U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning was released from jail Thursday after being held for 62 days—including a month in solitary confinement—for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury, but she could be imprisoned again as soon as next week if she refuses to comply with a second subpoena to appear before a different grand jury.

Manning’s release came after the expiration of the term of the grand jury. According to Manning’s legal team, the whistleblower was served with another subpoena prior to her release on Thursday.

“This means she is expected to appear before a different grand jury, on Thursday, May 16, 2019, just one week from her release today,” Manning’s lawyers said in a statement. “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 cooperate with a process that she has called an effort to “entrap and persecute activists for protected political speech.”

“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,” said Manning’s lawyers.

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking classified U.S. government documents to WikiLeaks. Former President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s sentence in 2017.

Attempts to compel Manning to testify before a secret grand jury come as WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange is fighting attempts to extradite him to the United States after he was forcibly expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy in London last month and arrested by U.K. authorities.

Advocacy groups and legal experts warned that efforts by the U.S. government to extradite and prosecute Assange pose a grave threat to freedom of the press.

“Prosecutors appear to be pressing for Manning’s testimony in order to bolster their case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange,” Politico reported last month.

But Manning has remained firm in her refusal to testify.

“I don’t have anything to contribute to this, or any other grand jury,” Manning said in a statement last month. “While I miss home, they can continue to hold me in jail, with all the harmful consequences that brings. I will not give up.”


ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.

Donate
Donate

Jake Johnson is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

Leave A Reply

Subscribe

All the latest from Z, directly to your inbox.

Institute for Social and Cultural Communications, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Our EIN# is #22-2959506. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.

We do not accept funding from advertising or corporate sponsors.  We rely on donors like you to do our work.

ZNetwork: Left News, Analysis, Vision & Strategy

Subscribe

All the latest from Z, directly to your inbox.

This is your article this month.

We’re glad you keep coming back. If Z’s work has informed, challenged, or inspired you, that’s no accident: there are no paywalls, no ads, and no billionaire owners here, and there never will be. Independent media survives because readers choose to support it.

Billionaires fund their own media. We fund ours. Help us reach 1,000 sustaining donors:

Number of donors684
Our goal1,000

Sustainers at $9/month or more receive the digital Z Magazine.

Already a sustainer? Click here and we won’t ask again. Thank you!

Your reading count is stored only in your browser and is never sent to us.

Sound is muted by default.  Tap 🔊 for the full experience

CRITICAL ACTION

Critical Action is a longtime friend of Z and a music and storytelling project grounded in liberation, solidarity, and resistance to authoritarian power. Through music, narrative, and multimedia, the project engages the same political realities and movement traditions that guide and motivate Z’s work.

If this project resonates with you, you can learn more about it and find ways to support the work using the link below.

Independent media is not disappearing because the ideas are weak.

It is disappearing because platforms reward speed, outrage, and algorithmic visibility over thoughtful analysis.

More than 100,000 people read Z every month, free of paywalls, ads, and billionaire owners. It takes fewer than 1 in 100 of them to fund all of it: 1,000 donors who keep Z independent, for everyone, and build what comes next.

Number of donors684
Our goal1,000

Sustainers at $9/month or more receive the digital Z Magazine.

Subscribe

Join the Z Community – receive event invites, announcements, a Weekly Digest, and opportunities to engage.

Exit mobile version