Chelsea Manning’s statement before upcoming release from military prison

by | May 10, 2017

Chelsea Manning’s statement before upcoming release from military prison

by | May 10, 2017

Chelsea Manning released the following statement before her upcoming release from military prison on May 17, 2017:

“For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea. I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world. Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine. Now, freedom is something that I will again experience with friends and loved ones after nearly seven years of bars and cement, of periods of solitary confinement, and of my health care and autonomy restricted, including through routinely forced haircuts. I am forever grateful to the people who kept me alive, President Obama, my legal team and countless supporters.

“I watched the world change from inside prison walls and through the letters that I have received from veterans, trans young people, parents, politicians and artists. My spirits were lifted in dark times, reading of their support, sharing in their triumphs, and helping them through challenges of their own. I hope to take the lessons that I have learned, the love that I have been given, and the hope that I have to work toward making life better for others.”

Read the full press release at Luminairity.

Chelsea Manning

Chelsea E. Manning is a former all-source intelligence analyst for the U.S. Defense Department. She writes extensively for The Guardian and on Medium about issues like transparency, free speech, civil liberties, queer and trans rights, and computer security, as well as her own life and experience. Chelsea was in prison for seven years for disclosing military and diplomatic information to the public that, among other things, exposed the “true nature of 21st century asymmetric warfare.” She came out as a trans woman in 2013, while serving in an all male prison at Fort Leavenworth Kansas. Her 35 year sentence was commuted by President Obama in 2017.

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