Free Chelsea Manning (again)!

March 11, 2019

“This is not my first rodeo”

U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning has been sent back to jail after refusing to answer questions before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange.

The Trump administration is pushing forward on its plan to prosecute WikiLeaks and Assange for publishing the thousands of top-secret documents that Chelsea anonymously provided them in the spring of 2010. The documents provided an overview of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the “Collateral Murder” video, as well as State Department cables and Guantanamo prisoner information. Chelsea’s 35-year prison sentenced was commuted by President Obama in the final days of his presidency.

She could be jailed up to 18 months this time.

Chelsea Manning spoke to the press prior to be taken into custody, March 8, 2019, at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.

As she was being taken back into custody on March 8, 2019, declaring that, “I will not participate in a secret process that I morally object to, particularly one that has been historically used to entrap and persecute activists for protected political speech.”
Chelsea explained:

I will not comply with this, or any other grand jury. Imprisoning me for my refusal to answer questions only subjects me to additional punishment for my repeatedly-stated ethical objections to the grand jury system. The grand jury’s questions pertained to disclosures from nine years ago, and took place six years after and in-depth computer forensics case, in which I testified for almost a full day about these events. I stand by my previous public testimony.

Daniel Ellsberg responded via the Freedom of the Press website:

Chelsea Manning is again acting heroically in the name of press freedom, and it’s a travesty that she has been sent back to jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury. An investigation into WikiLeaks for publishing is a grave threat to all journalists’ rights, and Chelsea is doing us all a service for fighting it. She has already been tortured, spent years in jail, and has suffered more than enough. She should be released immediately.

Edward Snowden via Twitter added, “I agree with @DanielEllsberg, and admire @xychelsea’s courage. Compelling sources to testify against the journalists with whom they’ve worked threatens the independent function of the free press in an open democracy. She must be released.”