Chelsea Manning Ordered To Appear Before A New Jury Thursday

Former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, 31, walked free Thursday after spending 62 days in a northern Virginia Jail. She was, however, served with another subpoena, ordering her to appear before a second grand jury on May 16.

Manning’s lawyers released a statement, which said that she was released from Alexandria Detention Centre on civil contempt charges after she refused to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. She was released after the grand jury was expired.

According to her lawyers, Manning was issued another subpoena before her release. The statement said, “Unfortunately, even prior to her release, Chelsea was 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.”

She will be sent to jail again if she continues to refuse to talk to the grand jury. However her lawyers have made it clear that she will resist from testifying. “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,” her lawyer mentioned in the statement.

Manning released thousands of state secrets to WikiLeaks in 2010. The martial court convicted her in 2013 for leaking documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts while she was an analyst in Iraq, Reuters reported. Her sentence was later reduced and she served about seven years in prison.

Earlier this week Manning’s lawyers filed court papers for her release. “I can – without any hesitation – state that nothing will convince me to testify before this or any other grand jury for that matter. This experience so far only proves my long held belief that grand juries are simply outdated tools used by the federal government to harass and disrupt political opponents and activists in fishing expeditions,” she said, reports The Guardian reported.

Manning's sentence was the longest given to any leak in US history. She was sentenced to 35 years of prison before former president Barack Obama reduced it in 2017.