New Zealand allowed US whitsleblower Chelsea Manning, who had provided classified information to WikiLeaks and served seven years in prison for the offense, to apply for a visa for her speaking tour just as Australia sent out a notice of intention to deny her entry, media reported on Friday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st August, 2018) New Zealand allowed US whitsleblower Chelsea Manning, who had provided classified information to WikiLeaks and served seven years in prison for the offense, to apply for a visa for her speaking tour just as Australia sent out a notice of intention to deny her entry, media reported on Friday.
On Thursday, Manning's event organizer said she was barred from entering Australia, whose government decided that she would not meet the character requirements set out in the Migration Act.
Immigration New Zealand judged that Manning had not committed any crimes since her release from US prison and was not likely to commit any while in New Zealand, the Guardian newspaper reported, citing visa assessment document.
Manning, formerly a US soldier, was given a 35-year term, but released in May 2017 after then-president Barack Obama commuted her sentence.
