[JURIST] The Moscow Bar Association reported Friday that it had found no evidence to disbar three lawyers on the defense team of jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST archive]. On September 23 the Russian Prosecutor General's office requested that eight of Khodorkovsky's lawyers [defense website, in English] be stripped of their law licenses for dragging out his appeal, allegedly to allow him to run in parliamentary elections. Other members of the defense team have been pressured, and Canadian defense lawyer Robert Amsterdam was expelled from Russia [JURIST report] in September. From Moscow, RIA Novosti has more. Meanwhile Khodorkovsky Moscow lawyer Genrikh Padva says that Khodorkovsky has been sent to prison colony No. 10 in Krasnokamensk, a village in the Chita region of eastern Siberia near a uranium-mining complex, to serve out the remaining six years of his eight-year prison sentence.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Khodorkovsky Trial | Op-ed: A Wake-up Call: Khodorkovsky and the Rule of Law in Russia [Robert Amsterdam]

[JURIST] Representative Tom DeLay (R-TX) [official profile] made his first court appearance in state criminal court in Austin Friday since his indictment earlier this month on criminal conspiracy and money laundering charges, but his arraignment has been postponed pending his lawyer's request for a new judge in the case [JURIST report; JURIST news archive]. DeLay defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin noted that Judge Bob Perkins [official profile] had donated money to MoveOn.org [advocacy site], an institutional supporter of the Democratic Party. Prosecutor Ronnie Earle [official website] called the request for a new judge "absurd." Judge Perkins noted that he last contributed to MoveOn prior to last year's November election, well before the organization focused on DeLay's trial. A hearing on whether Perkins should try the case will be held by Administrative Judge B.B. Schraub, a Republican. AP has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Tom DeLay | Op-ed: Tom DeLay's Challenge to Texas Grand Jury Process

[JURIST] President Bush Friday called [official statement] for the UN to convene an urgent meeting to consider what he characterized as the "deeply disturbing" findings of the Mehlis report [UN report; JURIST report] suggesting that the February assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri could not have taken place without Syrian involvement. US ambassador to the UN John Bolton meanwhile called on the international community to "demand cooperation from Syria" to uncover necessary facts [press release] about the murder. After it emerged that German investigator Detlev Mehlis had at the last minute deleted references from his report implicating two relatives of Syrian president Bashir Assad, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said [official statement] Friday that he had not made any attempt to influence the report's content. AP has more.

[JURIST] Members of the defense team for Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] demanded Friday that his trial be delayed or moved outside of Iraq after the body of a kidnapped defense lawyer for one of Hussein's co-defendants was found [JURIST report] Friday. The lawyers called for the trial to be postponed past November 28 [JURIST report], the scheduled date for the trial to resume, if the investigation into Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi's killing is not then complete. The defense team also called for more security and to move the trial out of Iraq, but such a request is unlikely to be met since the government has previously insisted that the trial should take place in Iraq before Iraqis. Khalil Dulaimi, Saddam's chief lawyer, confirmed that the defense team has been receiving threats via phone and e-mail since Janabi was kidnapped [JURIST report] Thursday. Another of Saddam's lawyers said that government officials and Interior Ministry members were meeting Friday night to discuss further security measures. AP has more.

[JURIST] In Friday's environmental law news, Wisconsin state legislators held a public hearing before a joint meeting of the Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees Thursday to discuss a bill that would require plaintiffs in manufacturer liability cases to prove a specific product caused their injuries and was made or marketed by the defendant company in order to collect damages. The legislation is in response to a Wisconsin State Supreme Court [official website] ruling [PDF text] earlier this year that held plaintiffs can sue manufacturers for their injuries even when they cannot identify which company made the harmful product. The case involved injuries caused by a lead paint pigment, and was allowed to proceed aginst the paint manufacturers despite being unable to link the companies to the paint. AP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• The US Environmental Protection Agency [official website] has reached an agreement [EPA press release] with 24 airlines to monitor the drinking water aboard flights. Earlier testing showed that 15 percent had contaminated water. The EPA is currently developing specific regulations for onboard drinking water quality, and is maintaining a website [EPA website] about the issue, including ongoing test results. The Monterey Herald has more
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• The Japan Ministry of the Environment [official website] announced Friday a planned special measures law designed to compensate families of victims of diseases caused by asbestos. The law is expected to provide 2.4M yen to approximately 9,500 families of people without worker's accident insurance that died from asbestos-related cancer. The Asahi Shimbun has more.
  
  
• The Chinese government has closed down a paper mill for water pollution that appears to have led to increased cancer rates around the mill. The paper mill, located near Tailai in the Heilongjiang Province, began operating in 1983 and has been dumping untreated sewage into a nearby lake since then. Local residents get their drinking water from wells which have become contaminated as the lake sewage seeps into the groundwater. Cancer rates around the mill are 10 times the regional average. Shanghai Daily News has more.

