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The Living Force
US whistleblower Chelsea Manning will be released from US military prison next week after serving a seven-year sentence, Manning's legal team said in a statement on Tuesday.
Whistleblower Chelsea Manning to Be Freed Next Week After 7 Years Behind Bars
https://sputniknews.com/us/201705091053441433-manning-release/
Chelsea (Bradley) Manning is set to be released from prison on May 17, according to the statementy.
"Next week, Chelsea Manning will be released from U.S. military prison after serving a seven-year sentence for disclosing classified information that raised public awareness regarding the impact of war on innocent civilians," the statement read.
The information was also confirmed by Manning, a transgender woman forced to serve sentence in an all-male prison, herself.
"For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea. I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world. Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine. Now, freedom is something that I will again experience with friends and loved ones after nearly seven years of bars and cement, of periods of solitary confinement, and of my health care and autonomy restricted, including through routinely forced haircuts," the whistleblower said in a statement.
Manning also expressed gratitude to all her supporters, lawyers and former US President Barack Obama, who commuted her sentence just before leaving the office.
Manning was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq, while serving in the US army. Then-Bradley Manning admitted disclosing classified information to WikiLeaks, concerning deaths among civilians caused by US airstrikes, Guantanamo prisoners and about 250,000 US diplomatic letters. In August 2013, the whistleblower was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Chelsea Manning to Lose Transgender Health Benefits After Release
https://sputniknews.com/us/201701201049796075-manning-loses-military-health-benefits/
Manning, whose commuted sentence will end in May 2017, also received a dishonorable discharge, along with prison time at her 2013 sentencing. Dishonorably-discharged soldiers lose all privileges and entitlements they are given as members of the military, including medical care.
Manning, who was born a male and named Bradley Manning, is undergoing gender-reassignment hormone therapy while in prison and was also to undergo gender-transition surgery (paid for by the military). However, the commutation of her sentence means that her dishonorable discharge will come before she can have that surgery at taxpayer expense.
Manning was arrested in 2010, and sentenced in 2013 to 35 years in prison. Her supporters lobbied Obama to commute her sentence via a presidential pardon, which was granted in January 2017. Obama stated that Manning's sentence was "very disproportionate relative to what other leakers have received" and that the seven years she spent in prison was sufficient punishment for her crimes.
But Obama's commutation did not overrule the dishonorable discharge that Manning received for leaking state secrets.
Manning made two suicide attempts in 2016. A 2014 survey done by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention found that 41 percent of transgender Americans have attempted suicide, compared to 4.6 percent of the overall population.
Whistleblower Chelsea Manning to Be Freed Next Week After 7 Years Behind Bars
https://sputniknews.com/us/201705091053441433-manning-release/
Chelsea (Bradley) Manning is set to be released from prison on May 17, according to the statementy.
"Next week, Chelsea Manning will be released from U.S. military prison after serving a seven-year sentence for disclosing classified information that raised public awareness regarding the impact of war on innocent civilians," the statement read.
The information was also confirmed by Manning, a transgender woman forced to serve sentence in an all-male prison, herself.
"For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea. I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world. Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine. Now, freedom is something that I will again experience with friends and loved ones after nearly seven years of bars and cement, of periods of solitary confinement, and of my health care and autonomy restricted, including through routinely forced haircuts," the whistleblower said in a statement.
Manning also expressed gratitude to all her supporters, lawyers and former US President Barack Obama, who commuted her sentence just before leaving the office.
Manning was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq, while serving in the US army. Then-Bradley Manning admitted disclosing classified information to WikiLeaks, concerning deaths among civilians caused by US airstrikes, Guantanamo prisoners and about 250,000 US diplomatic letters. In August 2013, the whistleblower was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Chelsea Manning to Lose Transgender Health Benefits After Release
https://sputniknews.com/us/201701201049796075-manning-loses-military-health-benefits/
Manning, whose commuted sentence will end in May 2017, also received a dishonorable discharge, along with prison time at her 2013 sentencing. Dishonorably-discharged soldiers lose all privileges and entitlements they are given as members of the military, including medical care.
Manning, who was born a male and named Bradley Manning, is undergoing gender-reassignment hormone therapy while in prison and was also to undergo gender-transition surgery (paid for by the military). However, the commutation of her sentence means that her dishonorable discharge will come before she can have that surgery at taxpayer expense.
Manning was arrested in 2010, and sentenced in 2013 to 35 years in prison. Her supporters lobbied Obama to commute her sentence via a presidential pardon, which was granted in January 2017. Obama stated that Manning's sentence was "very disproportionate relative to what other leakers have received" and that the seven years she spent in prison was sufficient punishment for her crimes.
But Obama's commutation did not overrule the dishonorable discharge that Manning received for leaking state secrets.
Manning made two suicide attempts in 2016. A 2014 survey done by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention found that 41 percent of transgender Americans have attempted suicide, compared to 4.6 percent of the overall population.