Chelsea Manning: Judge orders immediate release of WikiLeaks whistleblower

Former Army analyst remanded to prison in 2019 for refusing to testify against Julian Assange

A US judge has ordered the immediate release of Chelsea Manning, the former American army officer who was remanded to prison after refusing to testify against WikiLeaks.

The ruling states that it is no longer necessary for her to testify and follows her attorneys’ announcement that she had recently tried to kill herself while imprisoned. She is reportedly recovering in hospital.

Ms Manning spent seven years in a military prison after leaking thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks before Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017.

Last year, she was held in contempt of court after refusing to testify before a federal grand jury as part of an investigation into Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. She has been jailed since May.

Mr Assange is fighting extradition from the UK to Virginia, where he faces charges under the Espionage Act.

In 2013, Ms Manning was charged with several offences following a leak of military and diplomatic documents, including videos of bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison after her conviction.

As a low-level intelligence analyst in the army with access to a classified computer system, Ms Manning retrieved thousands of documents spanning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, exposing abuses of detainees and attacks – including the “Collateral Murder” video in which two journalists are killed by a helicopter strike – in addition to sensitive conversations among intelligence officials. Her role in “Cablegate” revealed thousands of diplomatic cables across several decades.

WikiLeaks, in concert with several news organisations, published the documents. Ms Manning said she hoped to ignite a global discussion about the US military’s presence in the Middle East and subsequent reforms, though her whistle-blowing ultimately led to her prosecution – and a charge of aiding the enemy, which could have resulted in her execution if convicted.

During her imprisonment and after her release, Ms Manning has been an outspoken advocate for government transparency and transgender rights and healthcare.

In his ruling on Thursday, Judge Anthony Trenga did not waive the $256k (£200k) in penalties levied against her. The ruling says that enforcement of the “accrued, conditional fines would not be punitive but rather necessary to the coercive purpose” of the court’s contempt order.

She was scheduled to appear at a hearing in a Virginia federal court today. That appearance has been cancelled.