The Alexandria, Va., Sheriff confirmed Thursday that former Army Intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning “is safe.” Win McNamee / Getty Images hide caption
Win McNamee / Getty Images
The Alexandria, Va., Sheriff confirmed Thursday that former Army Intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning “is safe.”
Win McNamee / Getty Images
Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst in jail for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury investigating the digital anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, is receiving medical attention after an attempted suicide, according to her lawyers.
“On Wednesday, March 16, , Chelsea Manning attempted to take her own life. She was taken to a hospital and is currently recovering, “Manning’s attorneys said in a statement 
.
Alexandria, Va ., Sheriff Dana Lawhorne confirmed that “an incident” took place at the adult detention center in Northern Virginia just after noon on Wednesday.
“It was handled appropriately by our professional staff and Ms. Manning is safe, “he said in a statement.
No other details were provided .
Manning’s lawyers said she has racked up more than half a million dollars in fines for her refusal to cooperate with the grand jury. She is scheduled to appear before Judge Anthony Trenga in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Friday. The hearing is on a motion to terminate the civil contempt charges she has incurred.
“She remains unwavering in her refusal to participate in a secret grand jury process that she sees as highly susceptible to abuse, “her lawyers wrote. “Ms. Manning has previously indicated that she will not betray her principles, even at risk of grave harm to herself.”
As NPR reported in May , Manning was sent back to jail and the court ordered her to pay fines of $ for everyday she remained in custody. The fines increased to $ 1, per day after days.
Manning said at the time that prosecutors had put her in an untenable position even after the Department of Justice granted her immunity from self-incrimination.
A top United Nations official agreed, calling Manning’s treatment a “deprivation of liberty. ” “Nils Melzer, the UN special r assess on torture, wrote in a letter dated Nov. 1 but not made public until weeks later that “the practice of coercive detention appears to be incompatible with the international human rights obligations of the United States.”
Manning was arrested in for providing hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. She was eventually convicted and sentenced to 83 years in prison in . After the conviction, Manning, then known as Bradley, announced she was a transgender woman and was changing her name to Chelsea.
Former President Barack Obama shortened the sentence before leaving office , and in (she was released from prison after serving seven years.
Her more recent legal troubles began in (March) when a judge found her in contempt for refusing to testify and ordered her back to jail.
A month later, the Justice Department unsealed charges against Assange, WikiLeaks founder, and alleged he tried to help Manning try to crack a password on Defense Department computers.
In early May 05706, she was (released from jail
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