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Obama commutes Chelsea Manning sentence | Obama commutes Chelsea Manning sentence |
(35 minutes later) | |
President Barack Obama has commuted Chelsea Manning's sentence for leaking documents to Wikileaks in 2010. | President Barack Obama has commuted Chelsea Manning's sentence for leaking documents to Wikileaks in 2010. |
The 29-year-old transgender US Army private, born Bradley Manning, will be freed on 17 May instead of her scheduled 2045 release. | The 29-year-old transgender US Army private, born Bradley Manning, will be freed on 17 May instead of her scheduled 2045 release. |
She was sentenced to 35 years in 2013 for her role in leaking diplomatic cables to the anti-secrecy group. | She was sentenced to 35 years in 2013 for her role in leaking diplomatic cables to the anti-secrecy group. |
The leak was one of the largest breaches of classified material in US history. | The leak was one of the largest breaches of classified material in US history. |
The White House had suggested in recent days it was open to commuting Manning's sentence. | |
She twice attempted suicide last year at the male military prison where she is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. | |
Manning also went on a hunger strike last year, which ended after the military agreed to provide her with gender dysphoria treatment. | |
In one of his final acts as president, Mr Obama granted commutation of sentences to 209 individuals and pardons to 64 others. | |
What was in the leaked cables? | What was in the leaked cables? |
The US Army charged Manning with 22 counts relating to the unauthorised possession and distribution of more than 700,000 secret diplomatic and military documents and video. | The US Army charged Manning with 22 counts relating to the unauthorised possession and distribution of more than 700,000 secret diplomatic and military documents and video. |
Included in those files was video footage of an Apache helicopter killing 12 civilians in Baghdad in 2007. | Included in those files was video footage of an Apache helicopter killing 12 civilians in Baghdad in 2007. |
Manning also passed on sensitive messages between US diplomats, intelligence assessments of Guantanamo detainees being held without trial and military records from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. | Manning also passed on sensitive messages between US diplomats, intelligence assessments of Guantanamo detainees being held without trial and military records from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. |
The disclosures were considered an embarrassment to the US, prompting the Obama administration to crack down on government leaks. | The disclosures were considered an embarrassment to the US, prompting the Obama administration to crack down on government leaks. |
At a sentencing hearing, Manning apologised for "hurting the US" and said she had mistakenly thought she could "change the world for the better". | At a sentencing hearing, Manning apologised for "hurting the US" and said she had mistakenly thought she could "change the world for the better". |
What next for Julian Assange? | |
Wikileaks, the anti-secrecy organisation which published the diplomatic cables, has previously said its founder Julian Assange would agree to be extradited to the US if Mr Obama granted clemency to Manning. | |
Mr Assange, who has taken refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, did not immediately comment on whether he plans to surrender. | |
Wikileaks instead hailed the news of Ms Manning's release as a victory, on Twitter. | |
If extradited, he would probably be prosecuted for his role in publishing millions of leaked, classified documents. | |
The White House said the Manning commutation was not influenced in any way by Mr Assange's extradition offer. | |
Why no pardon for Edward Snowden? | |
More than a million supporters of Edward Snowden have petitioned President Barack Obama to pardon him. | |
But according to the White House, the National Security Agency leaker has not himself submitted the necessary documents for clemency. | |
In November, Mr Obama told German newspaper Der Spiegel: "I can't pardon somebody who hasn't gone before a court and presented themselves." | |
The White House last week pointed out that Manning had passed through the US military justice system and acknowledged her crimes. | |
Mr Snowden, however, fled the US in 2013, evading charges in America which could put him in prison for up to 30 years, and obtained temporary asylum in Russia. | |
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Mr Earnest "the disclosures by Edward Snowden were far more serious and far more dangerous". | |
He had also "fled into the arms of an adversary and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine the confidence in our democracy", Mr Earnest added. | |
How do pardons and commutations work? | |
Mr Obama has commuted 1,385 sentences and issued 212 pardons, more than the total granted by the past 12 presidents combined. | |
In America, a pardon not only lifts the sentence but removes other penalties such as the bar on convicted felons sitting on federal juries, and state-level prohibitions on such things as voting or possession of firearms. | |
A commutation means the sentence is lifted but the civil handicaps outlined above remain. | |
Neither a pardon not a commutation is an acknowledgment of innocence. |