In the United States, doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, who was detained on the grounds of supporting Palestine, reportedly suffered three asthma attacks in custody due to lack of access to her medication. Meanwhile, a regional judge has decided that Öztürk will be tried in the state of Vermont.

Doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk was detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in the United States. After examining the petitions of the lawyers, a judge in the Massachusetts region prepared a report.

In the report, it was stated that Vermont was the most appropriate location among the options for Öztürk’s trial. The judge cited the fact that the Turkish student was detained and her lawyers applied to the court on the night of March 25 in Vermont as the reason for this decision.

The regional judge had issued a stay against Öztürk’s deportation. The decision was halted until the court application was concluded. SUFFERED ASTHMA ATTACKS THREE TIMES U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley, who continues her duty at the U.S. House of Representatives representing the state of Massachusetts where Öztürk was detained, shared information that Öztürk had “suffered three asthma attacks at the detention center in the state of Louisiana” since she was detained on March 25. Pressley, in a support post for the Turkish student on account X, based on information received from Öztürk’s lawyer, stated, “She did not receive necessary asthma medications. This is a violation of her fundamental right to medical care. This is persecution, negligence, and a damned moral and legal failure.”

Pressley demanded from the Department of Homeland Security that “immediate access to the medical care” that Öztürk needed be provided, and also called for the reinstatement of the Turkish student’s visa and her release. In her statement addressed to Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Pressley used the words, “Every minute Öztürk spends in custody is a minute her health and rights are at risk.”

ÖZTÜRK’S DETENTION Turkish student Rümeysa Öztürk, who was studying for a doctorate at Tufts University in the state of Massachusetts, was detained by 6 masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers while she was going to have dinner with friends on the evening of March 25. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had announced that Öztürk’s student visa had been revoked and she would be deported. Rubio had stated that visas of more than 300 foreign students, who he described as “Hamas supporters” and “crazy people” (anti-Israel), had been cancelled. U.S. federal judge Denise Casper had issued a restraining order against the deportation of Turkish student Öztürk detained by ICE officers. While Tufts University, where Rümeysa Öztürk was studying for her doctorate, demanded the release of its students, in a statement to the court, Rector Sunil Kumar stated that Öztürk’s arrest had “paralyzed the school’s international community” and that they were now concerned about the school’s security.