Mohammed El Gharani, a citizen of Chad, was captured in Pakistan seven years ago when he was 14 years old, and has been held at Guantanamo ever since.
The government’s case relied mainly upon the unsubstantiated statements of two other detainees, and in granting Gharani’s habeas petition, Judge Leon said, “a mosaic of tiles bearing images this murky reveals nothing about [Al
Gharani] with sufficient clarity, individually or collectively, that
can be relied upon by this Court.” He ordered the prisoner released “forthwith.”
Washington Post story here.
Courtroom sketching is a form of visual journalism or reportage drawing that is slowly dying out. Where once upon a time news organization each had their own artist covering a story, today a “pool” artist often sketches for all. It is a demanding and stressful discipline where the drawing is often done directly and under tight deadline.
After forty-five years of news sketching in courtrooms and congress I’m calling it quits. It’s been sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating, almost always interesting. I’ve been lucky to work with some really great people. Don’t think I’ll miss it, but a little scared of not having a deadline.
While I won’t be sketching in court anymore, I may continue to post to this blog from time to time. Not sure what that might be. I’m about to start a new assignment documenting infrastructure and construction. Could be interesting.
