[JURIST] Eight former Serbian police officers went on trial Monday in Belgrade's special war crimes court charged [JURIST report] with the slaying of 48 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999. Their commander pleaded not guilty; the remaining defendants will enter their pleas Tuesday. All of the victims, who were killed in Suva Reka [HRW backgrounder], Kosovo, in March 1999, were from the same family, and included young children and a pregnant woman. The victims were ultimately transported to a mass grave [BBC report] in Batajnica, a western outskirt of Belgrade, where approximately 800 bodies of ethnic Albanians killed under the regime of Slobodan Milosevic's forces in the 1998-1999 Kosovo war have been exhumed. UPI has more.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, Serbia's deputy prime minister, finance minister, health minister and energy minister resigned [UPI report] from the government of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica over Serbia’s ongoing inability to arrest fugitive Ratko Mladic [JURIST news archive] who is being sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. Top UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte met Monday with Serbian authorities to discuss the issue. She believes that Mladic as well as former political leader Radovan Karadzic are being protected by sympathizers within Serbia. Prior to her visit, Del Ponte last week accused Serbian leaders of a lacking "political will" to arrest Mladic, and urged European Union members not to engage with Belgrade in accession talks, which have already been suspended since May, until Mladic’s capture. VOA has more.

[JURIST] Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock [official website] is reconsidering the removal from Australian libraries of books which the government fears may incite terrorist activity. In a television interview [transcript] Monday Ruddock expressed a willingness to allow structured and limited research access to two banned books on jihad by the late Palestinian Islamist Abdullah Azam which have been taken off shelves at the University of Melbourne [university website]. Citing the importance of academic freedom, University Vice Chancellor Glynn Davis had asked the Attorney General to indicate whether a complete ban was intended.

After Australia passed a set of anti-terror laws [text of bill] in 2005, the Office of Film and Literature Classification [official website] refused to classify the books at issue because of their alleged promotion of terrorist violence and lack of educational merit. Without a classification, books cannot be sold, displayed, or loaned in Australia. The University removed the books from its shelves due to legal concerns and fines associated with possessing banned materials. The decision was met with a strong statement from a coalition of library and literary organizations deploring the forced removal of books because of the threat it poses to freedom of speech. ABC News has more. From Melbourne, The Age has additional coverage.

[JURIST] A federal judge Monday denied motions by former Alabama governor Don Siegelman [official profile] and former HealthSouth [corporate website] CEO Richard Scrushy [JURIST news archive] to overturn their corruption convictions. US District Judge Mark Fuller [official profile] ruled there was "substantial evidence" to back jury verdicts against them.

In June 2006, Siegelman was convicted [JURIST report] on 10 counts, including bribery, conspiracy, and mail fraud. Scrushy was found guilty of fraud and both were also convicted in connection with a $500,000 payment from Scrushy for Siegelman's 1999 campaign debts in exchange for a seat on a state-operated review board that regulates hospitals. Siegelman and Scrushy face up to 30 years in prison. In a separate action, Scrushy was acquitted in 2005 [JURIST report] on charges of wire and mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, and violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a scheme to overstate earnings and inflate HealthSouth's stock price between 1996 and 2002. AP has more.

[JURIST] The White House announced [memorandum text] Monday that the Bush administration will allow US military aid for nearly two dozen countries that have not signed so-called Article 98 agreements [State Department backgrounder] which shield US soldiers from prosecution before the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website; JURIST news archive]. The bilateral agreements provide that neither party to a specific accord will bring the other’s current or former government officials, military or other personnel before the jurisdiction of the Court, citing Article 98 (2) [text] of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court, which provides in part that the ICC may not proceed with a request for surrender which would require the requested country to violate its obligations under international agreements regarding surrendering a person of that country to the ICC unless the ICC first obtains the that country's consent for the surrender. Although the American Servicemembers Protection Act of 2002 [text] halts military aid to non-signators of Article 98, it also gives the president the authority to waive such restrictions.

