Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was finally released from the U.S. military prison last Wednesday after being arrested seven years back for giving secrets to WikiLeaks. Perhaps, with Manning's freedom, the founder of WikiLeaks will finally accept the extradition which was offered to her before.
Latest reports confirmed that Chelsea Manning was finally freed from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. According to Reuters, she made it sure that her release from the prison was remarkable by writing "First steps of Freedom" and posted on her social media.
It can be recalled that way back 2013, Chelsea Manning was convicted of espionage because she was caught to have furnished a large number of documents and gave these to WikiLeaks. She did this while she was performing her duties as an intelligence analyst in Iraq.
Apart from Manning, the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange was also arrested because of the same crime. More than Manning, Assange was more of the priority and the objective of criminal investigations both in the U.S. and in Sweden. It can be recalled that she said and promised before that she was ready to accept extradition if Manning will be freed.
Reports were rife that it was U.S. President Barack Obama who commuted the 35-year sentence of Manning to 28 years. This infuriated some Americans most especially the national security experts. According to them, Manning was responsible for putting the lives of Americans at risk.
Apart from her case, Manning also gained the respect and admiration of some American activists most especially the transgender advocates since she embraced her transition to a female gender. Before becoming as Chelsea Manning, she was once known as Private First Class Bradley Manning.
When she was still in prison, Manning revealed and announced her transition to the female gender identity. Because of what she did, ABC News reported that she was a victim of solitary confinement and that she was even denied of healthcare prerogatives.
Manning's dilemma traced its roots from the policy before that transgender men and women cannot serve in the military. But it was just last year when the Defense Department lifted the ban since a great number of military officers and personnel are affected.
