ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Rumeysa Ozturk, a doctoral student from Turkey studying in the US was released on bail on Friday, six weeks after being detained for co-authoring an opinion article for her university newspaper, criticizing the university’s stance on Israel’s war on Gaza.

Ozturk, a PhD student of Tufts University, was detained in late March by six agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in civilian clothing. Footage of her arrest circulated on social media, drawing widespread backlash.

Jessie Rossman, one of Ozturk’s legal representatives, said that her client was arrested “because she wrote a single op-ed in her student newspaper.” The op-ed, criticizing the school’s response to pro-Gaza protests, was authored by Ozturk and three fellow students last year.

Rossman told reporters outside of a Vermont courthouse on Friday that Ozturk would be released on bail immediately, after she “had established what he [the judge] called very significant First Amendment and Fifth Amendment due process claims.”

The announcement of the student’s release was met with cheers and applause from the crowd waiting outside the courthouse, as was Ozturk herself when she walked out of the immigration detention center after spending six weeks in custody.

“I really appreciate you being here. Thank you so much for all the support and love,” the PhD student told the crowd gathering outside the Louisiana detention facility after exiting the building, before asking to be excused to get some rest.

Several students in the US on student visas have been detained by authorities in recent months for expressing support for the Palestinian cause.  Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist at Columbia university was taken from his residence in New York early March, and remains in custody as of the time of writing this article with no charges against him.

On October 7, 2023, Palestinian Hamas launched al-Aqsa Flood operation, an unprecedented aerial and ground attack into southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people. In response, Israel launched a full-scale military aggression against Gaza which is still ongoing a year and a half later. Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the Israeli offensive.

The Israeli campaign has claimed over 52,000 lives and injured around 120,000 more to date, according to data from the Gaza health ministry.

The US has repeatedly expressed its unwavering support for Israel throughout the campaign.