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
Original Submission #1 Original Submission #2 Original Submission #3
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 18 2017, @01:06PM
Here's the tweet in question:
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/819630102787059713 [twitter.com]
Commutation is a form of clemency, so the ball is in Assange's court.
However, it is not clear that the U.S. will seek extradition of Assange. He might just get arrested by the Brits and serve a sentence for skipping bail. What's the normal punishment for that, anyway?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by butthurt on Wednesday January 18 2017, @02:16PM
There was a very similar, earlier, Twitter message:
If Obama grants Manning clemency, Assange will agree to US prison in exchange -- despite its clear unlawfulness
-- https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/776437869376262144 [twitter.com]