May 17 (UPI) — A federal judge in Virginia ordered Chelsea Manning to return to jail Thursday after she again refused to testify before a grand jury about an investigation into WikiLeaks.
Appearing in court in Alexandria, Manning refused to comply with a subpoena compelling her to give testimony.
“I would rather starve to death than change my position in this regard,” she told the court. “Confinement serves no purpose.”
This isn’t the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst’s first time in jail for refusing a grand jury subpoena in this particular case. Last week, officials released Manning from the Alexandria Detention Center after the grand jury term expired.
Prosecutors immediately issued a second subpoena, and she’ll be held in jail until she agrees to testify or the current grand jury term expires in 18 months. New this time, though, Manning will be fined $500 per day for every day she refuses to testify, a figure that will increase to $1,000 after 60 days.
Prosecutors have not publicly disclosed the specific nature of the investigation in which they seek to have Manning testify.
NBC News and ABC News reported the probe is likely related to charges filed against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was arrested last month at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. He faces computer hacking charges in the United States.
In 2013, Manning was imprisoned for 35 years for leaking classified government documents to WikiLeaks in 2010. President Barack Obama commuted her sentence shortly before he left office in 2017.
