Man placed on no-fly list makes argument to Supreme Court

A Muslim man was not allowed to board a 2011 flight from Sweden to the U.S. after being placed on the government's no-fly list.

The Supreme Court convened on Monday to hear arguments for a case involving a man's placement on the government's no-fly list. 

The case involves Yonas Fikre, a Muslim man who was not allowed to board a flight from Sweden to the U.S. due to being placed on the government's no-fly list. The Council on American-Islamic Relations claims Fikre was placed on the no-fly list after refusing to be an informant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

"When he refused, he was tortured and imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates at the behest of American officials and then stranded in Sweden because of his status on the No Fly List," CAIR alleged. 

One year after being denied access to the flight, he was charged with conspiracy to structure monetary transfers. Those federal charges, however, were later dismissed. 

He was removed from the no-fly list after a yearslong legal battle. Lawyers for Fikre argue that he could be placed on the no-fly list again without a fair process to fight the flight ban. The argument before the federal courts is whether the case is moot.