[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Nepal [government website; JURIST news archive] on Friday ordered the government to free 37 politicians who had been detained for opposing the direct rule of King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile], saying that the court did not find any legitimate reason for the detentions. The government arrested [JURIST report] hundreds of politicians and activists in the past few weeks in an effort to crack down on protests of King Gyanendra's rule, but the government released many of them following a series of lawsuits filed by rights groups demanding that the government produce charges against them.

February 1 marked the one-year anniversary of Gyanendra's dismissal of the democratic government [JURIST report] and assumption of control of the Nepalese government. Police arrested over 500 protestors [JURIST report] who gathered to rally against Gyanendra's autocratic rule on the anniversary, and protesters have continued to call for the overthrow of the king [JURIST report]. Aljazeera has more.