SOAS College, of which Hamdi is an alumnus, urge ‘US authorities to make sure full transparency and due course of’ in his case.
Printed On 6 Nov 2025
The London college the place British political commentator and journalist Sami Hamdi accomplished his research has referred to as for “full transparency and due course of” concerning his detention in the US.
In a press release printed on Wednesday, SOAS College of London mentioned it was “deeply involved” by experiences of Hamdi’s detention, including that “there isn’t any indication that Mr Hamdi has violated any legal guidelines”.
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“We urge the US authorities to make sure full transparency and due course of in Mr Hamdi’s case, and to uphold his basic proper to freedom of expression and motion.”
Hamdi, 35, was stopped at San Francisco international airport in California on October 26 and detained by brokers from the Division of Homeland Safety’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) company.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Hamdi’s detention as “a blatant affront to free speech”, attributing his arrest to his criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed no less than 68,875 Palestinians and wounded 170,679 since October 2023.
Hamdi, who was finishing a talking tour within the US discussing Israel’s battle on Gaza, had addressed a CAIR gala in Sacramento, California, the earlier night and was attributable to communicate at one other CAIR occasion in Florida.
He was unaware on the time that his visa had been revoked by US authorities two days earlier than his detention.
Hamdi’s detention has led to a authorized battle, along with his attorneys submitting emergency petitions towards his detention, and his spouse Soumaya and civil society teams demanding that the UK authorities take motion.
Soumaya informed Al Jazeera that the US authorities has nonetheless not supplied any proof “as to why they really feel the necessity to revoke his visa. And subsequently they’re treating him as an overstayer”.
She mentioned the incident raises an essential query: “Has the US develop into a rustic now the place a British citizen travelling on a sound visa may be detained at will? As a result of that’s actually scary.”
Soumaya mentioned she believed her husband had been focused by the US authorities as a result of “he’s develop into extraordinarily efficient at galvanising help for Palestinian rights. Sami has been capable of deliver individuals collectively throughout the political spectrum, not simply inside Muslim communities.”
She additionally mentioned her husband’s arrest ought to be of concern to “all people who values the fitting to freedom of speech, all people who values the fitting to obtain info from journalists and for journalists to have the ability to report on information with out being persecuted”.
“In the event that they [US authorities] are ready then to deal with Sami on this manner, it’s solely a matter of time earlier than they begin to deal with US residents like that too.”
“The US authorities should launch Sami instantly. They’ve made an enormous mistake, and they should launch him instantly. And Congress should examine these ICE detentions as a result of they’re setting a harmful precedent for the long run means of US residents having the ability to train their proper to the First Modification correctly. And that’s unhealthy information for everyone,” she mentioned.
