An Amsterdam court on Monday rejected claims by Dutch politician Geert Wilders that the hate speech charges against him should be dropped over claims of bias. Wilder, a right-wing politician, is on trial for making anti-Islamic statements. The charges against Wilders were dismissed in 2008, but an appeals court reversed that decision. Wilders claims that [...]
Four alleged Somali pirates captured from a hijacked ship are being put on trial in South Korea, but lawyers for the pirates argue the court does not have jurisdiction to try them. South Korean forces captured five alleged pirates in a raid on a hijacked South Korean chemical freighter, the Samho Jewelry, in January in [...]
The Minnesota Legislature on Saturday approved adding a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage to the November 2012 ballot. The Minnesota House of Representatives voted 70-62 to approve the proposed amendment. In early May, the voter referendum received approval by the Minnesota Senate by a vote of 38-27, with only one Democrat joining Republicans in [...]
Bahrain’s Appeal National Safety Court on Sunday unanimously upheld death sentences for two men convicted of killing police officers during anti-government protests in March. The court reduced the death sentences of two others to life in prison. The four men were tried in the special appeals security court set up by Royal Decree in March, [...]
Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday submitted a request to the court to begin an investigation into the Ivory Coast political conflict during which thousands of people have been killed and displaced. ICC President Judge Sang-Hyun Song assigned the investigation to Pre-Trial Chamber II following Moreno-Ocampo’s letter of intent. [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday unanimously ruled to uphold a $413 million judgment against Syria for assisting in the the murders of two US contractors. In 2004, two military contractors assisting the US in Iraq, Olin Armstrong and Jack Hensley, were kidnapped, held hostage, and ultimately decapitated [...]
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed the need for Russia to improve its legal system and make a better commitment to the rule of law, during a speech at a legal forum in St. Petersburg. Medvedev is trying to separate himself from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who is running against him in the March 2012 presidential [...]
A Somali man pleaded guilty to charges of piracy and hostage taking on Friday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for overtaking a yacht containing four American citizens. The Americans, taken as hostages, were later killed by the pirates, the first US citizens to die in the recent wave of [...]
A lawsuit by relatives of 9/11 victims has alleged that Iran knowingly aided al Qaeda in carrying out the attacks, according to affidavits filed Thursday. Included in the affidavits, but under seal from the judge, are the testimonies of Iranian defectors who worked for Iran’s intelligence service, declaring that Iran helped plan the attacks through [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday granted $300 million in punitive damages in each of two cases against Iran for deaths resulting from suicide bombings by Iranian-backed terrorist groups. The two claims against Iran were brought on behalf of Seth Haim and Alan Beer , who were [...]
