8/7/25 Reposted from citybeat.com
Lawyers for Soliman announced a new federal habeas petition to release Soliman from the Butler County Jail, saying he was unconstitutionally placed in solitary confinement in early August.
Attorneys representing an embattled Cincinnati imam have filed a lawsuit demanding his immediate release, alleging unlawful treatment within the Butler County Jail.
Ayman Soliman, who has no criminal record, has been held in the Butler County Jail since a July 9 check-in at the Homeland Security Office in Blue Ash ended in his arrest. The former journalist was granted asylum status in 2018 and worked as a chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s hospital. That status was revoked in June with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials claiming he had ties to a foreign terrorist organization. International experts and Soliman’s lawyers have pushed back on the designation.
On Thursday, lawyers for Soliman announced a new federal habeas petition to release Soliman from the Butler County Jail, saying he was unconstitutionally placed in solitary confinement in early August. According to legal filings provided to CityBeat, Soliman’s attorneys claim this placement was “a result of targeted harassment due to [Soliman’s] attempt to practice his religion.”
Kate Brady, one of Soliman’s attorneys with Muslim Legal Fund of America, said the solitary confinement was punishment for voicing disagreement with a guard over religious congregation space.
Lawyers claim the solitary confinement lasted from Aug. 2 until Aug. 5. Nazly Mamedova, another attorney for Soliman, said he hardly slept during this period.
“Ayman has not slept for more than 3 hours a day since he was locked up in solitary confinement,” said
Nazly Mamedova, one of Soliman’s attorneys. “While he tried to keep a clear mind, he really struggled with being confined in a small space for 23 hours a day. Anyone would. The fact is, Ayman should be home doing the job that he loves and is good at, caring for others, not locked up in any jail cell.”
According to the court filing, Soliman was denied access to visitors during the four-day period in solitary confinement. Phone calls, including with his lawyers, were allegedly limited to a one-hour window between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m.
“The Butler County Sheriff, under the color of DHS authority to detain people in removal proceedings, unlawfully uses solitary confinement to prevent attorneys’ access to their clients, which limits their ability to vigorously fight against the government’s deportation machine,” Brady said.
History of abuse allegations from ICE inmates at the Butler County Jail
With Trump again in office, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones has enthusiastically reopened his doors to ICE prisoners, but he’s still fighting a lawsuit filed by former ICE detainees who claim Jones’ officers were verbally and physically abusive. Jones has flatly denied every claim in the suit.
“I’ve been sued my whole career,” Jones said during a March interview with CityBeat.“I’ve been doing this 48 years. I get sued often.”
Soliman’s case progresses
Thursday’s lawsuit also seeks to reinstate Soliman’s asylum status. In July, attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) termination of his asylum status in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey P. Hopkins issued a 14-day Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), allowing Soliman to remain at the Butler County Jail for 14 days. Without the TRO, Soliman’s lead attorney Robert Ratliff said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the authority to relocate him “literally anywhere.”
“Could be anywhere from Louisiana to Guantanamo to Alligator Alcatraz to Sudan,” Ratliff said during a press briefing last week. “This could change the jurisdiction of the immigration court, which could delay his immigration proceedings, resulting in longer periods of detention.”
Ohio Immigrant Alliance, an immigration advocacy organization closely following Soliman’s case, said Judge Hopkins advised Soliman’s attorneys that he could consider continuing the TRO once a habeas petition is filed.
“Today’s filing is the next step in this case,” the organization wrote in a Thursday press release.
Background on Soliman
Soliman fled to the U.S. from Egypt in 2014, according to immigration advocates at Ignite Peace Cincinnati. Soliman has said he was “escaping death” when he left his family in Egypt more than a decade ago. Soliman was reportedly jailed as a freelance journalist for his coverage of events related to the Arab Spring, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. While in jail, the Muslim Legal Fund alleges he was “beaten and tortured for days at a time.” He applied for asylum status in 2015 and was approved in 2018. He then filed for his wife and child to join him in the U.S. under the same asylum case. He also applied for a green card shortly after being granted asylum; that application remains pending.
But in June 2025, Soliman’s asylum status was officially revoked after federal authorities started looking into his case in December 2024. Before Soliman’s July 9 arrest, advocates said he was extensively questioned by immigration and other federal authorities about his political affiliations.
In 2021, Soliman discovered there was an “FBI flag” on his record when he was offered a position at the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) as an Islamic chaplain in 2021. His first background check showed an FBI flag, which caused the Department of Corrections to take back the job offer. Soliman sued the FBI and the Terrorist Screening Center in 2021, claiming his fingerprints did not match prints in the government’s terrorism screening database.
In Soliman’s most recent lawsuit filed against the federal government regarding the termination of his asylum status, he argues the government revoked his asylum due to past ties with the group Al-Jameya al Shareya (also written as Al-Gam’iyya al Shar’iyya) when he lived in Egypt. Soliman said his involvement as a board member of the organization was disclosed to DHS when he was granted asylum. The U.S. government alleges Al-Jameya al Shareya supported the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt has called a terrorist organization. International experts and Soliman’s lawyers have pushed back on the designation.
“Al-Jameya al Shareya is not a terrorist group,” Soliman’s legal team said in July. “It is a nongovernmental organization that provides medical services and charitable community services. Neither the U.S. government nor the Egyptian government has designated AGS/AJS a terrorist group.”
Soliman’s case has garnered widespread attention and support from local leaders and community members, including many faith leaders in the Cincinnati area. After immigrating to the U.S., Soliman became a board member for the Clifton Mosque, the Islamic Association of Cincinnati and the Initiative on Islam and Medicine. According to his bio on the Clifton Mosque’s website, Soliman holds undergraduate degrees in Islamic studies, Qura’n and Islamic Da’wah. He holds a Master’s degree in Islamic Studies and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Divinity in Islamic Studies and Muslim Chaplaincy, as well as a PhD in Islamic Studies.
Tala Ali, chairperson of the Clifton Mosque and the Islamic Association of Cincinnati, addressed reporters alongside several community advocates just hours after Soliman’s arrest. She said Soliman serves families of all faiths in the Cincinnati community.
“He not only serves Muslim families, but families of all backgrounds and faiths,” she said. “He holds presence and pastoral care for all people.”
Also referred to as spiritual care providers, chaplains at Cincinnati Children’s help families by performing prayers upon request, offering emotional support, helping doctors understand how a patient’s beliefs affect their healthcare decisions, and more, according to the hospital’s website.
“When parents with sick children come to the hospital, they found comfort with Ayman Soliman,” said Khalid Turaani, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Ohio. “He was comforting people who might have been on their last day on earth.”
