Mahmoud Khalil and Trump’s assault on free speech – podcast

Detained after taking a leading role in pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University, the graduate has called himself a political prisoner. Chris McGreal reports

This month Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate who had worked with human rights groups and even the UK government, was detained in New York. His wife, who is eight months pregnant, said her husband was not told why he was being detained and that officers assumed he was on a visa - but actually he has a green card, allowing him to stay in the US and protecting his constitutional rights.

Khalil says his detention is part of a crackdown on dissent - and to deter others from protesting. During pro-Palestine protests on the Columbia campus last year he acted as a mediator between the university and the demonstrators, and, unlike many students, left his face uncovered. Then Donald Trump was elected US president and promised to clamp down on student protests.