Sami Hamdi won’t be moved from California by US immigration authorities
The British Tunisian political commentator arrested by US immigration authorities last week won’t be moved out of California, where he’s receiving legal support, a rights group says.
“A federal court has temporarily blocked ICE from transferring British journalist Sami Hamdi out of California,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement.
CAIR and Hamdi’s legal team told Al Jazeera he was granted medical attention after facing a health complication and was visited by two people. His lawyers said he was doing better on Sunday.
In a post on X, Adnan Hussain, a UK independent MP, called for Hamdi’s immediate release. “Appalling that British national Sami Hamdi has not yet been released from US detention and allowed to return home to his family.”
On Friday, a demonstration was organised by CAIR outside the San Francisco Immigration Court, calling for Hamdi to be freed.
Commentator Sami Hamdi was arrested by US immigration authorities last week
Israel ‘structurally unwilling’ to prosecute Gaza war crimes
Controversy continues over Israel army prosecutor Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi’s dismissal for leaking footage of a Palestinian detainee allegedly being sexually assaulted while in military custody.
The military prosecutor however, has a less than stellar record, according to a report published in September.
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights released a report in September stating that Israel demonstrates “structural unwillingness” to properly examine alleged crimes against Palestinians.
From 2017 to 2021, only 0.9 percent of 1,260 complaints filed against Israeli soldiers led to indictments, it said. From October 2023 onwards, 88 percent of suspected war crimes cases have either been dismissed or remain unresolved.
“Particularly in the context of the war in Gaza, with its massive civilian casualties and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, it is clear that national proceedings remain inadequate and that alleged perpetrators are systematically shielded from accountability,” said the report.
