[JURIST] The US government and Zacarias Moussaoui's defense team filed a joint proposal [PDF] Thursday asking Judge Leonie Brinkema to allow the penalty phase of Zacarias Moussaoui's trial to begin with jury selection on January 9, 2006, with opening statements beginning February 6, 2006. Moussaoui pleaded guilty last month [JURIST report] to involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

[JURIST] A Russian immigrant turned Israeli soldier was arrested in Israel for ties to neo-Nazi groups Thursday just as Israel was marking Holocaust Remambrance Day [bakgrounder] on the 60th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat. The soldier had been arrested on drug charges, but under interrogation told police he was a Nazi, which led to the discovery of correspondence with neo-Nazi groups on the soldier's computer and a swastika tattoo on his arm. Israel was founded as a safe haven for Jews after World War II and has accepted a multitude of Russian Jewish immigrants. This is the first case of its kind in the country's history. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A new rule announced [press release] Thursday by the US Department of Agriculture has opened one third of roadless national forest land - some 58.5 million acres - for road construction, logging, and other commercial purposes in Alaska and other western states. Of the total area, 34.3 million acres would be immediately cleared for road construction, with the other 24.2 acres undeveloped until the required management plants are produced. The rule additionally "allows governors to petition the secretary of agriculture to develop regulations to manage roadless areas that meet the specific needs within each state." The US Forest Service [official website] will have final say on the governors' petitions which may be submitted to protect certain areas of land to protect wildlife, dams, private property or other utilities, among other specific regional needs. This is the largest environmental decision the Bush administration has made and it has already come under fire from a range of environmental groups, including the Heritage Forests Campaign, [advocacy website] a group run by a coalition of environmental groups, which issued its own press release Thursday commenting thst "This "leave no tree behind policy" paves the way for increased logging and mining in much of the nation's last wild areas." The roadless land rule was initially proposed during the Clinton administration; an earlier version was the subjuect of an injunction in 2001, and was overturned outright in 2003. Legal action against this version of the rule is already under way. AP has more.

[JURIST] Lebanese President Emile Lahoud [official profile] signed a decree Thursday setting legislative elections for May 29 through June 19 under an electoral law which opposition supporters claim will favor pro-Syrian loyalists and limit Christian representation [Zaven commentary]. The law [official text in French], drafted in 2000 and applied in that year's legislative elections [Daily Star report] when Lebanon was still under Syrian control, arranges the elections into four rounds, with Lebanon divided into 14 electoral regions. The highly anticipated 2005 elections follow Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon [JURIST report], an event championed by the international community and the Lebanese opposition. The signing of the decree Thursday crushed the opposition's hope to hold a last minute parliamentary session to finish framing a new law which would give the Christian minority a better chance of representation. Lahoud had originally called for such a parliamentary session, but Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri ignored the call, forcing Lahoud to sign the decree. AFP has more. From Beirut, the Lebanon's Daily Star has local coverage.

[JURIST] Desmond de Silva, a UK national appointed Thursday as the new chief prosecutor for the UN-affilated Special Court for Sierra Leone [official website] immediately renewed a call made earlier this week [JURIST report] by his predecessor David Crane his for former President of Liberia Charles Taylor [PBS profile], now living in Nigeria, to be brought to justice. De Silva will take over from Crane in July. Read the UN press release on de Silva's appointment [PDF]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The case of Pfc. Lynndie England has gone to Fort Hood [official website] commander Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz [official profile] in the wake of Wednesday's rejection of her guilty plea [JURIST report] by court-martial judge Col. James Pohl. Metz must determine whether England should be charged again, and if so, how. If charges are brought a second time, England will have another Article 32 hearing [JAG backgrounder] in front of a military grand jury. England pleaded guilty at trial hoping to secure an undisclosed plea bargain deal which reportedly carried a light prison sentence, but Pohl dismissed her plea after Pvt. Charles Graner's testimony led him to believe that England did not understand her actions were wrong. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Nepalese prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba [Wikipedia profile] has been charged by Nepal's new anti-corruption commission with misappropriation of state funds while in office, allegedly diverting money from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. Deuba and his government were dismissed February 1 [JURIST report] after King Gyanendra [BBC profile] declared a state of emergency as a result of the Maoist revolution which had taken 11,000 lives in nine years. Deuba and many other officials were placed under house arrest, where they remained for over a month [JURIST report]. The former PM failed to appear before the commission last Wednesday, prompting officials to arrest him at his residence [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Juan Guzman, [profile] the Chilean judge best known for indicting military strongman and former dictator General Augusto Pinochet [profile], has announced his retirement. Guzman indicted Pinochet twice, first in a case relating to the Caravan of Death [BBC backgrounder] which executed 70 political prisoners, and second in a case relating to Operation Condor [Wikipedia backgrounder], a plan to hunt and kill Chilean left-wing activists. Guzman never secured a conviction due to Pinochet's health, but the general has been under increasing legal pressure. Another suit was filed against Pinochet Wednesday on grounds that he allegedly conspired to hide bodies of missing left-wing activists. BBC News has more. Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase:

