Chelsea Manning's Welsh family 'overjoyed' at imminent release

The Welsh-Irish family of whistleblower Chelsea Manning said they are "overjoyed" she will soon be free after her sentence was commuted by outgoing US President Barack Obama.

A statement released on behalf of her mother, Susan Manning, and other family members of the transgender former intelligence analyst said there would "always be a welcome for her here in Wales".

"We are all overjoyed that Chelsea will soon be free," the statement said.

"Chelsea exposed wrongdoing and was punished for being a whistleblower. We regret that it has taken so long for President Obama to commute the sentence and are outraged that Chelsea has been forced to endure such abusive treatment in prison. We agree with the UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez that some of this abuse amounted to torture.

"We sincerely hope that Chelsea will now be able to get on with the rest of her life and that she finds happiness and fulfilment in whatever she chooses to do. There will always be a welcome for her here in Wales."

Manning, previously known as Bradley, was convicted of leaking a huge cache of American military and diplomatic papers to Wikileaks and was sentenced to 35 years in 2013.

Outgoing President Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence in his last week in office. Credit: AP

Obama has said she will be freed on May 17 instead of her scheduled release in 2045.

Manning was born male in Oklahoma to a Welsh mother spent part of her teenage years in Pembrokeshire following her parents' divorce.

She attended Tasker Milward comprehensive school and still has family and friends in the area.

As well as her mother, her aunts, Sharon Staples and Mary Murray, and uncle, Kevin Fox, are believed to still live in south-west Wales and have been campaigning for her release since she was jailed.

She also has several supporters in Ireland. Her grandfather, Billy Fox, emigrated from Dublin to Wales in 1948.

Julian Assange, pictured at the Ecuadorean Embassy, where he has stayed since 2012. Credit: AP

Manning's release could pave the way for the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to face allegations of rape.

In a tweet last week, Wikileaks said: "If Obama grants Manning clemency Assange will agree to US extradition".

After Manning was granted clemency, he said in a statement: "I welcome President Obama's decision to commute the sentence of Ms Chelsea Manning from 35 years to time served, but Ms Manning should never have been convicted in the first place.

"Ms Manning is a hero, whose bravery should have been applauded not condemned."

He added: "In order for the democracy and the rule of law to thrive, the Government should immediately end its war on whistleblowers and publishers, such as Wikileaks and myself."

Via Wikileaks, Assange thanked Manning's supporters and said that he is "confident of winning any fair trial in the US".

His lawyer said: "Everything that he has said he's standing by."

In November, Swedish prosecutor Ingrid Isgren interviewed Assange at Ecuador's embassy, where he has been in self-imposed exile more than four years ago, over the allegations.

Assange has always denied the allegations against him, and has offered to be interviewed at the embassy several times.