Template:Did you know nominations/Muntaser Ibrahim

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The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Yoninah (talk) 21:06, 13 April 2019 (UTC)

Muntaser Ibrahim[edit]

Muntaser Ibrahim in 2014
Muntaser Ibrahim in 2014
  • ...that prominent Sudanese geneticist Muntaser Ibrahim (pictured) was imprisoned in February 2019 after participating in peaceful political protests, and his family does not know where he is being held? Source: "A leading Sudanese geneticist has been imprisoned for speaking out against the country’s repressive regime. Muntaser Ibrahim, who heads the University of Khartoum’s Institute of Endemic Diseases, was arrested on 21 February in Khartoum and has been detained ever since. His friends and family do not know his location." https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/03/renowned-sudanese-geneticist-behind-bars-opposing-regime
    • ALT1:... that ...? Source: "You are strongly encouraged to quote the source text supporting each hook" (and [link] the source, or cite it briefly without using citation templates)

Created by Philepitta (talk). Self-nominated at 04:57, 17 March 2019 (UTC).

  • The article is new, of sufficient length, and no apparent copyvios. The photo is public domain. There are adequate inline citations, although it would be nice to have more secondary sources. Please edit the dates in the citations to match the format of dates in the main text. My main concern is the sentence about his incarceration: "His family says that they do not know his location, and that he has a heart condition requiring specialized medical attention". Although well-sourced and factual, and relevant in terms of the conditions under which Muntaser may have been detained, I am not convinced that this statement belongs in an encyclopedia. Although it may seem likely that the detention of Muntaser violates his human rights, these events are relatively recent and referenced to a single source, albeit a reliable one. It is possible that further information may eventually emerge that reveals a different state of affairs, or that this is a temporary state of affairs, or in some other respect a topical item of news rather than a fundamental aspect of its history. My personal opinion is that it is appropriate, at this stage, to pare down the reporting of Ibrahim's detention to the bare minimum. Naturally, this concern also applies to the hook.
  • Please note that this is my first DYK review. This is a matter requiring some delicacy of judgment and I would appreciate a second opinion from another reviewer.
Thanks @T0mpr1c3: for your thoughtful review. To respond to your specific suggestions:
  • I am not sure what you mean by "Please edit the dates in the citations to match the format of dates in the main text." I autogenerated the citations using the "cite" tool in the visual editor, so think they should be correctly formatted. Could you please clarify?
  • I added an additional secondary source to the article to confirm the account of Ibrahim's arrest. I don't think that there's excessive weight on this in the article, just two sentences in the lede and a short section in the body of the article. That said, the imprisonment of a prominent academic for participating in peaceful political protests is very notable and an important piece of the article, I think. Even if he is released tomorrow, I can't see what would make this fact less notable. I think that the sentence that you raised concerns about is well sourced, relevant, and neutrally stated, and that it is OK to have a fact in an article that may change as a situation evolves. However, I do agree that it may be problematic that the fact at the end of the hook about his family not knowing his whereabouts could change. So how about this alternate version, which consists just of stable, well-sourced facts:
  • ALT1: ... that geneticist Muntaser Ibrahim (pictured), described by Science Magazine as “one of Sudan’s most distinguished living scholars,” was imprisoned in February 2019 after participating in peaceful protests?
Thanks, Philepitta (talk)
That's perfect for the hook. Thank you. It might be an excess of caution on my part. I do still want a second opinion. I certainly think his imprisonment is notable, and deplorable. Could I suggest cropping the photo for a tighter focus on Prof Ibrahim?
Here is a cropped version of the picture. Thanks, Philepitta (talk) 18:20, 23 March 2019 (UTC)