Turkish Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk to be released

A federal judge has ordered the release of a Turkish student at Tufts University who is being held in Louisiana after US immigration officials arrested her in Massachusetts.

Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, testified virtually at a court hearing on Friday, where US District Judge William Sessions said the student met all the conditions needed for release and lambasted the government's case against her, according to BBC news partner CBS.

"Her continued detention chills the speech of millions in this country who are not citizens," the judge said.

Ms Otzurk co-authored an opinion piece in her campus newspaper that was critical of Israel's war. Her arrest follows the White House's crackdown on what it has classified as antisemitism on US campuses.

Earlier this week, the judge ordered that Ms Ozturk be transferred by 14 May to immigration authorities in Vermont, where she was last held before she was taken to Louisiana.

The judge said Friday that she should be released immediately without travel restrictions, so she can go to Vermont or Massachusetts, where Tufts is located, as needed.

Videos of Ms Ozturk's arrest, showing masked plain-clothes officers handcuffing her and taking her into an unmarked car after a Ramadan celebration, sparked nation-wide protests.

On Friday, the judge heard from a number of witnesses in the case, including Ms Ozturk, a doctor and a Tufts University professor.

During her testimony, Ms Ozturk told the court about her Fulbright cholarship and her PhD work. She said her asthma condition had worsened during detainment, and at one point, had to take a short break after suffering an asthma attack on camera.

The government did not call any witnesses in the hearing.

After hearing from witnesses for the defence, Judge Sessions said Ms Ozturk had raised "very substantial" claims that her First Amendment and due process rights were violated. He said the only evidence the administration had against Ms Ozturk was her op-ed.

"That literally is the case," he said, according to court reporters. "There is no evidence that she has engaged in violence or advocated violence."

Judge Sessions told the court that the government must notify him of when Ms Ozturk is freed and said he would deny any motions to block her release.