Unable to fly for years, because of a clerical error? Former Stanford University student Rahinah Ibrahim was on the government's "no fly" list for seven years. After a long legal battle, she's off it, and now we know why she was on in the first place.
Wired reports it was a simple error. That an FBI agent "checked the wrong boxes." That's according to a U.S. District Judge's filing on the case. (Via Wired)
And as many outlets are reporting, the government seemed to make major efforts to keep this case quiet with closed court hearings. (Via Boing Boing)
According to Al Jazeera, Ibrahim was first detained in 2005. Her attorneys think authorities confused her involvement with a women's organization for involvement with a terrorist group.
Ibrahim is in her 40s, and is an architecture professor living in Malaysia. She says the years of legal battles and the fact that she hasn't had a Visa have hindered her professional development. But now, she's become the first person to successfully challenge the government on being placed on the no-fly list.
