US Court Rejects Chelsea Manning's Appeal Against Indefinite Detention For Civil Contempt

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2019) Former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning's bid to have the contempt order imprisoning her indefinitely for refusing to answer grand jury questions about Julian Assange has been rejected, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled on Monday.

"Upon consideration of the memorandum briefs filed on appeal and the record of proceedings in the district court, the court finds no error in the district court's rulings and affirms its finding of civil contempt," the ruling stated.

The three judges unanimously confirmed US District Court Judge Claude Hilton's decision last month that found Manning in contempt and sent her to jail in the Alexandria Detention Center in the US state of Virginia since March 8.

"The court also denies appellant's motion for release on bail," the Monday ruling said.

The judges rejected Manning's contention that she was wrongly found to be in contempt of court by refusing to testify against Assange to the grand jury in the WikiLeaks case.

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in a military jail for leaking vast numbers of military and diplomatic leaks to Assange. Then-President Barack Obama commuted her sentence after seven years.