In response to a U.S. District Court Judge ordering Mahmoud Khalil to be released on bail, Amnesty International USA’s researcher Justin Mazzola made the following statement:
“After more than three months of being unjustly detained by the Trump administration, a judge ordered that Mahmoud Khalil can finally return home, hug his wife, and hold his baby.
“Mahmoud Khalil should never have been detained in the first place.
“Freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and due process are human rights – they cannot be negotiated or denied. Mahmoud Khalil has been punished simply for his role in student protests at Columbia University against the Israeli government’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. His case has been used by the Trump administration to chill freedom of expression and threaten others for daring to speak out for Palestinians’ human rights.
“As we celebrate the ruling ordering Mahmoud Khalil’s release on bail, we call on the Trump administration to immediately comply with this order. Furthermore, the Trump administration must stop using threats, detention, intimidation and other authoritarian practices as political weapons to suppress the right to protest.
“Colleges and universities must take immediate and concrete action to ensure that all members of their communities can speak out or dissent on any issue without fear of harassment, detention, or deportation.”
“Mahmoud Khalil’s life and the lives of so many others have been turned upside down due to the Trump administration’s cruel political games. We, and so many others, will continue to monitor the developments in his case until he is finally home with his family and free from these unlawful attacks on his human rights.”
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