Judge blocks transfer of U.S. citizen accused of ties to IS

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday blocked the government from transferring an American citizen accused of fighting with Islamic State militants to Saudi Arabia, meaning he will stay for now in a U.S. military detention facility in Iraq.

The Trump administration has been holding the unidentified citizen without charge since he surrendered on the Syrian battlefield more than seven months ago. The detainee’s legal quandary has become a test case for how the government should treat U.S. citizens picked up on the battlefield and accused of having ties to IS extremists battling America and its allies.

The man, who once lived in Louisiana, was being detained as an enemy combatant. Court documents filed by the government say that when he surrendered to U.S.backed Syrian Democratic Forces, he was carrying thumb drives containing thousands of files. There were 10,000 or more photos — some depicting pages of military-style manuals.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing him, claims he was in Syria to chronicle the conflict and was trying to flee the violence when he gave himself up in September. The ACLU claims the government has not provided any evidence that he took up arms against the United States and notes that he was imprisoned by the IS group. The detainee said he had press credentials to do freelance writing about the conflict in Syria, though the FBI hasn’t found any published articles or blogs he wrote.

The government notified the court this week that it wanted to transfer him to a third country. The government did not name the country, but a U.S. official told The Associated Press that he was slated to be transferred to Saudi Arabia, where he has dual citizenship.

The ruling was a victory for the ACLU. Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney for the group, argued that any transfer would violate the detainee’s constitutional and legal rights because the government has not charged him or proved that it legally detained him in the first place.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that the government cannot transfer him without a subsequent order from the court.