WikiLeaks: Chelsea Manning refuses to testify, to head back to jail

Chelsea Manning. Pic/AFP

Virginia (USA): Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning will go back to jail after refusing to testify before a grand jury probing WikiLeaks.

She was found guilty on charges of espionage in 2013 for leaking thousands of military documents to WikiLeaks. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, a sentence which was commuted by former US President Barack Obama in 2017, following which she was released.

The former military officer was again jailed for two months on March 8, after she refused to testify before a grand jury here. She was let go on May 9, after the two-month period expired.

Following a two-hour hearing on Thursday, US District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered imprisonment for Manning, according to Fox News. He found Manning in civil contempt for refusing to cooperate in the investigation.

She will now head to the Alexandria Detention Center, where she may be faced with a prison sentence that can last up to 18 months. The time period is the length of the grand jury term, and she may be let out earlier if she agrees to cooperate with the investigations.

Reacting to the sentence, Manning said that she'd rather be imprisoned "forever" than testify to the grand jury investigating Wikileaks. She also told the judge that she would "rather starve to death" than comply with the subpoena.

"Facing jail again, potentially today doesn't change my stance...The prosecutors are deliberately placing me in an impossible situation," she said before heading to the hearing.

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