Today PEN America joins The Student Press Law Center and nine other free speech and journalism organizations to release a letter condemning the detention of Rumeysa Ozturk, reportedly based on opinions expressed in a student newspaper op-ed.
“Such a basis for her detention would represent a blatant disregard for the principles of free speech and free press within the First Amendment, and we call on Tufts University officials, Massachusetts lawmakers and federal authorities to take immediate action to secure her release,” the letter states.
Surveillance video showed Ozturk being arrested by plain clothed federal agents, many of them masked, as she made her way to an interfaith center to break the Ramadan fast. According to published reports, Ozturk did not appear to have been a leader figure in pro-Palestinian protests. She co-authored an op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to the pro-Palestinian movement.
The full letter is below: