Abdel-Muhti is a stateless Palestinian who cannot easily be deported; the INS has held him in New Jersey county jails since last April on the basis of a 1995 deportation order. Supporters view the transfer to York as a punitive measure for an eight-day hunger strike that Abdel-Muhti and five other detainees carried out Jan. 14-21 [see INB 1/18/03, 1/25/03]. [AP 2/20/03; Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti Press Release 2/19/03] The other five hunger strikers were transferred on Jan. 27 to Hudson County Jail in Kearny, New Jersey, where conditions are said to be better and where contact visits with family are allowed [note that Kearny was misspelled in INB 1/18/03]. Abdel-Muhti had refused the offer of transfer to Hudson, instead demanding his immediate release.
[AP 2/6/03]

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