No one, including Rumeysa Ozturk, should be in jail for authoring op-ed critical of Israel: US senator

WASHINGTON

US Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday hailed a US federal judge who ordered the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, detained by immigration agents in March.

"Judge Sessions is right. Neither Rumeysa Ozturk or anyone else in America should be in jail for authoring an op-ed critical of Israel, or on any subject," Sanders said on X.

His remarks came after Judge William K. Sessions III, a federal judge in the US state of Vermont, ordered the release on bail of Ozturk, who was arrested on March 25 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Massachusetts for co-authoring an op-ed last year about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the school’s student newspaper.

The judge said there has been "no evidence" that has been introduced by the government other than the op-ed. "The court orders the government to release Ms. Ozturk from custody immediately," he said.

Sanders said President Donald Trump and his colleagues "should read the Constitution and, especially, the First Amendment."

"Ozturk must be released immediately," he added.

Release Ozturk 'right now'

Sen. Ed Markey, for his part, said Ozturk has "finally" been ordered released.

"She has been unlawfully detained for more than six weeks in an ICE facility in Louisiana, more than 1,500 miles away from Somerville. This is a victory for Rümeysa, for justice, and for our democracy," Markey said on X.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen said this is a "victory" for the rule of law.

"These baseless abductions must STOP NOW," Hollen said on X.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren called on the Trump administration to release Ozturk "right now."