Chelsea Manning fights grand jury subpoena

WASHINGTON: Chelsea Manning, the former US soldier jailed for a massive leak of US secrets to Wikileaks, has been ordered to appear before a grand jury, her lawyer said on Friday. Moira Meltzer-Cohen said she had not been told what the grand jury was investigating, but US media have speculated that it might involve the criminal case against WikiLeaks being developed by federal prosecutors in Virginia.

Meltzer-Cohen said Manning had filed a motion to challenge the subpoena, which was immediately put under seal in the mysterious case.

"I object strenuously to this subpoena, and to the grand jury process in general," Manning, 31, said in a statement.

Grand juries, only used in the US and Liberia, are groups of citizens operating separately from courts who investigate whether to bring criminal charges. They can compel witnesses and suspects to testify.

"We’ve seen this power abused countless times to target political speech," added Manning. "I have nothing to contribute to this case and I resent being forced to endanger myself by participating in this predatory practice."