2007.

Manning was convicted of 20 charges in connection with the leaks, including espionage.

In 2013, after being sentenced to 35 years' jail, Manning revealed she had felt female since childhood and wanted to live as a woman called Chelsea.

She defended her role in the the leaks saying she wanted to spark a public debate about US foreign policy and the role of the military, but later apologised for "hurting the US".

Earlier this year most of what remained of her sentence was commuted by then-US president Barack Obama.

She was acquitted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy.

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2 min read
Published 17 May 2017 9:56pm
Updated 18 May 2017 6:28am
Source: SBS News


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