In one of his last moves in office, President Obama has commuted the 35-year prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the Army private who leaked a massive trove of military secrets to WikiLeaks.
The former intelligence analyst's prison sentence has been shortened to expire on May 17, 2017, according to a statement from the White House.
Her lawyers at the ACLU expressed relief after the decision, saying that Manning has already served more time behind bars than any other whistleblower in U.S. history, and under difficult conditions.
Also at the BBC and the New York Times.
Previously: Chelsea Manning Reportedly on Obama's Short List for Commutation; Assange Offers Himself in Trade
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @12:07PM
What has resulted from these leaks? Who's been punished for the war crimes? What uproar about this has there been?
Well, if the whistleblower could unilaterally punish people and change policy, you'd have a point, but that just isn't the case. The public has to push for change aggressively, which is hard when there are so many of them are either apathetic or authoritarian. Whistleblowing opens up the possibility for the public to take action, but it's on them if they don't take that opportunity.