Washington, March 9 (RHC)-- A U.S. federal judge has sent U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning to jail, after she declined to answer questions before a grand jury.  

Manning was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors in Virginia’s Eastern District to appear for questioning about her 2010 release to WikiLeaks of hundreds of thousands of State Department and Pentagon documents about the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  After Manning refused to answer questions, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton ordered her to be immediately jailed until she agrees to testify -- or until the grand jury wraps up its work.  

Last year, prosecutors inadvertently revealed they’ve indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under a sealed indictment, but the exact charges against Assange remain unknown.  Many believe he could be facing charges of treason, which could mean a life sentence or even the death penalty.  This charge of treason against the United States would be unusual, given the fact that Julian Assange is an Australian by birth and has gained Ecuadorean citizenship.  He has been holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London for more than six years, fearing his extradition to the U.S. if he leaves without safe conduct from the UK.  The British government has surrounded the embassy with police, threatening to arrest him if he steps outside from its protection.