[JURIST] Francois Roux, a French lawyer advising Aicha El Wafi, the mother of indicted US terror suspect Zacarias Moussaoui, the French citizen who earlier this week pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy stemming from the September 11th terrorist attacks, said Sunday he was disappointed about Moussaoui's plea but promised that the family would nonetheless "fight with everything we've got" to prevent him from being executed. US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said last week that the Justice Department would seek the death penalty in the case [press conference remarks] despite the European Union's condemnation of the use of the death penalty for foreign nationals, Germany's reluctance to turn over evidence on Moussaoui for fear he may be executed and France's plea to save Moussaoui's life. Reuters has more. Listen to an April 8 interview with Moussaoui's mother [Democracy Now audio].

[JURIST] Senate majority leader Bill Frist, in a taped statement to be aired Sunday evening, urged [Frist statement transcript] conservatives to recognize that judges "deserve respect, not retaliation no matter how they rule," and defended his actions to stop Democrats from blocking conservative judicial nominations. FRC Action [advocacy website], the lobbying arm of the Family Research Council [FRC mission statement], and Focus on the Family Action [FOFA backgrounder; FOFA Stop Judicial Tyranny website], will host a live nationwide television simulcast to be aired in churches around the country. The event is titled "Justice Sunday:, The Filibuster Against People of Faith." The groups hope to encourage Senate votes on conservative judges currently awaiting nominations to the federal courts. Read the FRC press release.

[JURIST] Pope Benedict XVI [Wikipedia profile; official Vatican website] was officially installed [AP report] as the 265th head of the Catholic Church on Sunday, receiving the symbolic pallium [Wikipedia entry] and the Ring of the Fisherman [Wikipedia profile], and celebrating Mass [Vatican order of service, in Italian] in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. Dignitaries from 131 countries attended, including Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Pope's native Germany, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and, leading the US presidential delegation [White House list], Florida governor Jeb Bush, himself a convert to Catholicism. Vatican Radio has posted the English translation of the Pope's homily and a gallery [slideshow] of images from the installation.

[JURIST] Syria, listed by the US since 1979 as a state sponsor of terrorism, has signed on to a UN treaty [Reuters report] designed to block funding of terrorist activities, according to a UN official speaking Sunday. Syria becomes the 136th nation to sign on to the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism [text].

[JURIST] Four current leaders [AP report] and a former European Commission president [AFP report] have this weekend urged French voters to adopt the new European constitution [backgrounder; full text] in a May 29 referendum, warning that rejection could have dire consequences, extending even to the "fall of Europe" as a major international player. A poll conducted Wednesday shows that 62% of French citizens now oppose the new pact. All 25 member EU nations must ratify it for it to be adopted. The new constitution was designed to streamline procedures and decision-making following the admittance of 10 new member countries last year. French opponents of the constitution are angry at their own government [Guardian report] for certain economic and social reforms, and also disagree with the proposed constitution's vision for Europe.

[JURIST] Days after being removed from power by Congress, Ecuador's former president Lucio Gutierrez [JURIST news archive] fled the country [AP report] aboard a Brazilian air force plane on Sunday. Brazil granted Gutierrez political asylum [Reuters report] Thursday; new Ecuadorian president despite Alfredo Palacio said Friday he would allow Gutierrez to leave despite the fact that many Ecuadorians wanted him to remain in the country to stand trial for alleged abuse of power and corruption.