Federal Court Rejects Chelsea Manning’s Appeal, Denies Her Bail Request
STAY WHERE YOU ARE
Ritzau Scanpix/Torben Christensen
A federal appeals court has rejected Chelsea Manning’s attempt to overturn her contempt of court order and has denied her request to be freed on bail. The brief, filed Monday morning in New York, means that Manning, who has been in jail since March for failing to testify in a WikiLeaks grand jury hearing in Virginia, will stay in custody. Manning had argued the court failed to properly address the issue of grand jury abuse and improperly sealed the courtroom during substantial parts of the hearing. The court disagreed. “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 presiding judge wrote in the ruling. “The court also denies appellant’s motion for release on bail.” Prosecutors appear to want Manning to testify in order to help their case against Julian Assange, who was physically removed from London’s Ecuadorian embassy this month.