Chelsea Manning released from jail following contempt charge

RICHMOND: Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning has been released from jail after a two-month stay for refusing to testify to a grand jury.Manning spent 62 days at the Alexandria Detention Centre in Virginia on civil contempt charges after she refused to answer questions to a federal grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.Her lawyers fear her freedom may be short-lived — as she was released owing to the term of the grand jury expiring. She received another subpoena demanding her testimony on May 16 to a new grand jury before leaving jail.Her lawyers say she will again refuse to answer questions and could again face another term of incarceration.Manning served seven years in a military prison for leaking a trove of documents to WikiLeaks before then US president Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her 35-year sentence.Earlier this week, Manning’s lawyers filed court papers arguing that she should not be jailed for civil contempt because she has proven that she will stick to her principles and will not testify no matter how long she is jailed. Federal law only allows a recalcitrant witness to be jailed on civil contempt if there is a chance that the incarceration will coerce the witness into testifying.

from The News International - World http://bit.ly/2VtorM3

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