Chelsea Manning Set To Be Released From Prison

FORT LEAVENWORTH, KS — Chelsea Manning, the Army private convicted of releasing a trove of classified information to WikiLeaks, will be released from prison on Wednesday, after her 35-year prison sentence was commuted by President Obama in January.

Manning, 29, will remain an active-duty, unpaid solider and will be eligible for health and other benefits after her release from the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Manning's sentence was commuted to expire on May 17 rather than in 2045. The commutation was criticized by some, including President Trump, who tweeted shortly after his inauguration, "ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!"

In a statement issued by the American Civil Liberties Union, Chase Strangio, Manning's attorney, said that when released, Manning wants to give back to help the trans community.

"The first thing Chelsea always says when we talk about her freedom is that she wants to give back to the trans community — to fight for the many trans people, largely trans women of color, held in custody; to continue to connect with trans young people; to share our victories and our struggles; to continue to transform the public narrative about what it means to be trans," Strangio said. "She has an unrelenting sense of compassion and justice despite all that she has faced."

Manning's time in prison had come under scrutiny and her alleged mistreatment led her to attempt suicide twice. Her incarceration was complicated by the fact that she is a transgender woman serving time at the male military penitentiary. When she was incarcerated, she was known as Bradley Manning, and she announced her transition to a woman while in prison. While in prison, she received hormone treatment. She also went on a hunger strike, shortly after which the Army agreed to medically prescribed treatment for Manning's gender dysphoria.

An Army spokesperson told Patch that while Manning's court-martial conviction remains under appeal, she will remain a private in the Army on excess leave.

"To ensure the privacy and security of Inmate Manning, no further information concerning the release will be provided," the spokesperson said.

Manning's release after seven years in prison also comes at a time when there is greater acceptance for transgender people, including in the military, where the ban on transgender people serving was lifted in July 2016.

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking government documents to WikiLeaks, the longest sentence ever handed down in a case involving a leak of United States government information for the purposes of making that information public, The New York Times noted at the time of sentencing.

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Image: Main entrance to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. By Julie Denesha/Getty Images News/Getty Images