President Barack Obama on Tuesday
commuted most of Chelsea Manning's remaining prison sentence.
Manning, a 29-year-old former Army
intelligence analyst, was sentenced to a 35-year prison sentence,
which she is serving at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for violating the
Espionage Act.
Obama commuted all but four months of
Manning's remaining 27 year prison term. She is set to be released
on May 17.
Groups calling for Obama to grant
clemency to Manning, who came out transgender on the first day of her
sentence, argued that she has been mistreated by the Army. Manning
has tried twice to end her life while in prison, most
recently in October.
“She has served more time in prison
than any whistleblower in the United States history, and, like many
other transgender prisoners, was treated unfairly on multiple
occasions based on her gender identity and expression,” said
Rebecca Isaacs, executive director of Equality Federation.