[JURIST] In an effort to deter would-be criminals, the Thailand Department of Corrections [official website] will soon be webcasting the lives of inmates via the internet, according to department officials speaking Monday. Webcasts will cover the daily life of inmates, up to but not including executions (under Thai law, currently by firing squad) for those on death row. While a specific date for the start of the webcasts has not yet been set, Amnesty International Thailand [official website] is already protesting the plan [Bangkok Post report], calling it an ineffective deterrent since most criminals cannot afford internet access. CBC News has more.

[JURIST] A Spanish court Monday indicted eight people suspected of providing material aid and logistical assistance to the September 11th hijackers. The indictment alleges that the suspects provided counterfeit documents and logistical support to terrorist cells in Spain and Germany that were instrumental in the September 11th attacks. Crusading Spanish terrorism investigator Judge Baltasar Garzon [BBC News profile] released the indictment in Madrid. Investigators claim both Spain and Germany were major staging grounds for the attacks. AP has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] found two former Bosnian Serb army officers guilty Monday of playing prominent roles in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [Wikipedia article; BBC timeline]. Vidoje Blagojevic, former commander of the Bratunac brigade, and Dragan Jokic, the former chief of engineers in the Zvornik brigade, were sentenced to 18 and 9 years of imprisonment, respectively. Blagojevic was found guilty of "complicity in genocide", while Jokic was convicted of aiding and abetting murder and persecution [review the ICTY amended joint indictment]. Read an ICTY summary of the judgment. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Voter registration began Monday for expatriate Iraqis wishing to cast ballots in the upcoming January 30 elections for a new Iraqi national assembly. The expatriate registration drive, part of the Iraq Out-of-Country Voting Program [official website; official backgrounder] co-ordinated by the International Organization for Migration [official website], is part of an initiative covering 14 countries [official Iraq OCV list] around the world. Some 2 million Iraqis are believed to be living in the Middle Eastern, European, North American and Australasian countries concerned, with perhaps as many as 1 million expected to vote. In the US, Iraqi voter registration centers have been set up in Washington DC, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and Nashville [official Iraq OCV US polling places location list]. Expatriates eligible to vote [official Iraq OCV eligibility rules] will be able to cast their ballots from January 28 through the official Iraq polling day on the 30th. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Speaking to congregants at a church near civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior's hometown of Atlanta on the eve of the national holiday celebrating his birth, the Reverend Jesse Jackson [Rainbow/PUSH Coalition official website] said Sunday that war, poverty, violence and social injustice are diminishing King's legacy. Jackson, who was with King on the balcony of his Memphis hotel room when King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, criticized the war in Iraq and said disparity between the rich and poor is increasing. Jackson also led a weekend rally in Greenville, South Carolina to encourage local officials to make King's birthday a paid holiday for county workers. Georgia's Clayton County News Daily has more.

[JURIST] Three British soldiers, Corporal Daniel Kenyon and Lieutenant Corporals Darren Larkin and Martin Cooley, of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, are expected to plead not guilty Tuesday at a court martial [British Army fact sheet] on charges of assault and indecent assault on Iraqi civilian prisoners. The claims, arising from a May 2003 incident in Basra, will be heard at the British military base in Osnabruck, Germany [British Forces in Germany official website]. A fourth soldier from the Fusiliers is also charged with ill treatment of Iraqi detainees, but a judge has banned reporting of the details. The army prosecuting authority and its civilian equivalent, the Crown Prosecution Service, is still considering whether to bring charges in 10 additional abuse cases involving British military personnel. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Ukraine [official court website in Ukrainian] Monday began hearing a final appeal by defeated candidate and former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych [campaign website in Ukrainian] against the December 26 election presidential re-vote that favored opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. Approximately 20 judges will consider the appeal, argued by Yanukovych's team of Ukrainian and Swiss lawyers. The court has already rejected a request to disqualify one of the high court judges from the case on allegations she had been pressured to throw out an earlier appeal. Yanukovych has acknowledged that the court is unlikely to overturn his defeat and describes himself as a "victim of double standards and selective justice." Reuters has more. In a related development, a new UN sponsored report [UN press release and report summary] is urging President-elect Yushchenko to implement broad social and judicial reforms, integrate the country into the WTO, and move closer to the European Union. Review the full text of the UN report. UPI has more.

[JURIST] Former Communist Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang [Wikipedia profile] died Monday at age 85, after suffering a series of strokes. Communist Party hardliners put Zhao under house arrest in 1989 for sympathizing with pro-democracy and human rights activists in Tiananmen Square [Wikipedia article]; after martial law was declared, the Tiananmen gathering was crushed by the military [BBC report] at a cost of hundreds, perhaps even thousands of lives [China Support Network press release; testimonials by victims' families]. Zhao was never seen in public again after that. In an apparent effort to minimize public reaction and any outbreak of reformist sympathies [AP report], the Chinese government has reacted to Zhao's death by issuing a terse two sentence acknowledgement [via Xinhua news agency] and blocking all radio and television reports of his passing. Groups supporting the cause of human rights in China are meanwhile mourning Zhao's death [China Support Network tribute]. The London Times has more.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, January 17.

Today is Martin Luther King Day, a federal holiday in the United States. Federal and state courts are closed in observance.

The trial of Naser Oric continues Monday at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Watch a webcast of the trial beginning at 9:30 AM local time (3:30 AM ET); the webcast is on a 30-minute tape delay. The ICTY has background on the case.... Also Monday, the ICTY will deliver the trial chamber judgment in the case against Vidoje Blagojevic and Dragan Jokic. Watch a webcast beginning at 3:00 PM local time (9 AM ET); the webcast is on a 30-minute tape delay. The ICTY has case information.... Finally, the trial of Fatmir Limaj and his co-defendants continues Monday at the ICTY. Watch a webcast beginning at 4:30 PM local time (10:30 AM ET); the webcast is on a 30-minute tape delay. The ICTY has background on the case.