WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning will be freed on May 17 this year after US President Barack Obama commuted the bulk of her 35-year prison sentence.
But the prospects for another prominent whistle-blower – NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden – remain bleak, according to Peter Jennings, Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
“I think Snowden’s case is probably worse for him because of the fact that he went to Russia as soon his material had been leaked,” Mr Jennings told SBS.
“That removes the argument that what we're dealing with here is a benign whistleblower, it rather creates the case that what we're dealing with somebody who was a counteragent for the Russians.”
Emma Shortis, Lecturer in American History at the University of Melbourne, agrees.
“I can’t envision any kind of pardon coming through for Snowden,” she said, citing high tensions between the Obama Administrations and the Russian government.
“Chelsea Manning also admitted her guilt, and she apologised, and Snowden has done none of those things.
“Obama has made it very clear that other leakers, such as Edward Snowden, wouldn’t be treated with mercy.”
In a press briefing last week, White House Press Secretary Joshua Earnest said there was a "pretty stark difference" between Ms Manning's plea and Mr Snowden's.
“Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing,” he said.
“Mr Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary, and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”
Edward Snowden has been in Russia since 2013, evading prosecution in the United States after exposing unconstitutional spy operations and stealing hundreds of thousands of national security documents.
Despite the Manning commutation, President Obama is unlikely to pardon Snowden, experts say. Source: AAP
A US Congressional Intelligence Committee last year slammed Snowden for causing “tremendous damage” to national security, asserting he was “not a whistle-blower.”
“I can't pardon somebody who hasn't gone before a court and presented themselves,” President Obama told German magazine 'Der Spiegel' in an interview last November.
“I think that Mr Snowden raised some legitimate concerns. How he did it was something that did not follow the procedures and practices of our intelligence community.
“If everybody took the approach that I make my own decisions about these issues, then it would be very hard to have an organised government or any kind of national security system.”
