Julian Assange Extradition: Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning, But Move Won't Get WikiLeaks Founder To US

A lawyer representing Julian Assange said Wednesday that President Barack Obama’s commutation of Chelsea Manning’s sentence failed to meet the requirements of the founder of WikiLeaks’ offer to be extradited to the United States.

“Mr. Assange welcomes the announcement that Ms. Manning's sentence will be reduced and she will be released in May, but this is well short of what he sought,” Barry Pollack, Assange’s U.S.-based attorney, said, according to The Hill. “Mr. Assange had called for Chelsea Manning to receive clemency and be released immediately.”

Last week, WikiLeaks suggested on Twitter that if President Obama were to grant Manning clemency, then Assange would agree to be extradited to the U.S. The offer was an extension of one first made in September.

Manning, who was jailed in 2010 for leaking more than 700,000 classified documents and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, was originally given a 35-year sentence. During her time in prison, Manning has gone a hunger strike and attempted to take her own life.

In November 2016, Manning petitioned President Obama to shorten her sentence, stating within her letter that she takes full responsibility for her actions, which she called “wrong.” She insisted that she did not “intend to harm the interests of the United States.”

There had been some public pressure from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and fellow whistleblower Edward Snowden to release Manning despite Snowden himself not receiving a pardon.

The White House denied the commutation of Manning’s sentence was in any way related to Assange or his offer. The head of WikiLeaks has spent the last several years in the Ecuadorean embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault charges.

Were Assange to be extradited to the United States, it is unclear what would happen to him. He hasn’t been publicly charged with any crime in the country, though his legal team believes there may be charges kept “under seal.”

Despite the belief of his legal counsel, the Washington Post reported in 2013 the Department of Justice concluded there was no way to bring charges against Assange, and there were no sealed indictments against him.