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May 27 - A federal judge has ordered the US
Department of Homeland Security to release a former
Kurdish human and civil rights activist-turned
Michigan restaurateur after holding him for nearly
10 months in jail as a suspected terrorist.
On May 20, United States District Court Judge Avern
Cohn ruled that Turkish native Ibrahim Parlak, whose
story The NewStandard has previously reported in
detail, is a lawful, permanent resident of the
United States. Judge Cohn added that Parlak has been
a "model immigrant," has "lived an exemplary life"
and has developed close ties within his community
since immigrating in 1991.
Cohn stated that Parlak "is not a threat to anyone
nor a risk of flight" and called Parlak's detention
"unreasonable."
Parlak says Turkish officials tortured and
imprisoned him for activities on behalf of the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) during the late 1980s.
Parlak insists he was never a member of the PKK,
though he had connections with the party’s unarmed,
political wing. The PKK was not listed as a
terrorist group until years after Parlak came to the
US.
Parlak says his political work in Turkey was focused
on gaining rights for the Kurdish people, who were
so oppressed that speaking the Kurdish language or
practicing Kurdish culture was a crime punishable by
imprisonment and even death.
DHS officials have ten days to appeal Cohn's
decision and are still free to pursue Parlak’s
deportation.
-Dave Reynolds
www.newstandardnews.net
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