[JURIST] A Moroccan believed to have ties to two figures connected to the September 11 attacks [JURIST news archive] was sentenced to nine years in prison Thursday after a French criminal court found him guilty of "associating with wrongdoers in connection with a terrorist undertaking," an offense that encompasses a number of criminal activates. Karim Mehdi was arrested [BBC report] in June 2003 in Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, was at the time suspected of planning an attack on a French tourist resort in the Indian Ocean.

French authorities say that Mehdi was associated with both Ramzi bin al-Shaibah [Wikipedia profile], who supposedly coordinated 9/11, and Ziad Jarrah [CBC profile], the hijacker who piloted United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in western Pennsylvania. Mehdi acknowledges knowing the pair, but claimed that he had only met them once with a friend, and did not know of their plans. Mehdi will have to serve at least 6 years in French prison, and would be deported from the country when released. Reuters has more. AFP has local coverage.

[JURIST] US special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald [official website; JURIST news archive] spent approximately three hours Thursday cross-examining the first witness presented by lawyers representing former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [defense profile; JURIST news archive]. The witness, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus [faculty website], was called to persuade US District Judge Reggie Walton [official profile] to allow memory experts [JURIST report] to help with Libby’s defense. While prosecutors claim that he lied, Libby blames faulty memory for the false statements made to investigators regarding his conversations with members of the press about former CIA operative Valerie Plame [JURIST news archive]. Walton has indicated that he was reluctant to allow such experts.

In his examination of Loftus, Fitzgerald challenged the validity of memory research, and dissected her work until she eventually admitted some errors and misstatements. Walton did not immediately rule on whether he will admit testimony and experts on memory at trial. Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, was indicted [text, PDF; JURIST report] last year for his role in the leak of Plame’s identity, which was revealed days after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the Bush administration's pre-Iraq war intelligence. AP has more.

[JURIST] A US federal court in Atlanta Thursday rejected a government motion to seal unclassified files in the trial of two men with alleged terrorism ties. US citizens Syed Ahmed, 21, a Georgia Tech student, and Ehsanul Sadequee, 20, an employee of the Atlanta based non-profit South Asian advocacy group Raksha [advocacy website] were arrested earlier this year [CNN report], and have been charged with providing material support to terrorists [18 US Code s. 2339a]. Both have pleaded not guilty, and their families have denied that the two have any ties to terrorism.

While the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia [official website] acknowledged the government's right to seal sensitive information when there is a compelling interest, the proposed protective order would have ultimately covered all filings in the case. In its ruling, the court gave a higher weight to the "qualified First Amendment right of access to criminal trial proceedings" that is possessed by the public and the press. AP has more.

NEW ON JURIST  Op-ed: Fences and Mushrooms Along the Border

[JURIST] Nicaraguan lawmakers voted Thursday to prohibit abortions [JURIST news archive] for any reason in the country, including procedures to save the life of a pregnant woman. The measure eliminates a long-standing medical necessity exception to the country's anti-abortion laws. Nicaragua [US State Dept. backgrounder] has a large Roman Catholic population and the church assisted in drafting the bill, which has been criticized by international human rights groups, including the Center for Reproductive Rights [advocacy website] and Ipas [advocacy website], which claim the number of illegal abortions in the country will increase. Medical practitioners in Nicaragua have been split on the issue, with some arguing that medical science has progressed to the point where a woman's life will not be harmed if the fetus is brought to term, while others claim the new law will discourage doctors from performing life-saving procedures if they become necessary for the mother.

Countries including Finland and Sweden, which provide millions of dollars in funding to the poor country, wrote to Nicaraguan legislators this week urging them to oppose the bill. Nicaraguan citizens, however, have voiced strong acceptance of the law, and all but one of the four candidates in the November 5 presidential election are supporting it. The bill now goes to Nicaraguan president for signature, and if signed, Nicaragua will join Chile, El Salvador, and at least 32 other countries in the world which have adopted similar measures. The Los Angeles Times has more.

[JURIST] Alexander Milinkevich [campaign website; Wikipedia profile], the defeated opposition candidate in Belarus' presidential elections in March, was awarded the Sakharov Prize [press release] on Thursday by the European Parliament [official website], for his fight for democracy. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko [official website; BBC profile] won over Milinkevich by a landslide 80 percent of the popular vote in an election that has been widely condemned as fraudulent [JURIST report] by election observers and Western governments. Milinkevich was among the hundreds of activists that have since been arrested [JURIST reports] for protesting against Lukashenko's win. Milinkevich will be awarded the Sakharov Prize during a formal plenary session of Parliament on December 13.

