[JURIST] The Libyan retrial of five Bulgarian nurses accused of infecting over 400 patients, primarily children, with the HIV virus is scheduled to begin on May 11 in Tripoli, Bulgaria’s foreign ministry [official website] announced [press release, in Bulgarian] Saturday. In December Libya’s Supreme Court overturned [JURIST report] previous convictions [JURIST report] against the nurses and a Palestinian doctor, which had led to the six being sentenced to death by firing squad. The high court sent the case back to the lower court for retrial. Tripoli has suggested that compensatory damages could allow the nurses to go free, and the families of the victims have demanded $5.43 billion from a group of international donors [Sofia Echo report] trying to settle the case.

Bulgaria and its allies, including the US and the European Union, contend the nurses are innocent and maintain that their confessions were coerced through torture. The six health workers, detained since 1999, previously argued that the children were infected with the disease prior to treatment by the accused. Nine police officers and one doctor were acquitted [JURIST report] of torturing the health workers [HRW report] last year. Reuters has more. The Bulgarian News Network has local coverage.

[JURIST] A presidential doctor in Indonesia [JURIST news archive] Saturday declared former dictator General Suharto [Wikipedia backgrounder] still unfit to stand trial, as he suffers from permanent brain damage and cannot have a logical conversation. Recently renewed efforts to have Suharto stand trial on corruption charges prompted Dr. Marjo Subiandono, a Brigadier General, to re-examine Suharto to see if he showed any signs of improvement after suffering two strokes since his resignation in 1998. Suharto stepped down amid violent protests against his three-decade dictatorship that used security forces to stifle dissent. In 2000, a court threw out corruption charges [Irish Examiner report] against him for allegedly embezzling $600 million of state funds after doctors initially declared him unfit. Indonesian Attorney General Abdul Rachman Saleh still plans to have a team of 20 doctors re-examine Suharto.

While unable to prosecute Suharto, the Indonesian state has pursued legal actions against his former subordinates and family members, including son Tommy Suharto [Wikipedia backgrounder], who was convicted [CNN report] in 2002 of arranging the murder of a Supreme Court judge. AP has more.

[JURIST] Iraq President Jalal Talabani [BBC profile] formally designated hardline Shiite politician Jawad al-Maliki [Wikipedia backgrounder] to form a new government Saturday, giving him 30 days to present his Cabinet to Parliament for approval. Shiites nominated al-Maliki on Friday after outgoing Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari [BBC profile] gave up his bid for another term. The move ends months of political deadlock between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. Al-Maliki has a reputation as an avid defender of the Shiite viewpoint and his appointment incites speculation over whether he will be able to negotiate a non-sectarian government. Al-Maliki returned from exile in Syria after Saddam Hussein’s regime fell, and has since been active in purging former Baath Party [Aljazeera backgrounder] officials from the new Iraqi military and government, acting as deputy leader of Iraq's controversial Debaathification Commission [official website].

Al-Maliki was the outspoken senior negotiator for Iraqi Shiites in lengthy deliberations last year over the new Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive; JURIST document] approved in last year's October referendum [JURIST report], resisting US efforts to put more Sunnis on the drafting committee as well as Sunni efforts to restrict provisions giving Shiites and Kurds the power to form semiautonomous mini-states in the north and south of the country. AP has more.

[JURIST] An Italian appeals court on Saturday certified the final Senate votes in Italy’s disputed April 9-10 election [JURIST report; BBC Q&A], confirming a narrow two-seat majority for Romano Prodi [campaign website, in Italian] in the upper house [official website] of the Italian parliament. The widely expected certification of votes cast by Italians living overseas confirms the outcome [JURIST report] of the election announced Wednesday by the Court of Cassation [official website]. Enfranchised by a new law, Italians abroad chose six Senate seats, giving four to Prodi’s coalition, one to current Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [official profile; JURIST news archive] and his allies, and one to an independent party. Prior to the distribution of the last six Senate seats, Berlusconi’s coalition led a center-right block with 155 Senate seats, while Prodi’s center-left coalition maintained 154 Senate seats. The overseas electors gave Prodi a two-seat victory. The actual certification of votes was made by an electoral board considered part of Rome's regional court of appeals [official website].

Berlusconi still refuses to concede defeat [BBC report], saying there were polling irregularities. Berlusconi’s regime has been marked by scandal, with an indictment for corruption [JURIST report] leveled against him last month and charges of false accounting [JURIST report] and bribery [JURIST report] last year in connection with the media business that Berlusconi’s family owns. AP has more.

[JURIST] Nepalese security forces fired rubber bullets and live rounds on tens of thousands of pro-democracy protestors [JURIST news archive] in Kathmandu Saturday, injuring many demonstrators as they marched toward the palace of King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile] just one day after his pledge [JURIST report; proclamation text and recorded video] to restore democracy to the country was rejected as inadequate [JURIST report] by the seven-party political alliance that has been spearheading demonstrations against direct royal rule for over two weeks. Security forces also fired tear gas and used batons. A Nepalese Red Cross spokesman said 243 people were hurt and 39 had to be hospitalized. AP has more. eKantipur.com has local coverage.

UN human rights experts condemned [JURIST report] the Nepalese government's repeated uses of force against protestors in a statement [text] issued Thursday.

