Welcome back!
When ICIJ first came into contact with Ilyas Muradi, he had spent months locked in a tiny solitary confinement cell at an immigration detention facility in Texas.
“It’s like a cage,” Muradi told us in 2019, frustrated that he didn’t know what to do to get released from solitary. Extended stays in isolation are analogous to torture, according to the United Nations. “It seems like I woke up in a nightmare.”
He was one of dozens of immigrants interviewed for the Solitary Voices investigation, which found widespread misuse — and overuse — of solitary confinement as a go-to form of punishment in detention centers, in contradiction of international and U.S. directives.
But Muradi’s story recently took an unlikely turn. After the U.S. was unable to deport him to Afghanistan, Muradi was released. Last month, he stunned the poker world by winning the first national tournament he’s ever entered — to the tune of a $620,000 prize.
It’s a rare positive outcome for people like Muradi, a citizen of no nation. The U.S. does not formally recognize individuals as stateless, including for purposes of immigration proceedings, placing them in a dangerous gray zone.
“To characterize it simply as a tale of perseverance and luck would overlook a great deal: lost years, lost time with family, lost income, trauma — and still, even now, the possibility of deportation,” writes reporter Spencer Woodman, who caught up with Muradi following the momentous win.
READERS TO THE RESCUE
Five reader comments cost ICIJ partner Malaysiakini a hefty fine after Malaysia's top court held the news website responsible, ruling that the remarks threatened people’s confidence in the judiciary. The outlet’s legal defense fund quickly received enough donations to pay the penalty, decried as a blow to press freedom.
KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER
Expanding rules that force bankers to do due diligence on their clients to cover hedge funds, private equity, lawyers and accountants is one of a host of anti-corruption reforms recommended by Transparency International in a plan for the Biden administration.
GROWING OUR NETWORK
ICIJ’s network committee, which searches for the world’s best investigative journalists to join the consortium, welcomed new members from Lebanon, Ghana, Chile, and South Korea. “We are constantly on the lookout for members, especially in underrepresented countries,” the committee said.
SEE YOU AT NICAR 21
ICIJ will be at Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc.’s data journalism conference next week. Emilia Díaz-Struck and Karrie Kehoe from our data team will be co-presenting a behind-the-scenes look at the FinCEN Files, and Digital Editor Asraa Mustufa will be on a panel about using data to report inequities on March 3.
Thanks for reading!
Asraa Mustufa
ICIJ's digital editor
P.S. If you've enjoyed our coverage this week, remember to tell your friends and family and share our work on social media. Send them an email now!
|
|