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought [EU backgrounder], awarded each year by the European Parliament, was set up in 1988 to honor individuals or organizations for their efforts on behalf of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Named after Russian physicist Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov [autobiographical profile], who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 and is called the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, the award is given to "exceptional individuals or organizations fighting against oppression, intolerance and injustice." Past winners have included UN Secretary General Kofi Annan [official profile], Nelson Mandela [Nobel Peace Prize profile] and Oswaldo Jose Paya Sardinas [Wikipedia profile], one of Cuba's most prominent dissidents. AP has more.

[JURIST] Israel is breaching international humanitarian law and is violating the rights of Palestinians by placing severe restrictions on family visits with Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B'Tselem) [advocacy website] said in a new report [text; press release] released Thursday. The human rights group claims that Israel is breaching the Geneva Convention [text], which prohibits the transfer of civilians, including detainees and prisoners, from the occupied territory to the territory of the occupying state, by holding more than 9,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip in Israel's sovereign territory. Further, relatives of the Palestinian prisoners are required to obtain permits from the army to enter Israel, resulting in the denial of all visitors between the ages of 16 and 35. According to the report:

The restrictions entailed in the procedure for issuing permits to enter Israel make it impossible for many Palestinians to visit their relatives more than once every few months. Many others are not granted entry permits and are thus prevented from visiting their relatives at all. For those with permits, the visit takes a whole day to complete because of the prolonged checks and delays.

[JURIST] President Bush Thursday reiterated his belief that "marriage is a union between a man and a woman" a day after the New Jersey Supreme Court [official website] ruled that same-sex couples in the state must be afforded the same rights [JURIST report] as heterosexual couples. At a Republican fundraiser Bush spoke out against what he called [transcript] the ruling of "another activist court" and stated that marriage is "a sacred institution that is critical to the health of our society and the well-being of families, and it must be defended." Bush has pushed [JURIST report] for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages but the Marriage Protection Amendment [PDF text; H.J. Res. 88 summary] was defeated [JURIST report] in the US House of Representatives in July.

While the New Jersey ruling extends same-sex couples the same rights as married couples, the court left it up to the state's legislature to decide whether New Jersey will recognize same-sex marriage or another form of civil unions. New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Barry Albin [official profile] held:

Denying committed same-sex couples the financial and social benefits and privileges given to their married heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose. The Court holds that under the equal protection guarantee of Article I, Paragraph I of the New Jersey Constitution, committed same-sex couples must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under civil marriage statutes. The name to be given to the statutory scheme that provides full rights and benefits to same-sex couples, whether marriage or some other term, is a matter left to the democratic process.

[JURIST] US Marine Corps Pfc. John J. Jodka pleaded guilty Thursday to assault and obstruction of justice charges [JURIST report] in relation to the April 26 death of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive]. Jodka was one of eight military personnel originally charged [JURIST report] with murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, assault and housebreaking for his role in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad [Wikipedia profile], where seven Marines and a Navy Corpsman allegedly left Awad by the side of the road with a shovel and AK-47 after they shot him, making Awad look like an insurgent. Jodka's deal follows the October 6 guilty plea [JURIST report] of US Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos to kidnapping and conspiracy in the same incident; Bacos was sentenced to a one-year imprisonment.

Jodka is the lowest-ranking serviceman to be charged in connection to the Hamdania death, and military prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty [JURIST report] against Jodka in August. Five of the eight initially charged still face courts-martial [JURIST report], and a decision as to whether the final Marine charged, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III [JURIST report], will face court-martial is still pending. AP has more.

[JURIST] President George W. Bush Thursday signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 [PDF text; HR 6061 summary] authorizing 700 miles of fencing [JURIST news archive] along the US-Mexico border. The legislation represents the second portion of a two-part plan to tackle illegal immigration [JURIST news archive] in the US; the first half of the legislation creates a $34.8 billion fund for tackling immigration issues, including the money to build the 700-mile fence. The bill, which was sent to the White House for approval [JURIST report] earlier this week, allows the US Secretary of Homeland Security [official website] to begin using $1.2 billion earmarked for the construction of a border control fence to prevent illegal aliens from entering the US and outlines when and how the building project will get underway.

In remarks [text] at the signing ceremony Bush sought to place the bill in a larger context:

The Secure Fence Act is part of our efforts to reform our immigration system. We have more to do. Meaningful immigration reforms means that we must enforce our immigration laws in the United States. It is against the law to hire someone who is here illegally. We fully understand that most businesses want to obey that law, but they cannot verify the legal status of their employees because of widespread document fraud. So we're creating a better system for verifying documents and work eligibility, and in the meantime, holding people to account for breaking the law.

[JURIST] Thailand Army Chief Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin [BBC profile], who seized power from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [JURIST news archive] in a bloodless military coup [JURIST report] in September, admitted Thursday that investigators are struggling to find evidence of corruption, the ostensible reason for Thaksin's overthrow. The investigative commission is finding little evidence to implicate Thaksin, a billionaire telecommunications tycoon, in major corruption cases. In reference to news that Thaksin would like to return [JURIST report] to Thailand [JURIST news archive], Sonthi warned that Thaksin would not be allowed to return any time soon. Thaksin's wife, Pojaman Shinawatra, met with the top adviser to King Bhumibol Adulyadej [official profile] Thursday in an alleged attempt [TNA report] to help "pave the way" for her husband's return.

