Charles McArthur Emmanuel, also known as Roy Belfast Jr. and Charles Taylor Jr., son of former Liberia president Charles Taylor, pleaded not guilty in a US district court in Florida Thursday to charges of committing torture in the first prosecution brought under a federal anti-torture statute . Emmanuel commanded a paramilitary unit in Liberia during [...]
Interim Fiji Prime Minister Dr. Jona Senilagakali admitted Thursday that the military coup carried out in the country earlier this week is "illegal" but defended the takeover as necessary "to clean up the mess of a much bigger illegal activity of the previous government." Fiji military commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama appointed Senilagakali and a new [...]
Russia has opened a criminal investigation into the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko , the Russian Prosecutor General's office said Thursday. Litvinenko, who once worked for the Russian Security Federal Bureau, was poisoned in London on November 1, and passed away due to radiation poisoning on November 23. Scotland Yard said Wednesday that [...]
Scientists produced new evidence Wednesday supporting the claim of innocence of five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor accused of infecting over 400 Libyan patients, primarily children, with the HIV virus. An analysis published in Nature of 44 HIV and hepatitis virus samples taken from some of the infected children showed that the strain of [...]
Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in 2003 for crimes relating to the Rwandan genocide, was released from prison Wednesday after serving his sentence, becoming the first person freed after serving a tribunal sentence. Ntakirutimana, a Seventh Day Adventist pastor, was found guilty of aiding and abetting the genocide that [...]
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert S. Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the FBI has launched internal investigations into media leaks of details relating to several public corruption probes. The FBI had pending investigations of Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) , Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) and Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) but word leaked [...]
The Bulgarian Parliament voted Wednesday to open the archives of the nation's former communist secret service in order to disclose information about 29 categories of people who currently hold or have held positions of responsibility in Bulgaria . The law, which passed with 107 votes in favor and 42 against, requires the publication of all [...]
The US Supreme Court heard no oral arguments Wednesday despite it being a scheduled argument day, an unusual development reflecting a gap in its docket caused by a decrease in the number of cases it chooses to hear . Compared to last year, the Court has accepted 40 percent fewer cases, and will likely face [...]
US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) , outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee , and current ranking member of the committee Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) have introduced a bill which would restore habeas corpus rights to military detainees and amend the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) . A key provision in the MCA, which [...]
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed into law a controversial bill that eliminates a rule requiring at least 50 percent of voters to turn out in order for poll results to be validated. Putin signed the measure despite opposition by Ella Pamfilova , the chairwoman of Putin's Human Rights Council , and other critics [...]
