Judge Orders Release Of Georgetown Researcher Arrested For ‘Spreading Hamas Propaganda’

Georgetown University researcher and Indian national Dr. Badar Kahn Suri was released Wednesday from immigration custody at the order of U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles of Virginia.

Suri, who was studying on a student visa, was arrested in March because his “activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The spokesperson added that Suri was “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media,” and that he had “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior adviser to Hamas.” (RELATED: Authorities Release Pro-Palestine Foreign Student After Federal Judge’s Order)

Although he was being held without criminal charges, Suri was transferred to five different ICE facilities before ending up in Texas. Suri challenged his arrest by appealing to the First and Fifth Amendments and will now be released to his family in Virginia, where he will await his next immigration hearing in June, his lawyers said in a statement.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against ICE, MPD, and other law enforcement agencies on college campuses in Washington, D.C., on March 23, 2025. The demonstration, organized by Georgetown University students and community leaders, also demanded the release of a Georgetown scholar facing deportation by the Department of Homeland Security. (Photo by ANDREW THOMAS/Middle Eeast Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Suri’s wife, Mapheze Saleh, told his lawyers she had tears in her eyes when she heard the judge’s ruling.

“Speaking out about what’s happening in Palestine is not a crime. Let’s show the world that this country is still a place where people can and do express their beliefs without fear,” Saleh said.

Saleh is a Palestinian-American U.S. citizen and was reported by Hindustan Times to be the daughter of Ahmed Yousef, “a senior political adviser to the Hamas leadership.”

Robert M. Groves, the interim president of Georgetown University, released a letter to students the week following the arrest of Suri, stating he was “concerned about the circumstances of his detention and the questions it may raise about issues of free speech.”

Suri’s release follows that of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national and doctoral student, who was detained in March for alleged support for Hamas.