[JURIST] Retiring US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor [OYEZ profile] called for clearer rules regarding prisoner detention and interrogation during a speech at West Point [official website] Thursday. O'Connor said the situations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archives] reflected the confusion of soldiers and a need for guidance. The US Supreme Court has ruled that foreign-born detainees should have access to US courts [JURIST report], but O'Connor said that it was up to Congress and the President to make broad policy decisions. O'Connor spoke to 4,000 military cadets after receiving the Thayer Award [West Point backgrounder] for exemplifying the academy's "Duty, Honor, Country" motto. Earlier this month, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) [official websites] pushed forward legislation [JURIST report] calling for restrictions on the detention, interrogation and prosecution of terror suspects. A Senate amendment to a military appropriations bill is now in conference with the House; President Bush has threatened to veto the bill if it comes to him with detention and interrogation provisions. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Kansas Supreme Court ruled [opinion text] Friday that illegal underage sex cannot be punished more harshly if it is homosexual. The case before the court involved convicted sex offender Matthew Limon [ACLU case materials], who was sentenced to 17 years in prison [JURIST report] for performing a sex act on a 14-year-old boy when he was eighteen. If the underage victim had been a girl, the state's 1999 "Romeo and Juliet" law would have applied, giving Limon a shorter sentence because the age difference between participants was less than four years. The Kansas high court ruled unanimously that illegal homosexual sex should be treated the same as illegal heterosexual sex, and the court removed verbiage from the law that stated otherwise. Justice Maria Luckert said that the law was too broad to meet the state's goal to strengthen traditional values saying, "Moral disapproval of a group cannot be a legitimate state interest." Read the ACLU press release commending the court's decision. AP has more.

[JURIST] The European Commission [official website] agreed Friday to negotiate with Bosnia [JURIST news archive] to form a cooperation agreement that may result in the country's full membership to the European Union. The commission said that in order for talks to move forward, Bosnia should improve relations with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website], adopt public broadcasting laws, and implement reforms to stop ethnic division in the police force. An agreement with Bosnia will open up economic ties and free trade between the EU and Bosnia and will bring the country's laws more in line with EU standards. Similar arrangements have been signed by the EU for Croatia and Macedonia, and are currently under negotiation for Serbia-Montenegro and Albania. The decision to negotiate with Bosnia still must be approved by the 25 current EU member states. The EU has Bosnian enlargement background materials. AP has more.

[JURIST] The parents of a brain-damaged girl in the United Kingdom won a partial victory Friday when a High Court judge lifted a non-resuscitation order [JURIST report] if she were to fall seriously ill. The judge's decision came on the second birthday of Charlotte Wyatt [BBC profile], who has never left the hospital since she was born prematurely in 2003. The judge said that doctors still have the final say in making any decision which would result in ending Charlotte's life if it is in her best interest, but the court said her parents must be consulted before such action is taken. The judge cautioned the doctors treating Charlotte to "rely on their conscience," which means they do not need to take orders from her parents, but must consider the family's wishes before making any decisions. Last year, a terminally-ill baby named Luke Winston-Jones [BBC profile] died [BBC report] after a similar non-resuscitation ruling by the High Court [JURIST report]. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi and US officials are working to repair technical difficulties that occurred during the opening day [JURIST report] of the Saddam Hussein trial [JURIST news archive] earlier this week, which was broadcast around the world. Troubles including a courtroom audio signal that faded in and out, inability to see defendants' faces, and an English translation that continually broke up were some of the issues that agitated reporters and others present to witness the trial. US embassy spokesman David Culkin said the problems would be fixed before the trial resumes on November 28 [JURIST report], calling it a "work in progress." The US government has given $75 million to help pay for security measures, building infrastructure, training Iraqi judges, and gathering evidence for the trial. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Tajikistan's Education Ministry on Friday banned female Muslim students from wearing headscarves in secular schools. Education Minister Abdudjabor Rakhmonov said wearing the hajib, a traditional Muslim head covering, violates the country's constitution and education laws. Tajikistan is a secular nation but 90 percent of its citizens are Muslims. France enacted a similar ban in 2004 [JURIST report], which drew strong criticism [JURIST report] but was characterized as successful [JURIST report] by French officials in integrating students. A Dutch employment commission recently took up the case of a Muslim woman who says she was not hired for a job because she refused to wear a headscarf [JURIST report]. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Netherlands considering Muslim burka ban
• Australian PM rejects school headscarf ban
• UK court upholds right to wear Muslim dress in schools
• Danish court allows employer to ban headscarves
• Malaysia court upholds expulsion of students for wearing turbans
• German high court: headscarf ban applies to Christian nuns
• French headscarf ban takes effect

[JURIST] Official campaigning began Friday for Kenya's controversial draft constitution, on which a referendum will be held November 21 [JURIST report]. The proposed draft [PDF text] has divided the country [JURIST report] over issues including presidential power controls, separation of church and state, and distribution of government powers. Kenya's political parties have squabbled over the document [JURIST report] and an unsuccessful bid was made at Kenya's High Court to block the vote [JURIST report]. If approved, the changes would be the first made to Kenya's government [CIA Factbook profile] since it declared independence 42 years ago. From South Africa, the Mail & Guardian has more.

