Iraq Interior Minister Bayan Jabr has again denied that he controls death squads targeting Iraq's Sunni minority and ordered the torture of detainees in a secret prison . In a New York Times interview reported Tuesday, he dismissed the story of the secret prison, saying, "It's nonsense. Only a few detainees were punched and hit, [...]

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Prison officials at Russia's Krasnokamensk penitentiary, which is holding jailed oil tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky , is deliberately hampering the work of his defense lawyers, according to a statement Tuesday on Khodorkovsky's defense website. According to Khodorkovsky's lawyers, prison officials have kept three lawyers from meeting with their client and have reduced their visitation hours [...]

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Conrad Black , the media tycoon and former chairman of Hollinger International recently indicted on criminal fraud charges failed to appear for his arraignment in a Chicago courtroom Tuesday. The arraignment was delayed until November 30 after Black's lawyers requested additional time from prosecutors Monday evening. Last week, US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said that he [...]

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Former Ecuador President Lucio Gutierrez filed a criminal complaint with the country's attorney general Monday seeking sedition and conspiracy charges against his successor, former Vice President Alfredo Palacio , for allegedly overthrowing the government. Gutierrez was arrested in October when he returned to Ecuador after renouncing political asylum in Colombia. Gutierrez became the third Ecuadorian [...]

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A federal lawsuit was filed against McLennan County, Texas Monday by three war protestors claiming that new county ordinances prohibiting roadside parking and camping interferes with their ability to gather outside President Bush's Crawford ranch. Plaintiffs Richard Underhill, Benjamin Hart Viges, and Sherry Glover, who are represented by the Texas Civil Rights Project , are [...]

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French Ambassador to the US Jean-David Levitte said Monday that France was "back to normal" following three weeks of rioting and he denied that religion played a role in the violence, which was prevalent in largely Muslim communities. Levitte said the issue was equality and that the mostly teenage rebellion was because of social and [...]

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