Chelsea Manning has been released from prison after 62 days for refusing to testify to a grand jury about WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.
Manning was released from the William G Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Alexandria, Virginia on Thursday.
The government whistleblower was being held in contempt of court, but was released following the expiration of the term of the Eastern District of Virginia Grand Jury that demanded her testimony.
Chelsea Manning has been released from prison after 62 days for refusing to testify to a grand jury about WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange
The government whistleblower was being held in contempt of court, but was released following the expiration of the term of the Eastern District of Virginia Grand Jury
‘Today marked the expiration of the term of the grand jury, and so, after 62 days of confinement, Chelsea was released earlier today,’ Manning’s legal team said in a statement.
Manning’s team also revealed that she has since been served with another subpoena.
‘This means she is expected to appear before a different grand jury, on Thursday, May 16, 2019, just one week from her release today.’
‘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 next Thursday, May 16.’
Manning’s legal team said she will ‘continue to refuse to answer questions’.
‘[She] will use every available legal defense to prove to District Judge Trenga that she has just cause for her refusal to give testimony,’ they added.
Manning had been behind bars since March 8 after she refused to give evidence against Assange before a grand jury.
She appealed the decision, saying she did not believe in the secrecy of the sealed case.
Manning had been behind bars since March (pictured) after she refused to give evidence against Assange before a grand jury
Manning was released two days after she filed a legal motion stating that she will never testify, saying it thus made no sense to keep her in jail for refusing to do so.
The former Army intelligence analyst argued that she has proven she’ll stick to her principles.
‘At this point, given the sacrifices she has already made, her strong principles, her strong and growing support community, and the disgrace attendant to her capitulation, it is inconceivable that Chelsea Manning will ever change her mind about her refusal to cooperate with the grand jury,’ her legal team wrote.
Federal law only allows a recalcitrant witness to be jailed on civil contempt if there’s a chance that the incarceration will coerce the witness into testifying.
Manning filed an eight-page statement with the legal motion, outlining her intransigence.
‘I can – without any hesitation – state that nothing that will convince me to testify before this or any other grand jury for that matter,’ she wrote.
‘This experience so far only proves my long held belief that grand juries are simply outdated tools used by the federal government to harass and disrupt political opponents and activists in fishing expeditions.’
Manning also said she is suffering physical problems related with inadequate follow-up care to gender-reassignment surgery.
The government whistleblower served seven years in a military prison for leaking a trove of documents to Wikileaks before her 35-year sentence was commuted by then-President Barack Obama.
Since Manning was jailed for contempt, prosecutors in Alexandria have unsealed criminal charges against Assange and requested his extradition.
Assange, who was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy earlier this month after hiding from US authorities and Swedish police for seven years, is accused of conspiracy to access classified information from the Defense Department in the US.
Protesters with placards gather during a rally in Sydney demand Manning’s freedom in May
For seven years, he was protected from prosecution by the asylum given to him by Ecuador.
It was brought to an end this month after a spate of rule breaches and bad behavior, Ecuadorian officials said.
In the newly unsealed arrest affidavit for his US case, prosecutors allege that he helped Manning break into a Defense Department computer network to steal classified information in 2010.
Assange was taken back to a London prison last week to start an 11-month sentence for skipping bail as he awaits a hearing on possible extradition to the US to face Wikileaks charges.