Whistleblower Chelsea Manning jailed for refusing to testify

US District Judge Claude Hilton ordered Chelsea to be jailed on Friday after a brief hearing in which Chelsea confirmed she has no intention of testifying.

Chelsea lived in Pembrokeshire for several years and went to school at Tasker Milward School in Haverfordwest when she was known as Bradley Manning.

She still has relatives in the county.

Chelsea was jailed for leaking US military documents to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks in 2010, before being released by President Barack Obama shortly before he left office in 2017.

She told the judge on Friday she "will accept whatever you bring upon me".

Chelsea has said she objects to the secrecy of the grand jury process, and that she already revealed everything she knows at her court martial.

The judge said she will remain jailed until she testifies, or until the grand jury concludes its work.

Chelsea's lawyers had asked that she be sent to home confinement instead of the jail, because of medical complications she faces.

The judge said US Marshals can handle her medical care.

Following her imprisonment, Chelsea put out a statement. She said: "I will not comply with this, or any other grand jury.

"Imprisoning me for my refusal to answer questions only subjects me to additional punishment for my repeatedly-stated ethical objections to the grand jury system.

"The grand jury's questions pertained to disclosires from nine years agi, and took place six years after an in-depth computer forensics case in which I testified for almost a full day about these events. I stand by my previous public testimony.

"I will not participate in a secret process that I morally object to, particularly one that has been historically used to entrap and persecute activists for protected political speech."