[JURIST] Results of the October 15 referendum on the Iraqi Constitution [JURIST news archive] faced further delay on Friday, with results now not expected for at least another day or two. The release of results was already delayed once [JURIST report] in order to audit potential irregularities [JURIST report]. A commissioner from the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq [official website, English version] said Friday that results would "definitely not" be announced today, and "perhaps not even tomorrow. I can't say exactly when it will be." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister Jon Stanhope [official website] has said the federal government is excluding him from consulting on the next draft of anti-terrorism proposals after Stanhope leaked a draft of the bill [JURIST report; PDF text] last week. Stanhope received an email from Prime Minister John Howard [official profile] saying the ACT will not receive a copy of the new draft and electronic distribution of it will be forbidden. Howard has defended the law [JURIST report] from critics who reacted strongly to the leak, denying that it attacks civil liberties. Stanhope called the move "childish" and a direct breach of an intergovernmental agreement. Australia's ABC News has more.

2:01 PM ET - Prime Minister John Howard said Friday that Stanhope, despite his "discourteous" actions, will receive all versions of the proposed legislation. Howard said that he wants the agreement of all governments and that "there is no purpose served... in the people of the ACT being treated with the discourtesy that Mr Stanhope displayed towards his fellow leaders." ABC has more.

[JURIST] Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco [official website] announced on Thursday that she will not extend an eviction ban, allowing landlords to start making repairs to houses and apartments damaged by Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive]. Starting Tuesday, landlords may once again initiate eviction procedures [executive order, PDF; press release]. State law permits evictions if the property becomes uninhabitable; landlords had complained that the ban had prevented them from repairing properties where residents hadn't returned. Lifting the ban was urged to help speed the rebuilding process. Even with lifting the ban on evictions, legal issues remain. Landlords say the rules on abandonment and right to enter are unclear, and legislative action is expected. Key issues include removal and disposal of personal property from damaged units and possible rent control/anti-gouging regulations. From New Orleans, the Times-Picayune has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: Mold, Mildew, and the Military Role in Disaster Response | Video: Katrina victims' Bill of Rights

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] ruled on Thursday that the government may block Americans [PDF opinion] from giving financial support to foreign organizations designated as terrorist groups. The group in question, Mujahedin-e Khalq (also called MKO or MEK), has been classified as a terrorist group [State Dept. backgrounder] by the US State Department since 1997. The US government brought an indictment against individuals who gave money to the group; the defendants argued that MEK was not a terrorist group and that they had a First Amendment right to support them. A District Court threw out the indictment, but in June the Ninth Circuit overturned the dismissal. In reaffirming that ruling on Thursday, Judge Andrew Kleinfeld wrote, "The Constitution does not forbid Congress from requiring individuals, whether they agree with the executive branch determination or not, to refrain from furnishing material assistance to designated terrorist organizations." The court further rejected the First Amendment claim, ruling that "provid[ing] material support" is not speech. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] President Bush has commended the passing of legislation [press release] shielding the firearms industry from civil lawsuits brought by cities, municipalities and victims of gun crimes and says he looks forward to signing the bill into law. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act [S. 397 bill summary], passed by the House [JURIST report] Thursday following Senate approval in July, is being hailed by the National Rifle Association [advocacy website; press release] as a "historic victory" that will end "predatory and baseless" suits often financed by the gun control lobby. Opponents of the act, including groups such as the Brady Campaign [advocacy website], claim that the act protects gun dealers from liability when they recklessly supply guns to the black market. Had the law been in effect during the Washington-area sniper attacks, the Brady Campaign claims, the families of six victims would not have been able to obtain their $2.5 million settlement against the dealer who supplied the gun to John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. The Brady-associated Coalition to Stop Gun Violence [advocacy website] said the Act will not stop its lawsuit against the gun makers and dealers who allegedly sold the guns used by convicted felon Buford Furrow to kill five people -- four of them children -- in a 1999 shooting rampage at a Jewish community center. Roughly 20 other pending lawsuits by victims and local governments against the industry would, arguably, be affected by the new law. Friday's New York Times has more.