The ICC, to which over 100 states are currently parties, tries individuals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The US, which has not joined the ICC, believes the court could be used to prosecute US officials, military personnel and others for political reasons. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Germany [JURIST news archive] should consider amending its penal code to allow the use of swastikas in anti-Nazi materials, Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries [official profile, English version] said Monday. Zypries' remarks follow Friday's decision by a state court in Stuttgart [Deutsche Welle report] ordering Juergen Kamm to pay a fine of 3,600 euros (US $4,600) for selling T-shirts and badges featuring a swastika surrounded by a red circle and slash. The court accepted the prosecution's argument that allowing swastikas as a "fashion article" risks making them "socially acceptable" again.

A provision of the penal code [text] prohibits the "use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations," including the those of the "former National Socialist organization," and prescribes punishment of up to three years' imprisonment or a fine. Kamm's lawyer is planning an appeal to the Supreme Court [official website, in German]. If the lower court's decision is upheld, Zypries said, the law is "flawed" and will need to be rewritten. Reuters has more. Deutsche Welle has additional coverage. From Berlin, Die Tageszeitung has local coverage, in German.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court Monday turned back a number of cases brought before it for appeal, including that of a Maine advocacy group [docket] which the Court deemed moot. The nonprofit Christian Civic League of Maine had challenged a district court dismissal [JURIST report] of its challenge to the electioneering communication ban in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 [FEC materials] prohibiting TV advertisements funded with corporate or union money that mention a specific candidate from airing 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before a general election. SCOTUSblog has more.

Other noteworthy rejections included:

• Northwest Airlines Corp. v. Spirit Airlines Inc. [docket], where the court turned down a certiorari petition from Northwest filed five days late. Northwest was appealing a Sixth Circuit decision [opinion, PDF] holding that Northwest engaged in predatory pricing against Spirit in the Detroit, Boston and Philadelphia markets. AP has more.
  
  
• Allred v. Superior Court [docket], where attorney Gloria Allred [personal website; Wikipedia profile] had asked the Supreme Court to review a California court decision [case summary] upholding a gag order in a murder case. Allred argued that the order violated the freedom of speech. Bloomberg News has more.
  
  
• Tucker v. Philadelphia Daily News [docket], in which William Tucker sought to revive a libel suit brought by his late wife, civil rights activist C. DeLores Tucker [Wikipedia profile], after its dismissal [opinion, PDF] by Pennsylvania courts. Mrs. Tucker sued the Daily News for its reporting on a lawsuit she had filed against the rapper Tupac Shakur for his song lyrics that rhymed her last name with an obscenity. The Daily News described Mrs. Tucker's loss-of-consortium claim against Shakur as alleging that his lyrics had damaged her sex life. Mrs. Tucker said the claim referred to loss of "advice, society, companionship," and other aspects of the "family union." AP has more.
  
  
• Hansl v. United States [docket], where former Nazi concentration camp guard John Hansl [advocacy website] asserted that the Eighth Circuit's decision [opinion, PDF] allowing the federal government to revoke his American citizenship should be reversed because he disclosed his role when he applied for a US visa in the 1950s and because his work did not amount to "personally assist[ing] in persecution." AP has more.

[JURIST] Mexico [JURIST news archive] urged President Bush on Monday to veto the Secure Fence Act of 2006 [text, PDF] authorizing the construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexico border [JURIST news archive]. A spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox [official website, English version] said the bill "hurts bilateral relations, goes against the spirit of cooperation needed to guarantee security in the common, [and] creates a climate of tension in border communities."

Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs [official website, in English] said last week that it was "deeply worried" about the proposed fence construction [JURIST report]. The US Senate passed the bill [JURIST report] Friday by a vote of 80-19 [roll call], and included a key provision giving the US Department of Homeland Security [official website] "operational control" over US borders within 18 months in an effort to keep illegal substances and illegal immigrants from entering the US. The House of Representatives passed [JURIST report] the measure 283-138 [roll call] on September 15. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) [advocacy website] has been hit with new voter fraud allegations stemming from an aggressive voter registration drive focusing on helping poor people overcome obstacles to the ballot. Philadelphia has reported 3,000 invalid voting cards submitted by ACORN since April because of missing or inaccurate information, noting that four different people have been submitting questionable applications on behalf of ACORN and three of those people have prior criminal records [Philadelphia Inquirer report]. In addition, three counties in Ohio have found hundreds of problematic voter registration cards submitted by ACORN, including invalid addresses, forged signatures and one application for a deceased person, while in Colorado Denver County election officials have flagged 200 voter application cards for review after noticing signatures with similar handwriting.

