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[JURIST] The first trial of alleged Indonesia bomber Umar Patek began Monday in the West Jakarta District Court over his role in several terrorist plots including the Jakarta church bombings in 2000 and the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing [BBC backgrounder]. Patek was arrested [Jakarta Post report] in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011, just a few weeks before US special forces killed Osama Bin Laden [JURIST news archive] in the same town. If convicted Patek could face life imprisonment or a death...

[JURIST] The Greek Parliament [official website, in Greek] approved austerity measures late Sunday, securing a second bailout for the country to avoid bankruptcy amidst rioting and violence in downtown Athens. A total of 199 lawmakers voted for the measures [Bloomberg report] with 74 members of parliament voting against the package. Protesters clashed with police outside parliament after the vote, looting and burning buildings in reaction to the new budget measures that will eliminate public sector jobs and lower wages and...

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] charged Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] with contempt of court Monday for disobeying a court order to open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari [official website]. Gilani appeared before the court and pleaded not guilty, saying he will fight the charges. The Supreme Court claims Gilani defied a court order [BBC report] to ask Swiss authorities to re-open cases against Zardari. Gilani has maintained that...

[JURIST] The UK High Court of Justice ruled Friday that the Bideford Town Council does not have authority to conduct prayers at the beginning of its official meetings. The judgment [opinion, PDF] followed a Judicial Review initiated by the National Secular Society (NSS) [advocacy website; press release] to challenge the practice of prayers as part of the formal business of council meetings, attendance at which is mandatory for local councillors. Even though prayer was conducted at meetings before attendance was...

[JURIST] Malaysian officials confirmed Sunday that a Saudi reporter facing a possible death penalty charge in his country was handed over to Saudi officials for deportation. Malaysia national spokesman Ramli Yoosuf announced that Hamza Kashgari, 23, was flown back to Saudi Arabia [AP report] under a warrant for arrest issued Monday by Saudi authorities. A lawyer appointed by Kashgari's family has stated that the move was unlawful because he had previously obtained a court order to block deportation. Kashgari faces...

[JURIST] Utah's Fourth Judicial District Court [official website] Wednesday granted a death row inmate's request to be put to death by firing squad. Michael Archuleta, 49, was convicted in 1989 of first-degree murder for the beating death of a college student, and is now set to be executed by firing squad [order, PDF] on April 5. Judge Donald Eyre Jr. [official profile] issued the execution warrant under a Utah statute [text] that sets "lethal intravenous injection" as the official method...

[JURIST] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) [official website; press release] voted Thursday to issue the first US license for a new nuclear power plant in over 30 years. In a 4-1 vote the NRC approved an application by Southern Company [corporate website] for an issuance of two Combined Construction and Operating Licenses (COL), the first such licenses ever approved for a US nuclear plant. The lone dissenting vote was cast by NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko [official profile], who cited environmental...

[JURIST] American Tradition Partnership, Montana Shooting Sports Association [advocacy websites] and Champion Painting have petitioned the US Supreme Court [official website] to reverse the decision by the Montana Supreme Court [official website] in Western Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Montana that corporations cannot directly contribute to political campaigns or candidates [JURIST report]. The three groups argue that Montana's century-old ban on corporate spending, implemented by the 1912 Corrupt Practices Act [PPL backgrounder], is illegal [Great Falls Tribune report] in light of...

[JURIST] Apple [corporate website; Bloomberg backgrounder] brought suit against Motorola Mobility [corporate website; Bloomberg backgrounder] in the US District Court for the Southern District of California [official website] on Friday seeking an injunction to stop Motorola from bringing patent claims against Apple in Germany. Motorola's suit in Germany is over patent no. 6,359,898 [text]. Apple contends that Motorola's German suit violates a licensing agreement between Motorola and Qualcomm [Reuters report]. Apple argues that as a customer of Qualcomm it is...

[JURIST] The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] on Friday expressed its concern over the trial of Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon [BBC profile], which involve his investigations of acts that occurred during the Spanish Civil War. Spokesperson for the OHCHR, Rupert Colville, indicated that judges should not be criminally charged for investigations [UN report] performed within the scope of their judicial duties. Colville stated, "judges should not be subject to criminal prosecution for doing...

