29.04.2025 20:06
In the United States, the decision to transfer Turkish doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, who was detained for supporting Palestine, has been suspended by the Appeals Court from Louisiana to Vermont.
In the USA, the decision to transfer Turkish doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, who was detained for supporting Palestine, from Louisiana to Vermont has been suspended by the Appeals Court.
TRANSFER DECISION SUSPENDED
The Second Circuit of the Appeals Court announced that, following the government's objection, it has issued a temporary stay regarding Öztürk's transfer procedures to Vermont for review and decision.
In the appeal decision, government attorneys who submitted a petition to suspend the transfer decision of the Vermont Federal District Court were requested to submit their reasoned objection documents by May 1 at the latest and to prepare their defense file for the hearing scheduled for May 6.
"WE WILL NOT GIVE UP THE FIGHT UNTIL SHE IS FREE"
In response to the Appeals Court's decision, Öztürk's legal team stated, "Rümeysa Öztürk should never have been arrested or detained, period. We are ready to defend her case in the Second Circuit Appeals Court, and we will not give up the fight until she is free."
In a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has been supporting Öztürk's case during her approximately 5 weeks of detention in Louisiana, it was noted that the Second Circuit's stay decision was "not a decision on the merits of the government's request to keep the Turkish student in the detention center in Louisiana."
ÖZTÜRK'S DETENTION
Rümeysa Öztürk, who is pursuing her doctorate at Tufts University in Massachusetts, was detained on the evening of March 25 by six masked officers from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while going to iftar with her friends on the street, and was taken to a detention center in Vermont and then Louisiana within 24 hours.
Massachusetts District Judge Denise Casper issued a stay order on the deportation decision of Turkish student Öztürk upon an urgent application from her lawyers, and in a report prepared on April 4, she stated that it would be appropriate for Öztürk, who is being held in Louisiana, to be tried in Vermont.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Öztürk's student visa had been revoked and that she would be deported.
U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions of the Vermont District Court ruled on April 19 that Öztürk's appeal regarding her unconstitutional detention by ICE should continue in Vermont and that the U.S. government must transfer the Turkish student to a facility in Vermont by May 1 at the latest.
Sessions set a bail hearing date for Öztürk on May 9 and a merits hearing date on May 22.