Cnn
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A federal judge on Friday Ordained Rümeysa Öztürk, an international doctoral student at TUFTS University held in police custody in Louisiana To be returned to the Vermont by next month when she will remain detained, pending a release hearing on bail.
The decision, written by the judge of the federal district of Vermont, William Sessions III, marks the first time that a judge ordered The federal government to bring back a detained student near his original Louisiana district – where a handful of detained students were transferred as part of the Trump administration’s immigration.
Öztürk, a Turkish national was placed in police custody by masked federal agents not far from her home near the Somerville campus of Tofts University in Massachusetts last month.
“The Court also concludes that Ms. Öztürk has raised major constitutional concerns concerning her arrest and detention which deserve a complete and equitable consideration in this forum,” wrote Sessions.
The sessions order orders the government to transfer Öztürk to immigration and customs custody “in the Vermont district” at the latest on May 1. The sessions should hold an audience to release Öztürk under deposit after the transfer.
The decision of sessions inflicts a loss at the Ministry of Justice of Trump which sought to transfer cases to Louisiana where militant students are currently detained.
In his order, the session stressed that the government had not yet provided proof to support their allegations against Öztürk.
“In support of her first amendment request, she submitted evidence to show that actions against her were reprisals, because the only identifiable conduct supporting her detention is her co-authorization of an editorial at TUFTS University,” wrote Sessions. “The government did not submit any evidence to counter its complaint to the first amendment.”
After his arrest, Öztürk was moved to several courts, according to court documents and his lawyers. While she was transferred to the New Hampshire and then to Vermont, she was prevented from contacting her lawyers who could not determine where she was detained, according to her lawyers. After a day of travel, Öztürk was placed on a plane and moved to the Ice detention center in Basile, Louisiana, where an immigration judge rejected his deposit request this week.
The doctoral student has been accused of any crime. Öztürk was accused of being a terrorist sympathizer of the Trump administration, who has so far indicated that an editorial written by her and other students where they criticized the response from Tofts University to the War of Israel-Hamas last year.
The sessions also judged that the Federal Court of Vermont was competent to hear the case of Öztürk because it was the last place where it was detained before the immigration agents transferred it to Louisiana.
Lawyers from the Ministry of Justice had argued that the case should be rejected and transferred, claiming that the Immigration Court – and not the Vermont – had jurisdiction.
The lawyers of Öztürk filed several requests following his arrest, including a Habeas petition contesting the legality of his detention, affirming that his arrest is a reprisals and violates the first amendment. They also submitted a request requesting his liberation under bail or to transfer it to the Vermont district.
“With this decision, a federal court rightly reaffirmed that the Rümeysa Öztürk affair belongs to the Vermont – much closer to his friends, his community and his advice,” said Jessie Rossman, Legal Director of the Aclu of Massachusetts, who represents Öztürk in a statement. “At the same time, the judge sent a clear message that any attempt to manipulate the judiciary is simply wrong. The judge’s sessions judged that the abolition of the government of Rümeysa du Vermont in Louisiana violated the spirit of the emergency order of the Federal Massachusetts Court.
