Obama commutes sentence of WikiLeaker Chelsea Manning

PanARMENIAN.Net - US President Barack Obama slashed the sentence of transgender army private Chelsea Manning, who had been sentenced to 35 years behind bars for handing classified US documents to WikiLeaks, AFP says.

Obama pardoned 64 people and commuted the sentences of 209 others -- including 29-year-old Manning, who will now be released in May -- in one of his final acts as president.

Manning was convicted in August 2013 of espionage and other offenses, after admitting to the leak of 700,000 sensitive military and diplomatic documents.

The cache included military logs from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and cables offering sensitive -- and often embarrassingly bareknuckle -- diplomatic assessments of foreign leaders and world events.

Then Bradley Manning pleaded guilty and was sentenced by military court martial. She has since been held in an all-male prison, at times in solitary confinement, and has attempted to commit suicide twice.

Activists had argued her sentence is excessive and point to the psychological frailty of the transgender soldier.

"This move could quite literally save Chelsea's life," said Chase Strangio of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Still, Obama's move is something of a surprise, coming in the midst of a scandal over election-related hacking.

Obama has imposed sanctions on Russian intelligence services over the hack of Democratic party emails, some of which were released via WikiLeaks.

Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, fled to Hong Kong and then Russia in 2013 after revealing a highly classified global communications and internet surveillance system.

He was not on Obama's list of commutations or pardons, but did tweet his thanks.

"Let it be said here in earnest, with good heart: Thanks, Obama."