Nigerian union leaders Thursday called for a two-day national strike to protest the May 29 inauguration of president-elect Umaru Yar'Adua , who they say was elected fraudulently. The strike, which will involve both blue-collar and white-collar unions, is expected to begin with rallies on May 28 to protest Nigeria's April 21 elections , which were [...]
A court in India sentenced five people to three years in prison and a fine of $610 each Friday for their role in the deadly 1993 Mumbai bombings that killed 257 people and injured more than 700 in India's financial center. The five defendants had each been found to be guilty of transporting weapons and [...]
The United States, France, and the United Kingdom circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution Thursday, which if approved will unilaterally establish a tribunal under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to investigate and try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri . According to AP, the resolution would enforce [...]
US Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matthew M. Diaz, a former staff judge advocate stationed at Guantanamo Bay , was convicted Thursday of one count of communicating secret information that could be used to injure the United States and three counts of leaking information to unauthorized persons. Prosecutors had argued during Diaz's court-martial that he endangered the [...]
Khaled El-Masri , the German citizen allegedly kidnapped by the CIA in 2003, is suspected of arson at a wholesale market in Germany and has been ordered by a judge to be admitted to a psychiatric institution, according to the German police Thursday. Manfred Gnjidic, El-Masri's lawyer, told AP that his client had suffered "a [...]
Secretary of State for the Home Department v E, England and Wales Court of Appeal, May 17, 2007 . Read the full text of the judgment. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
Lawyers for the US government argued for the extradition of Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri in a hearing before a London court Thursday. Al-Masri is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Britain for urging his followers to kill Jews and other non-Muslims and using "threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior" to stir up [...]
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held elections to its 47-member Geneva-based panel on Thursday, with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia defeating Belarus for the two available Eastern European states seats. The US, most European countries, and several human rights groups opposed Belarus' candidacy, citing the country's poor human rights record. Angola, Egypt, and Qatar also won [...]
Two Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday that they plan to seek a vote of no-confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales . Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that only President Bush remains confident in Gonzales, under fire for the allegedly political firings of nine federal prosecutors . Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and [...]
Thomas Wilner, et al. v. National Security Agency and Department of Justice, US District Court for the Southern District of New York, May 17, 2007 . Read the full text of the complaint . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
