[JURIST] British Home Secretary Charles Clarke [official website] announced Tuesday that three British men, all Greenwich Natwest [corporate website] bankers, will be extradited to the US to face trial for their involvment in the Enron scandal. Clarke is upholding a London court's ruling from October [JURIST report]. The bankers face trial in the US on fraud charges [indictment text] for pocketing 1.5 million pounds after selling interest on an Enron asset [JURIST report]. The UK High Court [official website] previously ruled that the bankers could challenge the extradition [JURIST report], and Clarke himself was granted an extension to review his extradition decision [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] accused the US [HRW press release] Tuesday of allowing two US citizens of Pakistani descent to be tortured and abused while being held in Pakistan as suspected al Qaeda members. Brothers Kashan and Zain Afzal were detained in Pakistan for eight months, during which they both claim they were tortured and questioned by FBI agents who did nothing to cease the men's abuse, but rather threatened to send the men to Guantanamo Bay unless they confessed to their terrorism ties. Human Rights Watch had previously called on the US government [press release] to provide information about their involvement in the disappearance of the two brothers from their Karachi home in August. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The High Court in Spain on Tuesday freed on bail 9/11 suspect Ghasoub al Abrash Ghalyoun. A real estate developer in Spain, Ghalyoun is accused of taking amateur video while on vacation in the US and providing it to members of al Qaeda to aid in the 9/11 terrorist attacks [JURIST news archive]. Some legal analysts believe his release on bail suggests the three-judge panel may be leaning towards clearing Ghalyoun of any charges. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Three women Russian judges are nearly halfway through Mikhail Khodorkovsky's [defense website] verdict document Tuesday after seven days of reading. The verdict-reading [JURIST report] has presented evidence that will most likely result in a conviction for Khodorkovsky, the former CEO of Russia's largest oil firm, Yukos [corporate website], as well as one time richest man in Russia. Khodorkovsky faces charges of tax evasion, fraud and money laundering [JURIST report], which could result in a maximum sentence of 10 years, although many speculate that the sentence could be much lighter [JURIST report]. Khodorkovsky's supporters believe that he is standing trial because of his choice to provide money to opposition parties in Russia. His defense team stated that the slow pace of the verdict-reading is another attempt by the government to actually divert attention from the verdict. Khodorkovsky has already been apparently found guilty on seven charges [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] A judge in Italy on Tuesday ordered that trained explosives expert Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed face trial in Milan on charges separate from the Madrid attack. Investigators have accused Ahmed, whose trial is expected to begin on October 8 2005, of preparing terrorist attacks in Italy and elsewhere in Europe when he was arrested last year in Milan. An alleged collaborator and mastermind of the Madrid bombing attack [BBC backgrounder], Yahya Mawad Mohamed Rajeh, will also stand trial. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] New Jersey police said Tuesday that they were only in the initial stages of an investigation that has so far revealed data theft from over 700,000 account holders from four major banks in the US. Ten arrests have been made in the scam affecting Bank of America [official website], Wachovia [official website], Commerce Bancorp official website], and PNC Financial Services Group [official website]. Bank officials in Hackensack, New Jersey were among those arrested. They are suspected of selling account numbers to middlemen who in turn sold them to collection agencies. AFP has more.

