Chelsea Manning has been released from prison

Former Army intelligence analyst, Chelsea Manning, who was behind one of the largest classified information leaks in U.S. history, has been released from military prison. She was initially sentenced to 35 years, but her sentence was commuted by President Obama in January.

Freedom was only a dream, and hard to imagine. Now it’s here! You kept me alive <3 https://t.co/abkGoA3fOi

— Chelsea Manning (@xychelsea) May 9, 2017

Her lawyer has said Manning is very “anxious” of her release. Journalist friend, Glenn Greenwald, who was involved in the publication of leaks from Edward Snowden, said she is due to face a difficult life after prison. “She’s going to live in a country where the top officials have expressed extreme denunciations of her, condemnations of her, who regard her as a traitor,” he said. “But the reality is that if you look back at what it is that she achieved, she revealed unquestionable war crimes, her disclosures led to reforms around the world.”

Manning was forced to serve in an all-male military prison despite her request to transfer to a civilian prison upon sentencing. She still remains on active duty in the Army until her appeals. It is possible she could gain military benefits. While in prison, she was the first service member to be approved for gender reassignment surgery in military prison.

“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,” Chelsea wrote in a statement.

Get NationofChange in your inbox

Independent reporting every weekday. No paywall, no advertisers, no corporate owner. Free, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.

Subscribe free