US: Chelsea Manning released from jail

WASHINGTON

Former U.S. Army intelligence analyst and whistleblower Chelsea Manning was released after spending two months in jail for refusing to testify on disclosures of secrets to WikiLeaks, according to her legal team.

Manning was previously sentenced to 35 years in a military prison for leaking classified information to the public, but served seven years before former President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her sentence shortly before he left office in 2017.

U.S. authorities allege Manning conspired with former WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to download classified databases and release sensitive national security information online.

She was ordered to jail in March after failing to comply with a grand jury probe of the anti-secrecy Wikileaks website.

A district judge in Virginia ruled Manning must be held in civil detention until she testifies before the Virginia grand jury.

She was released from the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Alexandria, Virginia, Thursday night after 62 days because the term for the grand jury that demanded her testimony expired, according to Manning’s legal team.

She may soon return to jail, however, as another subpoena was served, calling her to testify before a different grand jury.

Manning has said she would not testify or answer questions on information given to WikiLeaks.

“Chelsea will continue to refuse to answer questions, and will use every available legal defense to prove to District Judge [Anthony] Trenga that she has just cause for her refusal to give testimony,” Manning’s lawyers said in a statement.