Oksana Chelysheva : "On 23 January 2007 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the decision of the Regional Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate our organization, the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society. We were originally ordered to close down in October last year on the basis of a new NGO and anti-extremism law that [...]
A parliamentary committee of the Israeli Knesset voted 13-11 Thursday to grant the request of Israeli President Moshe Katsav for a three-month temporary suspension. The Knesset vote preserves Katsav's immunity even though he faces possible charges of rape, sexual harassment, abuse of power and obstruction of justice since he was granted a leave rather than [...]
US District Judge Marcia Clarke did not sanction a defense lawyer for alleged terrorist Jose Padilla during Wednesday court hearings for violating a protective order that bars distribution of sensitive documents, but instead had all defense lawyers sign agreements not to leak any other protected documents. Clarke also threatened the press with contempt proceedings if [...]
Sentencing proceedings in the case against Saddam Hussein-era Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan were postponed until February 12 Thursday after lawyers for the survivors of Ramadan's crimes failed to show up in court. The lawyers had not been given notice to appear. Ramadan is expected to receive a death sentence . Ramadan was convicted [...]
Federal authorities arrested a Mississippi man Wednesday for the 1964 kidnapping and deaths of two black men in another reopened civil rights-era case . James Ford Seale, now 71 years old, was originally arrested in 1964 on suspicion of kidnapping two young black men, Henry Dee and Charles Moore, who were later found dead in [...]
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged Israeli President Moshe Katsav to step down Wednesday in the face of possible charges of rape and sexual harassment . Haaretz quoted Olmert as saying that "In these circumstances there is no doubt in my heart that the president cannot continue to fulfill his role and must leave the [...]
The US House of Representatives Wednesday passed a resolution which would amend House rules to grant limited voting rights to federal lawmakers from five US nonstate territories. The resolution, introduced January 19, would extend certain Congressional voting rights to delegates from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, to [...]
The International Criminal Court (ICC) will rule January 29 on whether war crimes charges will be confirmed against Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga , a move that would make Lubanga the first ICC defendant. As founder of the militant Union of Patriotic Congolese , Lubanga is accused of enlisting child soldiers in the Democratic Republic [...]
Turkish prosecutors have charged five people in connection with the murder of Hrant Dink , the Turkish-Armenian journalist who was shot and killed last week. The five are accused of belonging to an armed gang, and prosecutors are investigating whether other political or illegal organizations are tied to the group. Dink was convicted last year [...]
Ex-Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega , who has spent the last 17 years in US custody, including 15 years in federal prison on drug trafficking and racketeering charges, is to be released on September 9, 2007 , according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons . Noriega, a former US ally who ruled Panama as a military [...]
