Indian researcher Badar Khan Suri, held over alleged Hamas ties, was released by a US judge citing free speech rights. Discover the court’s ruling and growing academic fears.
Washington – A federal judge has ordered the release of an Indian researcher at a leading U.S. university who had been detained over alleged connections to Hamas.
Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., was taken into custody by federal authorities two months ago at his home in Virginia and has been held in Texas since.
On Wednesday, District Judge Patricia Giles ruled for his immediate release, allowing him to reunite with his wife and three children in Virginia under personal recognizance.
“Hearing the judge speak moved me to tears,” said his wife, Mapheze Saleh, in a statement shared by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), one of the groups supporting Suri’s legal defense.
“Speaking out about the situation in Palestine is not a crime. We must show that this country still values the right to free speech without intimidation.”
Judge Giles found that Suri’s detention infringed on his First Amendment rights.
“This ruling sends a clear message to the Trump administration: it cannot imprison people or separate families simply for showing support for Palestinians or criticizing the violence in Gaza,” said Astha Sharma Pokharel, a CCR attorney.
Suri’s release follows a similar decision involving Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, who was also recently freed.
The detentions of Suri, Ozturk, and others have sparked concern within academic communities about increasing threats to academic freedom and free speech under the Trump administration.
Following Suri’s arrest, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Suri had been “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism” through social media.
She also alleged that Suri had “strong connections to a known or suspected terrorist who serves as a senior adviser to Hamas.”
According to The New York Times, Suri’s wife, Saleh, is the daughter of Ahmed Yousef, a former adviser to the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
McLaughlin stated that Suri was subject to deportation under an immigration law that allows removal if a visa holder is considered a threat to U.S. foreign policy.
The U.S. government classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization.