[JURIST] Shirin Ebadi [BBC profile; Nobel autobiography], the Iranian human rights lawyer and activist who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize [official website], said Friday that Iran [JURIST news archive] would defend itself against any American attack, insisting at a Paris press conference that "We will defend our country till the last drop of blood." Ebadi, a critic of the Iranian government for years who was jailed for three weeks by the authorities in 2000, nonetheless called on the Iranian government to open up its controversial nuclear program to the international community to prove its intentions are peaceful. AP has more.

Iran announced [BBC report] April 11 that its scientists had successfully enriched uranium to make nuclear fuel, just a few weeks after the UN Security Council [official website] passed [JURIST report] a non-binding resolution [press release] instructing Iran to cease uranium production.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice [official website] signed off on a new Georgia law [PDF text; bill summary] Friday that will require voters to present a valid photo ID when they vote in elections. Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue [official website] initially approved the bill in January after its passage [JURIST report] by the Georgia state legislature [official website], but under the federal Voting Rights Act [DOJ backgrounder], states with a past history of discrimination must have federal approval before making changes to their election laws.

Civil rights, religious and community groups asked the DOJ to block implementation of the law [JURIST report] last month, arguing that it disproportionately discriminates against the poor, elderly, and minorities, who may have trouble securing the proper identification. The revised version of the law offers free photo IDs to voters who need them, after a federal judge blocked [JURIST report] a previous version of the Georgia law last year. AP has more.

[JURIST] State prison administrators carried out the execution of Willie Brown, Jr. [NCADP profile] on Friday morning at the Central Prison [official website] in Raleigh, North Carolina. During the execution procedure Brown had a brain-wave monitor attached to him to ensure that he was unconscious when he was injected with the lethal doses of medication that would stop his heart. US District Judge Malcolm J. Howard had initially ruled [PDF opinion; Raleigh News Observer report] that a doctor must be present to ensure that Brown was unconscious; he later held, however, that a monitor would be sufficient [JURIST report]. Central Prison Warden Marvin Polk pronounced Brown dead at 2:11 AM ET.

In his initial ruling Howard determined that Brown's Eighth Amendment rights required that a doctor be present during his execution to ensure that Brown did not experience pain during the procedure. After Howard determined that the monitor would be sufficient, defense attorneys for Brown appealed the ruling. The US Supreme Court late Thursday denied review of the case [AP report], clearing the way for Friday's execution. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] on Friday ruled [PDF opinion] that the federal courts were not authorized to grant compensation to the Chagossians [Wikipedia backgrounder], a group of Indian Ocean islanders forced from their homes in 1963 when the US Department of Defense cleared the island of Diego Garcia to develop a US military base [Diego Garcia base website]. In rejecting the Chagossians' case, the court noted that reviewing 40-year-old decisions of the Defense Department would be "meddling in foreign affairs beyond our institutional competence."

In their suit against the US government [court documents], the Chagossians argued that in addition to losing their personal property and land to the development of the military base, they were subject to discrimination in base hiring practices. Prior to the US Defense Department developing the military base at Diego Garcia, the island had been under the control of the British government since 1814. AP has more.

[JURIST] The UN human rights chief in Iraq [JURIST news archive] said Friday that officials in that country are holding thousands of detainees in violation of Iraqi law and expressed concern about ongoing human rights [JURIST news archive] violations. According to Gianni Magazzeni, over 29,000 people are currently being detained in the country. Coalition forces are holding about 14,000 detainees for "urgent security reasons," a number that the UN believes is far too high. Magazzeni urged Coalition forces to release the prisoners or turn them over to Iraqi forces to be charged, as UN officials still do not have access to them. Regarding the 15,000 detainees being held by Iraqi authorities, only 8,300 are in the hands of the justice ministry, with the rest being held by the interior and defense ministries. Magazzeni emphasized that only the Iraqi justice ministry has the power to detain suspects for more than 72 hours.

Magazzeni also expressed concern Friday over increased reports of death squads [JURIST report] operating within various branches of the Iraqi security forces. Iraq Interior Minister Bayan Jabr [CBS News profile] reportedly admitted [BBC report; recorded video] April 12 that such squads exist, despite previously refuting similar claims [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A Superior Court judge in Alameda County, California on Friday threw out a lawsuit challenging the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) [official website], the $3 billion stem cell research program that was approved in Proposition 71 [CA AG summary, PDF], approved by California voters in a 2004 referendum. Judge Bonnie Sabraw ruled that Stem Cell Research and Cures Act establishing the program did not set up a publicly-funded initiative exclusively under state control contrary to the state constitution. Friday's dismissal of the case has cleared the way for $300 million in taxpayer funds to be steered into the research fund, although an attorney for the plaintiffs has already said he plans to appeal. Read press releases applauding Friday's ruling by CIRM [PDF] and the Alliance for Stem Cell Research.

The suit was filed [JURIST report] in February, 2005 by a Christian group [advocacy website] and a taxpayer's rights organization [NTLF backgrounder], both of which objected to those portions of Proposition 71 that exempt CIRM members from government conflict-of-interest laws. In each of the plaintiffs charges the judge sided with the government. The Los Angeles Times has more.