Activist Chelsea Manning to be freed from jail by order of US judge

Former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning has been released from jail by order of a US judge, one day after a support group claims she attempted suicide.

Manning has been in prison since May of last year, for refusing to appear in front of a grand jury targeting anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

The grand jury was discharged yesterday, and as such, "the court finds that Ms. Manning's appearance before the grand jury is no longer needed, in light of which her detention no longer serves any coercive purpose", said US District Judge Anthony Trenga in a written decision from Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington D.C.

The judge did, however, order Manning to pay $256, 000 in fines for refusing to testify. Last year, when Manning was detained, the decision was made that she would be held until she agreed to testify or for the life of the grand jury, but no longer than 18 months.

Years earlier, Manning leaked classified documents relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, making her a hero to anti-war and anti-secrecy movements. Her actions helped make WikiLeaks into a global anti-secrecy project. She delivered over 700, 000 classified documents exposing cover-ups of potential war crimes, and unveiled internal US communications about other countries. Manning was ordered to testify last year for an investigation into the actions of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2010.

At the time, Manning was a military intelligence analyst.

"I object to this grand jury...as an effort to frighten journalists and publishers, who serve a crucial public good," Manning wrote in a letter to the court last year. Manning has said that she answered any and all questions about her involvement with WikiLeaks years ago.

The Sparrow Project support group said on Wednesday that Manning was recovering in hospital after trying to kill herself.

• Read Eamon McCann's take on Chelsea Manning here.