New York [US], June 22: A US judge on Friday ordered the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who had been in US immigration detention after the Trump administration said he was a danger to US policy interests.
Khalil was released on bond, according to the ruling by a New Jersey federal judge, who granted Khalil's request for release while his case is pending, several US media reported. The case has drawn significant attention in the United States for months. It was the first publicly known arrest of a pro-Palestinian activist during the tenure of US President Donald Trump, with further arrests having followed.
Khalil was arrested in March at his home in New York City and subsequently transferred to a detention facility in the state of Louisiana. A graduate of the prestigious Columbia University in Manhattan, he had participated in pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
The US government wants to deport him, accusing him, among other things, of distributing leaflets bearing the logo of the Palestinian group Hamas on university grounds. Khalil's lawyers deny the allegations.
During a telephone hearing on Friday, the federal judge described the government's attempt to keep Khalil in detention as "very, very, very unusual," according to the public broadcaster NPR.
Judge Michael Farbiarz accepted Khalil's lawyer's arguments that the Trump administration was retaliating for his role in the Columbia protests, according to the New York Times.
Previously, the judge had ruled that the justification for Khalil's detention - a rarely used provision claiming Khalil endangered US foreign policy interests - was likely unconstitutional. A Justice Department lawyer told CBS News that the government would likely appeal the decision.
Source: Qatar Tribune