ACORN is running a voter registration drive in 17 states and faces the accusations on the eve of Congressional mid-term elections. ACORN also faced fraud allegations in 2004 [EPI report] in Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina and Virginia, as well as 2003 fraud allegations in Missouri. ACORN registered more than 1,000,000 voters for the 2004 elections, and successfully challenged [JURIST report] an Ohio law subjecting individuals to criminal penalties for aiding or abetting anyone in fraudulently registering or improperly submitting application cards. AP has more.

[JURIST] UK Conservative Party shadow Home Secretary David Davis [official website] attacked the ruling Labour party Monday for passing anti-terror laws limiting traditional freedoms, valuing the rights of criminals over those of defendants, failing to prosecute terrorists, and releasing foreign prisoners, among other complaints. In a wide-ranging speech [transcript] before the Conservative party annual conference, Davis declared:

[The Conservative party] has always stood for protecting our fundamental freedoms. That's why we opposed the Government on detention without trial. That's why we've proposed a British Bill of Rights to defend our security and our liberty...Labour doesn't understand a simple obvious truth: You can't defend our liberties by sacrificing our liberties. When it comes to defending our freedom this government makes the excuse that it doesn't have the laws to do the job and then it passes laws that take away everybody's freedom.

[JURIST] A new law coming into effect Monday in England and Wales requires criminal defendants to pass a financial means test [materials] to qualify for free legal aid in cases before magistrates' courts. The Criminal Defence Service Act of 2006 [materials; backgrounder], which received royal assent at the end of March, aims to cut down on legal expenses shouldered by the state in criminal cases and potentially stem abuse by rich defendants, but opponents say it will slow the processing of cases with another administrative hurdle. Under the new regulations, defendants qualify for legal aid on gross income adjusted for marital and childrearing costs, and some categories of people automatically qualify for free legal aid, including those who are unemployed or on income support, children under 16 and students under 18. It's estimated that the measure could save more than £35 million a year and supporters hope it will avoid awkward scenarios such as that of an English cricket star earning £40,000 a week who used legal aid to defend against a charge of spitting at a fan. Under the means test, defendants with annual incomes of over £20,740 (just over US $39,000) do not qualify for assistance.

Previous attempts by UK lawmakers to cut legal defense costs include a proposal to require law firms to bid on bulk contracts [JURIST report] to represent defendants in magistrates' and crown courts, and to require lawyers themselves to pay court costs [JURIST report] if trials run longer than scheduled. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] France has issued arrest warrants for two high-ranking officials of the east African country of Djibouti [CIA backgrounder] in connection with the investigation into the alleged assassination of a French judge in 1995. French officials suspect Djibouti state prosecutor Djama Souleiman and security chief Hassan Said of interfering with witnesses in the ongoing investigation. The judge's death was originally ruled a suicide before French officials alleged he was the victim of an assassination.

In February, Djibouti asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] to arbitrate a dispute between the two countries [JURIST report] regarding France's investigation of the alleged 1995 murder. Djibouti maintains that France has no right to summon Djibouti officials who qualify for diplomatic immunity. In August, France consented to ICJ jurisdiction [JURIST report] over the case, which has been placed on the ICJ case list [press release]. Djibouti appointed Souleiman as its Agent in the ICJ-arbitrated dispute [press release]. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] An Australian man who was convicted [JURIST report] in February of receiving money from an al-Qaeda associate but then successfully appealed has appealed the Australian government's issuance of a control order [JURIST report] limiting his freedom of movement. Joseph Terrence "Jihad Jack" Thomas [advocacy website] won his appeal [Australian report; judgment] in August, but the federal government immediately sought and obtained a control order against Thomas, the first such order administered under a controversial new anti-terror law [ANS backgrounder]. The High Court in Canberra will hear arguments on the control order in December. Thomas' lawyers will argue that the order should be quashed and the Commonwealth should be enjoined from enforcing it because Thomas was absolved of criminal guilt by the appeals court and should not be subject to a curfew and other restrictions.

