UN prosecutors on Tuesday demanded that ex-Yugoslav army chief Momcilo Perisic receive a life sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Perisic is on trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) , charged with eight counts of crimes against humanity and five counts of war crimes. The charges include murder, [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously in Astra USA v. Santa Clara County, CA that health care providers that are third-party beneficiaries of a government contract may not sue drug companies for overpricing under federal law. The issue was whether health care providers who qualify for reduced-price drugs under § 340B of the [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 5-4 in Connick v. Thompson that a district attorney cannot be held liable under § 1983 for a failure to train subordinates, reversing a jury award of damages for a wrongfully convicted man. The respondent was found guilty of murder when he did not testify at trial because [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit dismissed a claim led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) upholding secrecy provisions of a federal whistleblower law. The case involved the Civil War-era False Claims Act (FCA) , which includes provisions authorizing private citizens, dubbed qui tam relators, to sue on behalf of the [...]
Israel’s Knesset passed a law Monday giving courts the power to revoke the citizenship of those convicted of treason, spying, aiding the enemy or terrorism. The law, initiated by members of nationalist party Israel Beytenu , passed by a vote of 37-11. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman repeated his campaign slogan of “no loyalty, no [...]
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi attended a hearing in Milan on Monday to defend himself against charges of fraud and embezzlement. Berlusconi has not attended a case hearing for more than seven years . He is currently a defendant in four trials. Berlusconi is accused of inflating the price paid to buy television rights for [...]
An Egyptian prosecutor indicted three police officials from the Beni Suef governorate on Monday on charges of murdering protesters during the Egyptian revolution. According to judicial sources, Major General Ahmed Abu Zeid, Colonel Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud and Colonel Mohamed Othman face charges of attempted murder and murder. The charges stem from a January 28 incident [...]
The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances called on the Chinese government Monday to free detained human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng , whom they claim is being held in violation of international law. Gao was abducted and detained in February 2009 and has been held in detention ever since. The statement alleges that [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in two consolidated cases concerning campaign financing . In Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett , the court heard arguments on whether the First Amendment forbids states from providing publicly financed candidates with additional government subsidies, which are triggered by independent expenditure groups’ speech [...]
A federal judge sentenced former Enron Broadband Services executive Rex Shelby to two years probation Monday on charges of insider trading. The sentencing marks the end of an eight-year long criminal prosecution of Enron executives linked to investment fraud that caused the fall of Enron Broadband unit. Shelby was one of seven executives indicted in [...]