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] on Friday denied a request [press release] filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) [advocacy website] to hold an en banc hearing to reconsider a challenge to a Texas law that requires doctors to perform a sonogram on women before an abortion [JURIST news archive]. The court's refusal means that the appeals court's original decision [opinion, PDF] that the law is enforceable will stand. The Texas law...

[JURIST] Former Croatian military commander and senior interior minister Tomislav Mercep [official profile, in Croatian] pleaded not guilty Friday for war crimes committed against Serbians during the 1990s conflict in the Balkans. The Municipal Court in Zagreb charged that he was aware of atrocities against civilians [JURIST report] but prevented other officials from mitigating damages against them. Mercep has also been charged with with ordering detentions, torture and executions of Serbian civilians. Mercep was arrested [JURIST report] in December 2010....

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch [official website] Director Daniel Bekele [HRW profile] on Friday urged South Sudan to investigate [HRW report] attacks made on Murle villages in December and prosecute those responsible. In this organized attack [UN News Centre report], thousands of armed Lou Nuer villagers invaded the Murle villages, robbing and burning houses and killing thousands of people. South Sudan's government has claimed repeatedly that it will investigate [South Sudan government news reports] the attacks and punish those who are...

[JURIST] The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] Friday reiterated its call for international action to protect civilians in Syria [JURIST news archive], calling for Syrian officials suspected of crimes against humanity to be tried before the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. High Commissioner Navi Pillay [official profile] is now scheduled to address the UN General Assembly [UN News Centre report] on Monday regarding the latest humanitarian developments in Syria, where the ongoing...

[JURIST] The Virginia Senate [official website] approved a bill [text, PDF] Wednesday that would allow private adoption agencies to refuse placement to families if the agency, or anyone affiliated with it, disagrees with the proposed placement based on religious beliefs. Effectively, this bill would allow adoption agencies to refuse to adopt to same-sex couples. It has already been passed [JURIST report] by the the Virginia House of Delegates [official website], and Governor Bob McDonnell [official profile] said he will sign...

[JURIST] Ugandan MP David Bahati announced on Friday that clauses mandating the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" would be dropped from the controversial bill that would criminalize homosexuality. The bill was reintroduced [JURIST report] to the Parliament of Uganda [official website] on Tuesday in its original form, but Bahati stated that there were plans to remove certain provisions. Bahati said in 2010 that the purpose of the bill was to prevent foreigners from corrupting Ugandan children [YouTube video] by giving...

[JURIST] Amerigo Incalcaterra, the regional representative for South America [official website, Spanish] from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website], expressed concern [press release, Spanish] Tuesday over the violence in prisons in South America after the death of at least three prisoners in Uruguay, two in Argentina, two in Venezuela and one in Chile over the last few days. The OHCHR sets out guidelines for the treatment of prisoners through General Comment No. 9...

[JURIST] James Connell, defense lawyer for suspected 9/11 [JURIST backgrounder] conspirator Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] on Wednesday challenging an order for military officials to read all legal correspondence between the lawyers of the suspected 9/11 conspirators and their clients. Rear Adm. David Woods [official profile] has testified [JURIST report] that the policy balances his responsibilities to facilitate attorney-client communication while also ensuring security, safety, guard protection...

[JURIST] The Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] on Thursday voted 11-7 [CSPAN video] in favor of a bill [S 1945 text, PDF] that would allow televising of US Supreme Court [official website] proceedings. Currently, only few citizens can hear the proceedings in person, and audio recordings are released after the proceedings are over. However, the bill would not make televising proceedings mandatory: "The Supreme Court shall permit television coverage of all open sessions of the Court unless the Court decides,...

[JURIST] The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) [official website] on Thursday welcomed the new electoral law [press release, PDF] adopted by the National Transitional Council (NTC) [official website, in Arabic; JURIST news archive]. The draft of the electoral law was finalized on Wednesday after the earlier version [text, PDF; JURIST report] was revised to address criticisms of the public. The new law sets out procedures for the upcoming election to choose a national assembly. After elected, its responsibility will...