President Obama gave a gift to Chelsea Manning the 32 years of imprisonment she had endured, according to her New York Times. The event is not considered a presidential pardon, but a commutation of Manning's sentence, which is set to be released in just months.
Following the leak of more than 700.000 documents from US military and diplomatic services around the world, Chelsea Manning caused earthquakes all over the world.
The documents were published by Wikileaks and include atrocities such as a video of 2007, called “Collateral Murder” and shows the US military killing innocent civilians, including a reporter from Reuters.
The 30 mm cannon began to fire one at a time helicopter to people trying to take the injured, but also to a truck carrying children.
Chelsea Manning was led to the US Army Barracks in Fort Leavenworth 2013 to serve 35 for years.
President Obama, who only stayed for four days in the presidential office, decided to release him.
Let's recall some particularities of the Manning case. Three years after his detention in prison, Manning announced that he had decided to change his sex and become a woman. Thus, formerly known as Bradley Manning, Chelsea made the following statement a day after the verdict of her imprisonment:
I'm Chelsea Manning. I am a woman. Given the way I feel, and I have felt since childhood, I want to start hormone therapy as soon as possible.
The military has denied the allegations, much to the chagrin of activists around the world. A year later, he went on a hunger strike demanding gender reassignment surgery, which the military approved just five days later. Throughout this period, Manning made two suicide attempts.
Throughout her imprisonment, defense groups around the world demanded her release. Many believed that Obama could be the last hope for her freedom.
After today's announcement, Chelsea Manning will be released on 17 May.
What remains to be seen is whether Julian Assange keeps his promise to surrender if Manning is released.