13 May, 2017
Manning, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison after being convicted in 2013, has been locked up since May 2010.
Transgender whistleblower Chelsea Manning has thanked former President Barack Obama for freeing her in one of his final acts of office.
Chelsea Manning, the Army private who leaked a vast trove of USA state secrets to WikiLeaks, released her first statement Tuesday since being granted clemency. Obama had commuted the sentence three days before leaving the White House, greatly shortening the duration.
Manning was given a 35-year sentence by a court martial, after she leaked nearly three-quarters of a million classified USA war reports and diplomatic cables to Wikileaks.
Manning was arrested outside a USA army base on the outskirts of Baghdad in 2010, having leaked hundreds of thousands of documents and videos downloaded from intelligence databases to WikiLeaks.
News of Manning's commutation set off harsh criticism from some Republicans and intelligence officials who opposed the move in January, but Obama said she had served a "tough sentence". The theft of the trove of files was what first thrust Wikileaks (and its hyper-controversial founder Julian Assange) into the spotlight in a major way, and it earned Manning a staggering 35-year prison sentence, far beyond what's typically given for similar offenses.
To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below. I imagine myself surviving and living in the skin of the person I am and who can be in the outside world, "said the woman soldier, in a statement sent by her team of defenders".
In court, Manning pleaded guilty to leaking secret information - but she was acquitted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy, in July of 2013. With freedom approaching, though, she says the future looks brighter.
"I can see a future for myself as Chelsea. Now it's here! You kept me alive 3", Manning wrote, linking to a longer statement which referred to some of the treatment she had received behind bars, including "periods of solitary confinement, and. routinely forced haircuts".
"My spirits were lifted in dark times, reading of their support, sharing in their triumphs, and helping them through challenges of their own", it added. "As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me", she said in a statement announcing the change. Earlier reports suggested May 17 as a likely release date.
Manning has previously said she released the files in the interests of transparency and accountability.
