Manning may be re-jailed on new contempt charges

Released last week after a two month detention for contempt, whistleblower Chelsea Manning is facing a potential return to legal limbo, as prosecutors call on her to testify at another grand jury.

Manning was held for refusing to testify at the first anti-WikiLeaks grand jury, and they released her when that jury ended. This new, very similar jury, wants to ask the same questions she refused to ask the last time.

Her lawyers were challenging the legality of her first detention, as US law only allows contempt detentions if there is a chance it will coerce the person into testifying, and clearly it wasn’t working. The courts probably don’t want to face establishing that precedent, even though it is the law, so they ended the first detention on a technicality.

Seemingly the only reason they might not re-detain Manning for the same reason this time is that they’ll certainly face the same legal challenge. Having gotten around it the first time by just holding her until the new grand jury expires.