7 years after, former Army analyst Chelsea Manning released from prison

Former Army intelligence analyst, Chelsea Manning who was behind one of the largest classified information leaks in US history, was released from military prison this morning. 

According to Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson, he was released from United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas around 3 a.m. ET.

Amnesty International, which had campaigned for Manning's release, was quick to applaud the decision saying, 'while we celebrate her freedom, we will continue to call for an independent investigation into the potential human rights violations she exposed, and for protections to be put in place to ensure whistleblowers like Chelsea are never again subjected to such appalling treatment". 

Manning was convicted in 2013 of stealing 750,000 pages of documents and videos before leaking them to WikiLeaks.

Manning formerly known as Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on 20 counts, including violations of the Espionage Act. After the 2013 sentencing, the ex-intelligence agent changed her name to Chelsea Manning and became a transgender woman. 

During one of his final acts in office, President Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence in January, thereby giving her an early release date.