A former Rwandan mayor Friday pleaded guilty to a single count of extermination , a crime against humanity, as part of a plea deal International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda that eliminated eight other charges including genocide, torture and rape. Juvenal Rugambarara apologized for his actions during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide , and promised to "join [...]
The prosecution in the Jose Padilla terrorism conspiracy case rested Friday after nine weeks of presenting witness testimony and wiretap evidence to jurors. The final witness for the prosecution, an FBI linguist, testified that the name and telephone number of Padilla co-defendant Adham Amin Hassoun were in Padilla's possession when he was arrested. The linguist [...]
The Brazilian federal court has issued an arrest warrant for exiled business tycoon Boris Berezovsky on charges of money laundering, Russian state news agency Itar-Tass reported Friday. Brazil also asked Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant. The case is related to a Berezovsky-linked sponsor of Brazil's Corinthians soccer club . In 2004, the sponsor [...]
The total number of aliens detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) annually for immigration violations jumped from approximately 95,000 to 283,000 between 2001 and 2006, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) . The GAO said the rising number of detainees has led to significant overcrowding in 4 of 23 [...]
US District Judge Reggie B. Walton questioned President George W. Bush's determination that the 30-month prison sentence for former vice-presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was "excessive" and therefore appropriate for commutation in a lengthy footnote to his memorandum opinion in the case published Thursday. Walton wrote: Although it is certainly the President's prerogative to [...]
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) Friday withdrew a motion seeking to hold for questioning an Indian doctor possibly linked with the failed UK car bomb attacks an additional 72 hours without charges. Attorney General Philip Ruddock suggested that police may have withdrawn the request because they feel they can complete their interrogation of Dr. Mohammad [...]
Canadian-born financier and former media mogul Conrad Black was convicted of mail fraud and obstruction of justice by a Chicago jury Friday after twelve days of deliberations that included a deadlock . His conviction on three counts could lead to a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison, and fines of up to $1 million. [...]
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the US District Court of Southern New York ruled in an opinion published Friday that six wrongful death suits filed by survivors of victims who perished in the September 11 terrorist attacks will proceed to trial on the the issue of damages on September 4. In an unusual decision, Hellerstein [...]
The Liberian government has submitted a draft bill to the country's legislature which, if approved, would authorize the government to seek foreign assistance in "tracking, freezing, and confiscating the funds, properties, and assets" of former Liberian President Charles Taylor . Taylor, who claims he is indigent and has been allocated a $100,000 monthly defense budget [...]
A Japanese group consisting of 13 right-wing parliamentarians and more than 200 local politicians, nationalist intellectuals and historians called on the US House of Representatives Friday to retract a proposed non-binding resolution asking Japan to formally apologize in a clear and unequivocal manner for enslaving hundreds of thousands of women in East Asia and the [...]
