The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to staff at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The FBI, in a court filing, described it as material related to certain worms and requires a government permit.
Because her name does not appear in a federal database, Robles’ request for a bond hearing was denied. “This case is one of unspeakable abuse,” said Annette Martínez Orabona, the ACLU director in Puerto Rico.The case has fueled already simmering anger against the administration of
and local authorities who have been working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrest those believed to be living illegally in the U.S. territory.In a letter sent Monday to the governor and the island’s justice secretary, the ACLU accused Puerto Rico’s government of violating the Constitution and local laws by providing ICE and U.S. Homeland Security with confidential information on nearly 6,000 immigrants.It also accused ICE of using that data to go on a “fishing expedition” that it called “arbitrary and abusive.”
A spokesman for Homeland Security Investigations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.In Puerto Rico, undocumented immigrants are allowed to
and obtain a special driver’s license.
The ACLU in Puerto Rico also accused González Colón’s administration of not providing protocols to local government agencies for how to deal with such requests from the federal government.Israel, whose undeclared atomic weapons program makes it the only country in the Mideast with nuclear bombs, has not acknowledged any such Iranian operation targeting it — though there have been arrests of Israelis allegedly spying for Tehran amid
Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib claimed thousands of pages of documents had been obtained which would be made public soon. Among them were documents related to the U.S., Europe and other countries which, he claimed, had been obtained through “infiltration” and “access to the sources.”He did not elaborate on the methods used. However, Khatib, a Shiite cleric, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2022 over directing “cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of Iran’s political goals.”
For Iran, the claim may be designed to show the public that the theocracy was able to respond tothat spirited out what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a “half ton” of documents related to Iran’s program.