• Chilean court approves bail for Pinochet
• Pinochet house arrest suspended pending appeal
• Judge orders Pinochet to undergo medical tests
• Judge questions Pinochet

[JURIST] New Ecuadorian President Alfredo Palacio [official profile, in Spanish] announced Wednesday that a referendum will be scheduled in the next six months in an effort to stabilize the country's political situation. The referendum is expected to ask voters such questions as whether or not the current presidential system should be replaced by a parliamentary government. Ecuador has been plagued with governmental problems in recent years, with three presidents ousted from office since 1997. In April, the country's Congress forced former President Lucio Gutierrez out of office [JURIST report] for charges of corruption and abuse of power after dismissing the entire Ecuadoran Supreme Court and declaring a state of emergency; Gutierrez has since fled to Brazil, where he has been granted asylum [JURIST report] despite calls for him to stand trial. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi [BBC profile], head of the Iran Judiciary [official website] took the unusual step Thursday of criticizing the treatment of criminal detainees by Iranian police, and compared their interrogation techniques to those employed by US soldiers at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive]. Shahrudi denounced what he called cases of the police issuing summons, making arrests, carrying out interrogations without authorization, and extracting confessions from suspects in violation of the republic’s constitution [text, english]. Under the constitution, in order for a confession to be proper it must occur in front of a judge. Shahrudi’s statements come one week after four Iranian webloggers arrested last year [Human Rights Watch backgrounder] wrote Shahrudi to report they have been subjected to physical and moral pressure to confess. Iran has also been involved in an ongoing dispute with the Canadian government over the death of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi [CBC backgrounder] who is said to have been tortured and raped [JURIST report] during her 2003 detention by Iranian authorities. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal appeals court has denied a request by the Georgia Cobb County School Board [district website] to keep disclaimer stickers calling evolution a "theory, not a fact" on the inside of district textbooks while appealing their case [JURIST report]. Earlier this year, a federal district court ordered the School Board to remove the stickers [JURIST report] on grounds that they violate the separation of church and state [District Court ruling]. In 1987 the US Supreme Court ruled in Edwards v. Aguillard [opinion, Cornell LII] that creationism may not be taught alongside evolution in publicly funded schools. Following the District Court ruling, the school board had tentatively made plans to pay staff and students to remove the stickers from 34,000 textbooks, but then sought to delay the process. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) [official website] Wednesday called on House Judiciary Committee chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. to hold hearings to probe recent allegations that the military staged interrogations at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST report] to deceive visiting lawmakers. Schiff’s request comes one week after former Army Sgt. Erik Saar, who served as a Guantanamo Bay translator and recently published a book about his expertiences called Inside the Wire [book profile], told reporters that prisoner interrogations were staged to give politicians the impression that intelligence information was being gathered from detainees on a regular basis and in a civil manner. Schiff was a member of a congressional delegation that visited Guantanamo in May 2004 to witness interrogations of suspected Taliban or Al Qaeda prisoners, and stated that the questioning appeared to be civil. Now-released internal FBI memos from agents at Guantanamo have since indicated that detainees were shackled in painful positions and exposed to torture techniques before and during interrogation. AP has more.

[JURIST] In a 68-44 vote, the Florida House of Representatives [official website] has passed a measure that would allow judges to reduce or eliminate alimony when a recipient ex-spouse moves in with someone else. Under current Florida law, and in most jurisdictions in the country, judges are allowed to end alimony when a recipient remarries. Supporters of the measure, HB 1181 [text], introduced by state Representative Edward B. Bullard [official profile], say that many alimony recipients try to get around the law and replace the former spouse by simply living with someone without marriage. Opponents of the bill suggest the legislation will harm women, and that alimony should be based on what someone contributes to the marriage. The bill now goes to the Florida Senate. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Canadian House of Commons Wednesday voted to give second reading to Bill C-38 [text, in English and French], a measure to implement the Civil Marriage Act [Canadian Dept. of Justice backgrounder] and extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. The bill, proposed by the ruling Liberal government, must now be reviewed by a legislative committee before a third and final vote. Courts in seven Canadian provinces and one territory have already ruled in favor of same-sex marriages, stating that the rights of gays and lesbians to marry are protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [text]. Bill C-38 passed first reading [JURIST report] by a vote of 164-132. Bill C-38 has come under fire from the opposition Conservative Party, which has repeatedly attempted to kill it or at amendment add an amendment [JURIST report] limiting it to marriage between a man and a woman. The bill has even been attacked by advocacy groups in the US [JURIST report]. It is unclear, however, whether the legislation will actually pass the Commons this time as the Liberal government is in a tenuous minority situation and the Conservatives have vowed to try to bring it down later this month in a no-confidence vote, in which case the bill would die on the table. CTV has more.

