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Chelsea Manning released from jail after refusal to testify before grand jury

By Daniel Uria
Chelsea Manning was released from prison Thursday after being held for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a grand jury for 62 days. FIie Photo by Tim Travers Hawkins/Wikimedia Commons 
Chelsea Manning was released from prison Thursday after being held for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a grand jury for 62 days. FIie Photo by Tim Travers Hawkins/Wikimedia Commons 

May 9 (UPI) -- Whistle-blower Chelsea Manning was released from jail Thursday after the term of a Grand Jury that subpoenaed her testimony expired.

Manning was released from the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Alexandria, Va., after 62 days as the term of the EDVA Grand Jury that found her in contempt of court for refusing to give testimony expired, her legal team said in a statement.

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Manning's legal team added that she was served another subpoena from a different jury for Thursday, May 16 prior to her release.

"It is therefore conceivable that she will once again be held in contempt of court and be returned to the custody of the Alexandria Detention Center, possibly as soon as nest Thursday," her team said. "Chelsea will continue to refuse to answer questions and will use every available legal defense to prove to District Judge Trenga that she has just cause for her refusal to give testimony."

Manning was first sent to jail for contempt on March 8 for refusing to testify about the release of WikiLeaks documents she leaked in 2010, stating she doesn't believe in the grand jury process and wouldn't answer questions from a secret grand jury regarding the case.

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The judge ordered Manning to remain in jail until either she answered the questions or the grand jury finished investigating, as it did Thursday.

An appeal arguing that the grand jury violated her rights and federal prosecutors used the subpoena to trap her was denied last month.

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the unauthorized disclosure of classified materials including diplomatic communications and video of a U.S. helicopter firing at civilians as it flew over Baghdad.

President Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017 and she was released.

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