Chelsea Manning on Impending Release: ‘Freedom Used to Be Something I Dreamed Of’ – NBCNews.com

Imprisoned U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning U.S. Army / via AFP - Getty Images file

The former Army private also faced new charges in July 2016: three administrative prison offenses related to her first of two

"I am forever grateful to the people who kept me alive, President Obama, my legal team, and countless supporters," said Manning on Tuesday, citing struggles over "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."

Manning, who has

"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," Manning said. "My spirits were lifted in dark times, reading of their support, sharing in their triumphs, and helping them through challenges of their own."

Nancy Hollander and Vincent Ward, the attorneys representing Manning in clemency and appellate cases, called Manning's long sentence "draconian."

"Chelsea has already served the longest sentence of any whistleblower in the history of this country," said Hollander and Ward in a joint statement Tuesday. "It has been far too long, too severe, too draconian. President Obama's act of commutation was the first time the military took care of this soldier who risked so much to disclose information that served the public interest."

Manning then known as Bradley was convicted in 2013 for stealing 700,000 military files and diplomatic cables and giving them to WikiLeaks in 2010. Her defenders say no one was endangered by the leaks. She came out as transgender shortly after her sentencing.

An ACLU spokesperson told NBC News that a lawsuit against the DoD over gender transition-related medical care is now "on hold" and will likely be dropped after her release. Meanwhile, ACLU attorney Chase Strangio said Manning's visibility as a transgender woman is a "critical force" in the movement for equality.

"The transition out of these horrific institutions will not be easy, and part of what we hope is that Chelsea will find the space, love, and support to heal and build a life of her choosing," said Strangio. "Her fight to be herself, to access the medical care that she needed, and to gain her freedom have transformed law and society for the better."

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Chelsea Manning on Impending Release: 'Freedom Used to Be Something I Dreamed Of' - NBCNews.com