[JURIST] FBI officials announced Wednesday that the body of Emmett Till [Wikipedia profile] will be exhumed in upcoming weeks to determine the cause of his death and uncover evidence that could lead authorities to accomplices in his 1955 murder [PBS documentary]. In a brutal event that galvanized the country at the outset of the civil rights movement, Till was kidnapped from his uncle’s home in Mississippi and brutally murdered after he whistled at a white woman outside of a grocery store. Till’s mutilated body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River three days later, and no autopsy was performed. Roy Bryant, the husband of the woman Till purportedly whistled at, and J.W. Milam, Bryant's half brother were tried for Till’s murder and acquitted after defense attorneys suggested that the body could not be positively identified. After their acquittal, both men confessed [PBS report] to beating and shooting the 14-year old Chicago native. In 2004 the US Justice Department announced plans to reopen the investigation [press release] into Till's death after new evidence revealed in a documentary film [official website] suggested that Bryant and Milam, now both deceased, had two accomplices. AP has more.

[JURIST] US audits released Wednesday show that at least $100 million dollars from the Development Fund for Iraq [CPA backgrounder] are unaccounted for due to mismanagement or possible fraud. The US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction [SIGAR website] filed two audit reports pinpointing flaws in the US handling of Iraqi money from oil sales after the 2003 Iraq war, including contracters paid twice, misplaced files, and cash payments that were not recorded properly; problems magnified by Iraq's lack of proper banking and the resultant abundance of cash transactions. A January SIGIR report [PDF text] also attacked US handling of Iraqi funds, after at least $8.8 billion dollars was unaccounted for, spawning an investigation which is still ongoing. Iraq Revenue Watch, an initiative of George Soros' Open Society Institute, has attempted to track the mismanagement of the Development Fund for Iraq and has a comprehensive listing of past reports. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Thierry Fagart, human rights head of the UN stabilization mission in Haiti [MINUSTAH website], has called the 10-month detention of former Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune [Wikipedia profile] without an appearance before a judge illegal under the Haitian constitution [text], which mandates that prisoners be arraigned within 48 hours of arrest. Neptune and former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert, who also has been imprisoned nearly a year, were both arrested after the uprising in the Caribbean nation last year that overthrew the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide [BBC profile], and stand accused of masterminding a massacre on Feb. 11, 2004, in the village of La Syrie. Neptune began a hunger strike on April 17 and has refused the interim government’s offers to take him to the neighboring Dominican Republic for medical care. On Wednesday, Acting OAS Secretary General Luigi R. Einaudi [profile], called [press release] for a mixed Haitian-international commission to help “break the impasse” in Haiti over the Neptune’s imprisonment, and suggested that a commission made up of a Haitian jurist, an international jurist and an international forensic expert could examine the case and recommend action. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Yevgeny Adamov, former minister in charge of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAAE) [backgrounder], was arrested Wednesday in Bern, Switzerland under a US warrant on charges of fraud and money laundering. He has been accused of diverting $9 million dollars of funds provided by the US Energy Department [official website] for improving Russian's nuclear security to various investment projects and US firms he controls. Adamov was fired from his ministry position in 2001 amid speculation that he received kickbacks from the many US firms he owns. The US warrant has been obtained from the federal district containing Monroeville, PA, where Adamov owns Omeka [corporate website], a consulting firm. Adamov, who has been under investigation by the US for the past three years, has refused a quick extradition and the US must now make a formal request to initiate an extradition process that could take many months. AP has more; the Moscow Times has local coverage.

[JURIST] The US Marine Corps [official website] has dropped charges against the Marine corporal responsible for shooting a wounded and unarmed Iraqi in a Fallujah mosque [JURIST report] last November in an incident caught on a dramatic videotape aired on networks across the globe. A Marine spokesman said Wednesday that the Marine had fired the shots in self-defense, as he had been warned of insurgents faking their death and booby-trapping their bodies, and that the incident was "consistent with the established rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Colorado's House Judiciary Committee [official website] have killed SB 140 [PDF text], a bill that would have allowed Colorado voters in the upcoming November election to vote on the addition of a same-sex marriage ban to the state Constitution. The measure was killed Tuesday on a 6-5 party line division after Democrats declared that it was unconstitutional to write discrimination into the state Constitution. A spokesman for Equal Rights Colorado [advocacy website] said the state already had a Defense of Marriage Act passed in 2000 which already banned same-sex marriages, but supporters of the bill believed that the statute could be easily overturned. In last November's election, 11 states passed similar bans and there are currently 15 other states considering similar measures. AP has more.