PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA has commuted the final 31 years of the sentence of whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
Manning was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment in August 2013, but Obama has commuted the sentence, meaning it will end in May.
Manning is more than six years into a 35-year sentence for leaking classified government and military documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Her sentence is now set to expire 17 May.
She was known as Bradley Manning at the time of her 2010 arrest.
Obama is also pardoning 64 people, including retired General James Cartwright, who was charged with making false statements during a probe into disclosure of classified information.
Most of the other people receiving commutations were serving sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.
However, the New York Times quotes White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest as saying there is a “pretty stark difference” between Manning and Edward Snowden.
“Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing.”
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