SAN FRANCISCO – British journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi is returning to the UK after spending half a month in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, advocates stated.
Hamdi had been in america on a talking tour when he was detained at San Francisco Worldwide Airport on Oct. 26.
“I am profoundly grateful to my family, my legal team and every individual in the global community who prayed, protested and refused to be silent,” Hamdi stated in a press release Wednesday night. “Let the record show: I broke no law and posed no threat. My only ‘offense’ was speaking the unvarnished truth about the genocide in Gaza.”
“I am departing now, voluntarily, to reunite with my loved ones, not because the U.S. government ever established a credible case against me,” Hamdi stated. “This detention was a stark demonstration that a Muslim journalist can be held captive because extremists, amplified on social media, seek to weaponize state policy against inconvenient speech. This is not merely an injustice against me, but a searing indictment of any nation that claims to uphold free speech, a free press and the right to due process.”
On the time of his detainment, a federal spokesperson accused Hamdi with out proof of “support(ing) terrorism and undermin(ing) American national security.” The U.S. Division of Homeland Safety additionally revoked his customer visa.
Hamdi’s launch from ICE custody follows his settlement Monday to voluntarily go away america, based on the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-CA, one of many organizations representing him.
He was additionally represented in authorized proceedings by legal professional Hassan M. Ahmad of the HMA Regulation Agency and the Muslim Authorized Fund.
Below the settlement, he is not going to be thought-about a hazard to the group or to nationwide safety.
“Let’s be absolutely clear: if the government had any evidence to back up the smears it has been tweeting about Sami, he would not be on a flight home right now,” CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush stated. “They locked a journalist in an ICE cell and tried to frighten the public with baseless claims, and, in the end, all they proved was their own abuse of power. That should alarm anyone who cares about the rule of law.”
Hamdi endured harsh situations whereas in custody, based on CAIR-CA. The group claimed he was crowded with dozens of different detainees in a single room, pressured to attend greater than eight hours for medical consideration whereas in “excruciating pain,” and transported a number of occasions, with out discover, in full shackles.
Hamdi’s case is a part of a sample of authorities concentrating on journalists and advocates who converse out for Palestinian human rights and criticize Israeli authorities insurance policies, CAIR-CA stated, including that it’ll proceed to hunt transparency and accountability relating to the federal government’s therapy of Hamdi and others focused for his or her speech.
Examine again for updates.
