Sawt Falasteen - US judge blocks expulsion of Indian researcher detained over alleged Hamas ties

The detention of Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University in the US capital, came as fears mount in the academic world that freedom of research and speech is being challenged two months into US President Donald Trump's new term.

Suri's lawyer demanded his release and denounced the arrest as a "targeted, retaliatory detention" that was intended "to silence, or at the very least restrict and chill, his speech" as well as that of others who "express support for Palestinian rights."

Early Thursday evening Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles of the Eastern District of Virginia Court ordered Suri "shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court issues a contrary order."

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has also filed an emergency motion to stop the deportation, said Suri was being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana.

"Ripping someone from their home and family, stripping them of their immigration status, and detaining them solely based on political viewpoint is a clear attempt by President Trump to silence dissent," said ACLU immigrant rights attorney Sophia Gregg.

"That is patently unconstitutional."

On Wednesday, the French government condemned the expulsion of a French space scientist meant to attend a conference in Houston, after officials searched his smartphone and found what they called "hateful" messages against US policy.

"Dr Khan Suri is an Indian national who was duly granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan," Georgetown University said in a statement.

"We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention."

Neither Secretary of State Marco Rubio "nor any other government official has alleged that Mr Suri has committed any crime or, indeed, broke any law whatsoever," his lawyer said in the court filing.

The filing accused the US government of having detained Suri "based on his family connection and constitutionally protected free speech."

- Fellow arrested -

Suri -- a fellow at Georgetown's Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, according to the university website -- was arrested Monday at his home in Arlington, Virginia, according to Politico, which first reported on the story.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said on X that Suri was "a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism on social media."

McLaughlin accused him of having "close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas."

The State Department decided the researcher was subject to deportation under a provision of immigration law that allows for expulsion if the visa holder's presence in the United States is determined to threaten US foreign policy, she added.

Hamas is a US-designated terror organization.

Georgetown University said it backs its "community members' rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable."

Citing a petition filed by Suri's lawyer, Politico reported that Suri's wife is a US citizen of Palestinian descent, and that the couple believes they are being targeted because the government suspects they oppose US policy on Israel.

R.Halabi--SF-PST