Chelsea Manning to be RELEASED from prison after jail suicide attempt as she refuses to testify in WikiLeaks probe
CHELSEA Manning is to be released from prison after her botched jail suicide attempt as she continues to refuse to testify in a WikiLeaks probe.
The ex-army intelligence analyst reportedly tried to hang herself with a sheet in a Virgina jail cell on Wednesday at the Alexandra Detention Center.
Manning has been incarcerated since May for refusing to testify to a grand jury about her dealings with Assange and WikiLeaks after handing over classified information.
But on Thursday a U.S. federal judge ordered that Manning should be immediately released after prosecutors reported that the grand jury that subpoenaed her has disbanded.
An entry in the U.S. District Court docket in Alexandria, Virginia, signed by Judge Anthony Trenga also rejected a request by Manning to cancel fines which he had imposed.
He instead ordered a judgement to be entered against her for $256,000, the total amount of accrued fines.
A detention hearing for Manning scheduled for Friday was cancelled.
Manning had argued that she had shown she proved she could not be coerced into testifying and therefore should be released.
In a statement, her legal team said she would not "participate in a secret grand jury process that she sees as highly susceptible to abuse."
"Ms. Manning has previously indicated that she will not betray her principles, even at risk of grave harm to herself," it read.
SUICIDE BID
She was reportedly found with a pulse at around 1pm and was still breathing as she was rushed to hospital after the March 11 suicide bid, which left her fighting for her life.
reported that guards revived her after she was discovered in her cell "blue and unresponsive."
A source told the publication: "A jail deputy discovered her while conducting a check in the special housing unit where Chelsea is being housed.
"They found her with a sheet around her neck. Other deputies arrived and first aid was administered before she was taken to the hospital."
MOST READ IN NEWS
Manning leaked classified US documents to to 's WikiLeaks in 2010.
The whistle-blower leaked more than 700,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 251,287 diplomatic cables from foreign embassies and 482,232 Army reports.
The leak included a July 2007 video clip of a US helicopter crew killing 12 people including Saeed Chmagh and Namir Nour-Eldeen, who were Iraqi journalists with the Reuters news agency.
She said she wanted to expose what she considered to be the US military's disregard for civilians.
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