Former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning will remain in prison after a federal appeals court denied her request to be released on bail, and upheld a lower court’s decision to hold Manning in civil contempt for refusing to give evidence before grand jury.

The ruling is a blow to Manning, who was arrested in March after  declining to answer questions in connection with the government’s long-running investigation into Wikileaks and its Australian founder Julian Assange.

In a comment released by a spokesperson, Manning said that while disappointing, the appeals court ruling will still allow to “raise issues as the government continues to abuse the grand jury process”.

“I don’t have anything to contribute to this, or any other grand jury,” Manning added.