FORMER ARMY INTELLIGENCE analyst Chelsea Manning has been jailed for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating Wikileaks.
Manning was jailed today for contempt of court after a brief hearing in which she confirmed she had no intention of testifying. Manning told judge Claude Hilton she “will accept whatever you bring upon me”.
Manning said she objects to the secrecy of the grand jury process and that she already revealed everything that she knows at her court martial.
Manning will remain in jail until she testifies or until the grand jury concludes its work, Hilton has said.
Manning served seven years of a 35-year military sentence for leaking military and diplomatic documents to anti-secrecy website Wikileaks before then-President Barack Obama commuted her sentence.
Manning’s lawyers asked that she be sent to home confinement instead of the prison due to medical complications she faces.
Hilton said US marshals can handle her medical care, however. Prosecutor Tracy McCormick said that US marshals have assured the government that Manning’s medical needs can be met.
Manning anticipated being jailed. In a statement before today’s hearing, she invoked her First, Fourth and Sixth amendment protections when she appeared before the grand jury in Alexandria on Wednesday.
Manning said she had already answered every substantive question during her 2013 court-martial and is prepared to face the consequences of refusing to answer again.
“In solidarity with many activists facing the odds, I will stand by my principles,” Manning said. “I will exhaust every legal remedy available”.
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