Chelsea Manning, the transgender Army soldier imprisoned for leaking classified documents, is on President Barack Obama’s commutation short list.
Formerly known as Bradley Manning, she was sentenced to 35 years in prison after leaking thousands of secret documents related to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, reported The Hill.
Manning, who was diagnosed with gender identity disorder, asked Obama for clemency in November after what was reported as a suicide attempt.
Manning now finds herself on Obama’s commutation list and a decision could be made as early as Wednesday, reported NBC News.
“I have more hope right now than I have the entire time since she was sentenced,” her aunt, Deborah Manning, told NBC News. “I do think it’s the last hope for a while.”
The former Army analyst pleaded guilty and offered an apology in court in 2013, noted The Hill.
“I’m sorry that my actions hurt people. I’m sorry that they hurt the United States,” Manning said, per The Hill. “I understand that I must pay the price for my decisions and actions,” she added.
Manning’s lawyers are asking for Obama’s empathy for what their client has had to endure in prison, saying that just three or so years into her sentence she’s already been in jail longer than “any other whistleblower in American history,” reported NPR.
“President Obama has the opportunity to right this wrong and commute her sentence to time served and we hope he’ll give Chelsea a chance to live her life after her courageous act to raise public awareness about the impact of war on innocent civilians,” said Vince Ward, one of Manning’s attorneys.
A petition in support of Manning’s commutation had received 160,000 signatures by early December and is now waiting on a response from the White House, The Hill noted.
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