Manning vows to continue to fight after judge rejects her request to avoid grand jury testimony.
On Tuesday, a federal judge rejected former US army soldier Chelsea Manning’s request to quash a subpoena demanding that she testify in front of a grand jury in Virginia. Stating that she will continue to fight the subpoena, Manning told reporters outside of a courthouse that, “We still have grounds to litigate so we're going to be here tomorrow.” Manning has also signaled that even if all legal options fail, she might still refuse to testify, an act which could lead to her being found in “contempt of court”, which could lead to jail time of up to 18 months.
Manning was convicted by a military tribunal in 2013 of espionage and other crimes for, among other things, leaking a graphic video showing a US helicopter gunship opening fire on civilians in Iraq, including two Reuter’s cameramen.
The video, along with a trove of documents and cables, was published in 2007 by the website Wikileaks.
Manning was sentenced to 35-years in prison. After serving 7 years, including time spent in solitary confinement, her sentence was commuted in 2017, shortly before the end of Barack Obama’s last term in office.
Although there has been no official word on why Manning has been subpoenaed, it is assumed that the case has to do with forthcoming charges against the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange.
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