President Obama has commuter the 35 year prison sentence for Chelsea Manning, the transgendered former US Army intelligence analyst, convicted of leaking state secrets.

The commutation does not pardon her, as she will still be convicted of the charges which include stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of documents and videos to WikiLeaks.

Manning, when she was still Pfc. Bradley Manning, is seen as a whistleblower by her supporters. Her supporters include the ACLU, Amnesty International and digital rights group Fight for the Future. They see the commutation as an act of mercy because of what they see as cruel and unusual punishment in prison.

“Chelsea’s release is [a] massive victory for free speech, human rights and democracy,” said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future. “As someone who has become friends with Chelsea over the last year, but has never had a chance to see her face or give her a hug, I'm overjoyed that she will be able to share her beautiful self with the world. She has so much to offer, and her freedom will be a testament to the power of grassroots organizing. I’m so excited for the world to get to know her as the compassionate, intelligent and kind person who she is.”

Her imprisonment is in contrast to General David Petraeus, who leaked secrets and only recieved a suspended sentence and a fine of $100,000.

Source: Info Security