Chelsea Manning released but likely to return to jail soon

Whistleblower Chelsea Manning has been released from a US prison after serving 62 days. She was sentenced for refusing to testify before a grand jury. She may soon be jailed again, as she has been summoned again for her release.

The former US military intelligence analyst declined to testify earlier, citing the secrecy of the grand jury trial. She also says that she has already revealed everything during previous legal proceedings. The American judge sentenced her for silence for contempt of court. According to AP, the term of the grand jury has now expired, which is why Manning was released on Thursday.

Manning’s lawyers, however, fear that the release will be short-lived, the AP writes. Just before she was released from prison, she was given another subpoena before a new grand jury. She would have to testify for that on May 16. It is not clear whether this concerns the same investigation into WikiLeaks as for which she was previously subpoenaed. The lawyers do tell the AP that Manning will not provide answers for these judges either and therefore runs the risk of another prison sentence.

Earlier this week, Manning’s lawyers wrote to the court that she should not be jailed for civil contempt, because she has “proven” that she never wants to testify in front of the grand jury. Under US law, refusing witnesses may only be jailed if there is a chance that the sentence will encourage the witness to testify. Manning also says she is being unfairly punished with such a conviction, because of “physical problems” related to insufficient follow-up care after her gender reassignment surgery.

Chelsea Manning is known for passing stolen military and diplomatic information to WikiLeaks. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison for this in 2013. However, she was released early in May 2017 after being pardoned by then-President Barack Obama. Her current legal troubles stem from her refusal to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.