Former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who had leaked classified information to Wikileaks, was released from prison on Thursday, after spending two months behind bars.
Manning was freed from the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center after the grand jury she refused to testify before about Wikileaks had expired. She was sent to jail in March after being found in contempt of court.
“Today marked the expiration of the term of the grand jury, and so, after 62 days of confinement, Chelsea was released from the Alexandria Detention Center earlier today,” Manning’s legal team wrote in a statement.
But Manning was subpoenaed to testify before another grand jury and is due to appear before it on May 16 when, her lawyers said, she will again refuse to testify.
“It is therefore conceivable that she will once again be held in contempt of court, and be returned to the custody of the Alexandria Detention Center, possibly as soon as next Thursday, May 16,” they wrote.
The U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia – the same district in which charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange were recently filed – subpoenaed Manning to answer questions about Wikileaks in January. After she refused to do so, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton found her in contempt of court and said she would remain in jail until she agrees to appear before the grand jury or until it concludes its work.
Manning was previously sentenced to 35 years in prison, but only 7 years in, President Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017.
Last month, federal prosecutors unsealed a computer hacking indictment against Assange for his role in what officials called “one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States,” done with the help of Manning.
“During the conspiracy, Manning and Assange engaged in real-time discussions regarding Manning’s transmission of classified records to Assange,” prosecutors said in a press release.
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