[JURIST] FBI lawyers speaking in front of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence [official website] on Tuesday asked for sweeping new powers to seize records from private citizens and businesses in terrorism investigations without first obtaining a judge's approval. The FBI [official website] seeks the power to issue administrative subpoenas to get information quickly about impending terrorist threats and foreign agents. The hearing was called to discuss reauthorization of portions of the USA Patriot Act [text] which is set to expire this year. The FBI has sought the power of administrative subpoenas since shortly after the Patriot Act's inception and Republican lawmakers are now trying to move the legislation forward and out of committee. The American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] and other groups have expressed concern [ACLU press release] that the expanded powers to the FBI would infringe on privacy and First Amendment rights. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Supporters of the International Court of Justice and international law have been mildly encouraged by showings of at least mild deference to the ICJ by most members of the US Supreme Court Court in its closely watched Medellin ruling [JURIST report, Duke Law backgrounder] on Monday. In Medellin, the Court dismissed the case after the International Court of Justice [official website] had ordered new hearings for Mexican nationals sentenced to death in the US without the benefit of consular assistance because the Bush administration said it would have state courts "give effect" to the ICJ ruling. The ICJ had ordered the new hearings because local police had neglected to inform the defendants of their rights to seek help from the Mexican consulate, a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations [text]. In its unsigned opinion the Supreme Court said, "The state court proceeding may provide Mendellin with the very reconsideration of his Vienna Convention claims that he now seeks in the present proceeding." Legal Times has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers for Pfc. Lynndie England [Wikipedia profile] on Tuesday decided to forgo her right to challenge the seven charges she faces for her role in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal [JURIST news archive]. England defense attorney Capt. Jonathon Crisp did not elaborate on why he decided not to go forward with the Article 32 hearing [text], the military equivalent of a civilian grand jury hearing. Fort Hood commanding general Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz will now decide if England faces any or all of the earlier charges. A prosecution spokeman speculated that if Metz orders a trial it could start as soon as June. England's initial guilty plea was rejected and a mistrial declared [JURIST report] by a judge earlier this month. AP has more.

[JURIST] Six Pitcairn Island men, found guilty of multiple sexual abuse charges in October 2004 [JURIST report], have lost their appeal in the Pitcairn Supreme Court sitting in Auckland, New Zealand. The Court denied all of the defense's arguments, including a claim that British law did not apply to the descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers who originally settled the island [Pitcairn Island official website]. Later this year, Britain's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council [official website], the highest appeals court for UK overseas colonies, will hear a challenge to British jurisdiction over the remote Pacific island. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the trials. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Upon reconsidering [JURIST report] its former ban [JURIST report] on reformist candidates, Iran's Guardian Council [Wikipedia entry] has now officially reinstated former higher education minister Mostafa Moin [Wikipedia entry] and incumbent Vice President Mohsen Mehr-Alizadeh as candidates in the June 17 presidential elections. Moin, an outspoken reformist, has promised to tackle human rights abuses if elected. Mehr-Alizadeh, however, is not considered to be a serious contender for the presidency. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei [Wikipedia profile], who has authority over all matters political and spiritual in Iran, cited the necessity of a broad range of candidates to ensure a high voter turnout and ordered the council to change its mind. Reuters has more. BBC News provides additional coverage.

[JURIST] The US Senate Tuesday prepared to confirm Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen [official profile] to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday following a bipartisan deal reached Monday night [JURIST report; NRO text] that avoided a showdown over judicial nominees and assured Owen the simple majority needed for a confirmation vote. Under the agreement, filibusters are to be used against judicial nominees only "under extrordinary circumstances." According to the seven Democrats and seven Republicans signing the compromise, "Each signatory must use his or her own discretion and judgment in determining whether the circumstances exist" to allow the use of filibusters. If such circumstances do exist, 60 votes are required to end the filibuster. The agreement also clears the way for long-stalled nominees California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown [official profile], nominated for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and former Attorney General of Alabama William Pryor, nominated for the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The 14 Senators party to the agreement explicitly did not commit to allowing votes on William Myers [official profile] and Henry Saad [official profile], President Bush's remaining appeals court nominees. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Spain's Interior Ministry Tuesday announced the arrests of three more suspects in connection with the 2004 Madrid train bombing [BBC backgrounder], al-Qaeda's deadliest attack on Europe. The three Moroccan men, Mourad Bhar, 20, Abdelkhalak Chergui, 29, and Abdelhak Chergui, 32, are suspected of providing arms and financing for the attack which killed 191 people and wounded approximately 1,900 more. Reuters has more.