Thomas was the first Australian incarcerated under the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism Act 2002 [text] after having been found guilty in February of receiving $3,500 from a senior Al Qaeda member and of carrying a fake passport. His conviction was overturned as to all counts because authorities were found to have interviewed Thomas against his will and without access to a lawyer when he was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. The control order against Thomas, which in part bans him from contacting a list of people including Osama Bin Laden, was deemed 'farcical' by an Australian judge [JURIST report] last month. ABC News has more. News Limited has local coverage.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] begins its fall term on Monday, assembling briefly to issue Orders and to swear in several lawyers to the Supreme Court bar. As its usual opening on the first Monday in October falls this year on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, the court will only start hearing arguments [October arguments calendar] Tuesday; the Court's two Jewish justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, are expected to miss Monday's session.

Beginning this term, the Court will publish same-day oral argument transcripts [JURIST report] on the Court website. Many have welcomed the move as a step towards public access to Court proceedings, but Chief Justice John Roberts and the rest of the Court continue to oppose televising its proceedings [JURIST report], despite political urgings to do so [JURIST report]. AP has more. The New York Times has additional coverage.

[JURIST] King Abdullah II of Jordan [official website] issued a "special amnesty" on Saturday for two opposition party lawmakers who were convicted of incitement [JURIST report] in August for expressing sympathy after the death of al Qaeda Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [CTV report; JURIST report] when they visited Zarqawi's relatives in his native Jordan. A military court in September had sentenced Mohammed Abu Fares and Ali Abu Sukkar to two years and one and a half years, respectively, on single charges of "instigating sectarian strife and fueling national discord." An appeals court later reduced their prison terms. The pardon eliminates the remaining prison term but does not expunge their criminal records.

Both lawmakers are members of the opposition Islamic Action Front (IAF) [party website, in Arabic], the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood [party website; FAS backgrounder]. Authorities arrested four MPs [JURIST report] in June after after receiving complaints from Jordanian citizens, mostly families of victims of last fall's al Qaeda-led attacks on three hotels in Amman [BBC report], which killed 60 people. AP has more.

[JURIST] King Abdullah II of Jordan [official website] issued a "special amnesty" on Saturday for two opposition party lawmakers who were convicted of incitement [JURIST report] in August for expressing sympathy after the death of al Qaeda Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [CTV report; JURIST report] when they visited Zarqawi's relatives in his native Jordan. A military court in September had sentenced Mohammed Abu Fares and Ali Abu Sukkar to two years and one and a half years, respectively, on single charges of "instigating sectarian strife and fueling national discord." An appeals court later reduced their prison terms. The pardon eliminates the remaining prison term but does not expunge their criminal records.

Both lawmakers are members of the opposition Islamic Action Front (IAF) [party website, in Arabic], the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood [party website; FAS backgrounder]. Authorities arrested four MPs [JURIST report] in June after after receiving complaints from Jordanian citizens, mostly families of victims of last fall's al Qaeda-led attacks on three hotels in Amman [BBC report], which killed 60 people. AP has more.

[JURIST] US House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) [official website] sent a letter [text] to the Justice Department Sunday seeking an investigation into the developing sex and ethics scandal involving Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) [former website]. Foley resigned Friday [Reuters report] after ABC News reported that he had sent congressional pages [CRS program backgrounder, PDF; House page program backgrounder, PDF] inappropriate text messages, some sexually explicit in nature. On Friday, the House voted to refer the matter to its Ethics Committee [official website] for an internal investigation [press release], but Hastert's letter was concerned with potential breaches of federal law:

Initially, since the communications involve interstate communications, there should be a complete investigation and prosecution of any federal laws that have been violated. In addition, since the communications appear to have existed for three years, there should be an investigation into the extent there are persons who knew or had possession of these messages but did not report them to the appropriate authorities.