[JURIST] Charges of making false statements, obstruction of justice, disclosing classified information and conspiracy are being considered by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald [official profile] against administration officials in the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity, lawyers close to the case said Thursday. The two-year investigation began after the identity of Valerie Plame [JURIST news archive] was revealed days after Plame's husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the administration's pre-Iraq war intelligence. Charges will likely be brought next week, though Fitzgerald's spokesman declined to comment on those reports. Charges could be filed against top Bush political advisor Karl Rove for failing to tell the grand jury during his initial appearances that he discussed Plame with a TIME magazine reporter [JURIST report]. Lewis Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, also faces possible charges [JURIST report] of making false statements and obstruction of justice. Fitzgerald could also charge administration officials with knowingly revealing Plame's identity, but sources say the other charges are more likely. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Dr. John Edmondson, chief medical officer at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], has denied accusations that feeding tubes are being used to punish detainees. In an affidavit filed in federal court, Edmondson stated that only trained doctors and nurses were inserting feeding tubes and that anesthetic and lubricants were being used to ease the pain. The affidavit was filed in response to accusations [JURIST report] by an attorney for several detainees that troops were using dirty tubes and violently inserting feeding tubes into detainees participating in a rolling hunger strike [JURIST report] that began August 9. Defense lawyers filed an emergency petition [JURIST report] last week asking US District Judge Gladys Kessler for more frequent access to their clients, medical records and to allow their own doctors to visit the striking detainees. AP has more.

[JURIST] A report, submitted [JURIST report; UN News report] Thursday to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on the results of an independent UN investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive] links high-ranking Syrian officials and top pro-Syrian Lebanese officials to the crime. According to the 60-page report [PDF text] prepared by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, the evidence suggests that both Syria and Lebanon were involved in the assassination plot which was planned for several months. The commission also concludes that it is highly unlikely that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were not aware of the plan to assassinate Hariri. According to the report's executive summary:

7. It is the Commission's view that the assassination of 14 February 2005 was carried out by a group with an extensive organization and considerable resources and capabilities. The crime had been prepared over the course of several months. For this purpose, the timing and location of Mr. Rafik Hariri's movements had been monitored and the itineraries of his convoy recorded in detail.

8. Building on the findings of the Commission and Lebanese investigations to date and on the basis of the material and documentary evidence collected, and the leads pursued until now, there is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act. It is a well known fact that Syrian Military Intelligence had a pervasive presence in Lebanon at the least until the withdrawal of the Syrian forces pursuant to resolution 1559. The former senior security officials of Lebanon were their appointees. Given the infiltration of Lebanese institutions and society by the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services working in tandem, it would be difficult to envisage a scenario whereby such a complex assassination plot could have been carried out without their knowledge.

9. It is the Commission's conclusion that the continuing investigation should be carried forward by the appropriate Lebanese judicial and security authorities, who have proved during the investigation that with international assistance and support, they can move ahead and at times take the lead in an effective and professional manner. At the same time, the Lebanese authorities should look into all the case's ramifications including bank transactions. The 14 February explosion needs to be assessed clearly against the sequence of explosions which preceded and followed it, since there could be links between some, if not all, of them.

[JURIST] Rep. Tom DeLay [official profile; campaign website] will appear in an Austin courtroom Friday morning to answer charges that he helped funnel corporate donations to GOP candidates for the Texas Legislature in violation of Texas state law. The appearance will be the first after DeLay voluntarily turned himself in to be booked [JURIST report] Thursday in Harris County on an arrest warrant issued [JURIST report] the day before. DeLay's first court appearance comes after three weeks of legal moves by DeLay's attorney to get the money laundering [JURIST report] and criminal conspiracy [JURIST report] charges dismissed, the prosecutor removed, and the judge replaced. DeLay was released on $10,000 bail after having his fingerprints and a smiling mug shot taken. DeLay has consistently denied [DeLay campaign website legal analysis] any wrongdoing in the matter. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• DeLay turned down plea bargain, says attorney
• DeLay attacks prosecutor on campaign website
• Prosecutor subpoenas DeLay telephone records
• DeLay lawyers subpoena Texas prosecutor to show improper grand jury conduct
• DeLay files motion to dismiss indictment

[JURIST] AP is reporting that Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi, a defense lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants who was kidnapped by 10 masked gunmen [JURIST report] Thursday evening in Baghdad, has been found dead, according to a senior Iraqi lawyers' union official. Diaa al-Saadi warned "This will have grave repercussions. This will hinder lawyers from defending those held for political reasons." Al-Janabi was one of two lawyers for Awad Hamed al-Bandar, a former chief judge of Saddam's Revolutionary Court, and was in the courtroom for the opening session of the joint trial on Wednesday. Chief Saddam lawyer Khalil Dulaimi acknowledged Thursday that defense lawyers had received multiple threats, but did not say from whom. An Iraqi government spokesman has condemned the killing. AP has more.