US federal appeals court review case of Turkish detained student

(MENAFN) A U.S. federal appeals court heard arguments on Tuesday regarding the detention of Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was taken into custody in March after co-authoring an opinion piece in a student newspaper criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza, according to reports.

“Ms. Ozturk was held behind bars for six weeks for writing an op-ed, and that never should have happened,” said Esha Bhandari, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, during an online briefing following the hearing.

Bhandari argued that the government is attempting to set a precedent by claiming that judicial review is unavailable when immigration detention is used to punish someone for exercising free speech.

“The government is asking the court to be the first to ever hold that there is no access to judicial review if the government weaponizes immigration detention authority to keep someone locked up simply for exercising their free speech rights. Our argument is that of course, the courts have a role to play when individuals’ liberty and freedom of speech are at stake,” she said, adding, “There's no reason that Rumeysa Ozturk should be in detention.”

Ozturk’s statement, read during the briefing, explained that her article urged Tufts University to listen to student voices and acknowledge the Palestinian genocide. She described writing as “one of the most peaceful methods of communication and ways of taking action” and “the heart of freedom of expression.”

“Unbelievably, it was my writing, a single opinion piece published in our student newspaper, that led to my arrest and ultimately landed me in a damp, crowded, and inhumane ICE for-profit prison for 45 days,” she said.

“As my case continues to move forward, I am grateful for the outpouring of support, and expect to see the basic principles of our democracy prevail,” she added.

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