A federal judge in Denver on Friday ordered the release of an Uzbekistan terror suspect held for 5½ years without trial on charges he provided material support to the Islamic Jihad Union.

Charges are still pending against Jamshid Muhtorov, and he will remain at the GEO Aurora Detention Center, 3130 N. Oakland St. in Aurora, until a release hearing Monday in which Senior U.S. District Judge John Kane will determine conditions of his release.

“I am granting Mr. Muhtorov’s motion for release on conditions, but will abate my order for his release so that the specific combination of conditions can be aired and determined with comment from all sides,” Kane’s 11-page order says.

Kane’s ruling comes a day after Muhtorov, who entered the United States as a refugee in 2007, filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court against Johnny Choate, GEO’s warden, claiming he should be released because extraordinary trial delays violate his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial.

Muhtorov has been held since his arrest in Chicago in January 2012. He was allegedly preparing to board a plane to Turkey to join the Islamic Jihad Union.

“The government, by its actions in surveilling and apprehending Mr. Muhtorov, may have thwarted an actual plan to provide smartphones and services to the IJU,” Kane said in his order. “The content of Mr. Muhtorov’s conversations with (alleged accomplice Bakhtiyor) Jumaev are abhorrent, the videos and pictures on his phone revolting. His professed desire to join a movement that justifies the murder and maiming of all who dare to think differently than he does on matters of faith and religion deeply offend our values of religious liberty, the sanctity of life, tolerance, justice, and the rule of law. Nor is there any doubt that the men and women of our security services and intelligence communities act and have acted with the utmost rigor and good faith. Mr. Muhtorov, however, has already spent more than five years in detention before even being found guilty of acting, in any way, on his alleged terrorist beliefs.”

Denver civil rights attorney David Lane said he has never heard of a defendant held so long without being accused of capital murder.

“That is extremely unusual. This case flies in the face of the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial,” Lane said. He added that Muhtorov is presumed innocent.

Kane also noted that over the years when he has declined to release Muhtorov on bond, his fears about the danger Muhtorov poses to society were based almost entirely on an FBI agent’s statements. Since then, much information has been presented that lessens his concerns.

“There is reason to believe, after previewing the government’s evidence and the strength of his defenses, that Mr. Muhtorov has been invested with a sense of direction and a reason to stay and see the trial of his case through,” Kane wrote.

The judge said Muhtorov’s family is a compelling tie to the community.

“His wife, Nagiza, has lived and worked in the community for five years without incident before his arrest. Throughout the time of his detention, Nagiza has visited Mr. Muhtorov. Their third child has been born. Their familial relationship has deepened,” Kane wrote.

Muhtorov’s attorneys and acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer’s office have declined to comment, citing a gag order Kane placed on the case.

Kane wrote that Muhtorov’s trial, now scheduled for July 31, will be postponed until early 2018.

Muhtorov’s trial has been postponed numerous times while prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a succession of motions over issues including controversial warrantless wiretaps and national security issues.

Muhtorov had filed the petition in U.S. District Court in Denver without the assistance of an attorney, because he can’t afford to hire an attorney. He also said he believes his court-appointed lawyers are partly responsible for causing delays. He has previously asked to be assigned a new attorney.

“(Muhtorov) has requested counsel get on board and stop being ineffective,” he wrote, adding that numerous letters to Kane also have not solved the problem. “There is absolutely no other remedy to exhaust at this point to address this matter.”

On Jan. 20, 2012, Muhtorov quit his long-haul trucking job. FBI agents learned that he had communicated with the IJU, which has the goal of creating a sharia state in Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic in central Asia. The next day — Jan. 21, 2012 — two FBI agents arrested Muhtorov in Chicago as he was trying to board a plane to Turkey to join the IJU’s jihad. He was carrying $2,865 and recently purchased electronic equipment including two iPhones, a GPS device and an iPad tablet.

Against his wishes and best interests, Muhtorov wrote in his petition, his attorneys filed requests seeking to toss evidence collected through warrantless wiretaps. His case was the first in which federal prosecutors acknowledged using warrantless wiretaps. Kane denied the attorneys’ motion.

“The court took two years to rule on petitioner’s warrantless wiretap suppression motion. This in of itself could have been a speedy trial violation. Counsel should have objected to such delay,” Muhtorov wrote.

He attributed most of the delays to prosecutors.

Muhtorov predicted further delays to his trial after his alleged co-conspirator’s trial was delayed until 2018. Jameav, 50, of Philadelphia has been charged with providing material support to the Islamic Jihad Union. His trial was recently set for Jan. 29.