Two people have been released after spending five months in custody - much of it in solitary confinement - for refusing to answer questions before a federal grand jury in Seattle.

Katherine Olejnik and Matthew Duran of Olympia were found in civil contempt of court last September for declining to say what they might know about a group of black-clad Northwest anarchists who smashed windows during a May Day protest downtown last year.

U.S. District Judge Richard Jones ordered their release on Wednesday, saying it was clear further time at the Federal Detention Center in Seatac wasn't going to persuade them to talk.

Olejnik's lawyer, Jenn Kaplan, says they were released Thursday afternoon. She says her client declined to discuss the political beliefs of her acquaintances with the grand jury.