STANDING STRONG

Chelsea Manning: ‘Nothing Will Convince Me to Testify’

“I can either go to jail or betray my principles,” Manning wrote in documents filed in court on Monday.

In a court filing Monday, Chelsea Manning formally asked to be released from jail and stated that she would not testify for an ongoing government investigation. According to CNN, Manning wrote in documents filed to the Eastern District of Virginia that “nothing will convince me to testify” and said she suspected the was being compelled to testify as a preview for her “potential testimony as a defense witness[.]” While Manning does not specifically say to what case she would act as a defense witness, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was recently arrested. Manning first contacted Assange nine years ago in order to disseminate documents she stole related to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. “The idea I hold the keys to my own cell is an absurd one, as I face the prospect of suffering either way due to this unnecessary and punitive subpoena: I can either go to jail or betray my principles,” Manning wrote in court documents. “The latter exists as a much worse prison than the government can construct.”