Ms Manning, 31, was last month sent to jail indefinitely after she refused to take part in a Department of Justice investigation into WikiLeaks, and told judges she would accept “whatever you bring upon me”. The investigation is using secret hearings involving a grand jury.

“I will not participate in a secret process that I morally object to, particularly one that has been used to entrap and persecute activists for protected political speech,” she said, as the court ordered her to be held until she agreed to cooperate, or else the grand jury process was completed.

On Thursday, after Assange was arrested in London on behalf of the US where he was charged with conspiracy in relation to publishing the material Ms Manning provided, the former army intelligence analyst said through her lawyers, that developments had make her argument stronger.

“The indictment against Julian Assange unsealed today was obtained a year to the day before Chelsea appeared before the grand jury and refused to give testimony,” she said in a statement.

Key moments for Julian Assange Show all 9 1 /9 Key moments for Julian Assange Key moments for Julian Assange The situation today Assange was arrested after Metropolitan Police officers were invited into the Ecuadorian embassy on April 11 2019. How did it come to this? Ruptly TV Key moments for Julian Assange The break Assange shows the front page of the Guardian on July 26 2010, the day that they broke the story of the thousands of military files leaked by WikiLeaks AFP/Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Wanted A warrant for Assange's arrest was issued in August 2010 for counts of rape and molestation in Sweden AFP/Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Ruling The UK's Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face trial Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Sanctuary Following the ruling, Assange was given asylum by the Ecuadorian governement over fears that his human rights would be violated if he were extradited, he has since remained in the embassy in London Getty Key moments for Julian Assange A friend in Pam Friend Pamela Anderson delivers lunch to Assange at the embassy in October 2016. She has since spoken against his arrest Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Arbitrarily detained A UN panel found in 2016 that Assange had been arbitrarily detained and that he had not been able to claim his full right to asylum. It urged Sweden to withdraw the charges against him Getty Key moments for Julian Assange The cat ultimatum Last year, the Ecuadorian embassy threatened to revoke Assange's internet access unless he stopped making political statements online and started taking better care of James, his pet cat. Assange accused Ecuador of violating his rights Reuters Key moments for Julian Assange Arrest Assange was arrested on April 11 2019. Ecuador revoked his asylum status and invited the Metropolitan Police in to the embassy to arrest him. Reuters

“The fact that this indictment has existed for over a year underscores what Chelsea’s legal team and Chelsea herself have been saying since she was first issued a subpoena to appear in front of a Federal Grand Jury in the Eastern District of Virginia — that compelling Chelsea to testify would have been duplicative of evidence already in the possession of the grand jury, and was not needed in order for US Attorneys to obtain an indictment of Mr Assange.”

The statement added: “Since her testimony can no longer contribute to a grand jury investigation, Chelsea’s ongoing detention can no longer be seriously alleged to constitute an attempt to coerce her testimony. As continued detention would be purely punitive, we demand Chelsea be released.”

Chelsea Manning says she had 'responsibility to the public' to leak a trove of classified documents

Ms Manning served seven years in jail between 2010–2017 after being charged with more than a dozen crimes, after leaking 750,000 classified, or unclassified but sensitive documents to WikiLeaks.

Among the information, was video footage showing US military helicopter attack on civilians in Baghdad that killed more than a dozen people.

Easier this month, it was revealed Ms Manning had been moved from administrative segregation at the Virginia jail while she is serving an indefinite sentence after refusing to testify to the grand jury probe.