Sonthi also declined to say when he would lift martial law but reiterated [JURIST report] that it would not be until Thaksin's supporters stop trying to destabilize the political structure. Human rights groups and the US government [JURIST reports] have urged Thailand to revoke the martial law imposed [JURIST report] on the country by military leaders after the coup, calling the emergency provisions and the new military-sponsored government a threat to democracy in Thailand. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A Danish court dismissed a lawsuit [ruling, in Danish] Thursday filed by Muslim organizations [JURIST report] against the two editors of the Danish newspaper who published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad [JURIST news archive] earlier this year. Worldwide protests among Muslims followed Jyllands-Posten [media website, in Danish] publication of the cartoons, leading to multiple deaths [JURIST report], the burning of Danish embassy buildings [JURIST report], and boycotts of Danish goods. The plaintiffs sued Editor-in-Chief Carsten Juste and Culture Editor Flemming Rose for defamation and sought more than $16,000 in damages. The City Court in Aerhus held that while some Muslims may have been offended by the cartoons [BBC analysis], there was no reason to believe the editors intended to "belittle Muslims."

The seven Muslim groups filed the lawsuit in March, following the announcement [text] by Denmark's Director of Public Prosecutions [official website] Henning Fode that the government would not press criminal charges [JURIST report] against the newspaper or its employees. A Jordanian court in May convicted editors [JURIST report] of two national newspapers and sentenced them to two months' imprisonment for publishing the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad [Wikipedia backgrounder]. The editor of the Indonesian online newspaper Rakyat Merdeka will face trial [JURIST report] for publishing the cartoons on its website in February. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The US Defense Department said Wednesday that it is considering plans to increase the number of courtrooms at the US prison facility in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] in order to begin trying suspected terrorists, a proposal that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. DOD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Detainee Affairs Charles "Cully" Stimson said the plans include increasing the number of courtrooms at Guantanamo from one to 10, building more housing for lawyers and improving the prison camp's ability to generate power and water. Military officials hope to begin trying suspected terrorists in mid-2007 under the new Military Commissions Act of 2006 [PDF text; S 3930 summary], which was approved [JURIST report] by Congress in September and signed [JURIST report] by President Bush in October. Stimson estimated that building efforts would take at least a month to complete as pre-trial proceedings are scheduled to begin in the early part of next year.

Building cost proposals are expected to be submitted to US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld [official profile] next week. The Defense Department is also planning to send congressional staff to Guantanamo next month to provide specifics on the proposed plan. Currently, 400 detainees are housed at the prison facility and 60-80 of those are eligible [JURIST report] to face military commission trials [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] for alleged terrorist activities, some of them under joint proceedings. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica [official profile] has urged Serbians to vote in favor of the country's new constitution [DOC text, in Serbian] in this weekend's referendum, saying a rejection of the charter would have "grave and unforeseeable" consequences for Serbia's future. If approved, the new constitution will make Serbia an independent state for the first time since 1918 and also declares Kosovo as part of Serbia [JURIST news archive], which many government critics have said will harm Serbia's interests in the international community. Although still technically a province of the former Yugoslav state, Kosovo [JURIST news archive] has been under UN administration [UNMIK website] since 1999 when a NATO [official website] bombing campaign drove Serbian forces out of Kosovo [BBC timeline] after reports of mass "ethnic cleansing" [US State Dept. report] that displaced some 1.5 million ethnic Albanians. Kosovo is currently in negotiations with the UN regarding the region's future status; UN officials have said the Serbian constitution will not affect those talks [JURIST report].

The final draft constitution was approved by the Serbian parliament [press release, JURIST report] earlier this month and needs more than 50 percent of the 6.6 million registered voters in Serbia to vote "yes" this weekend before the charter is officially approved. Kostunica also expressed optimism Tuesday that voters would do the "right" thing and support the constitution. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge in Indiana ruled [opinion text, PDF] Wednesday that Indiana correctly enforced its statute governing prerecorded messages when it chose to prohibit the Republican-backed Economic Freedom Fund (EFF) [advocacy website] from conducting automated attack push polls [SourceWatch backgrounder] in the state during the lead-up to the November elections. The Indiana statute [text] prohibits such automated calls unless they are prearranged by the recipient. FreeEats.com, the firm contracted by EFF to conduct the automatic callings, filed a federal suit challenging the law. Chief Judge Larry J. McKinney of the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana [official website] wrote that:

The statute is narrowly tailored to achieve the interest of protecting residential privacy. The statute protects and promotes privacy while not completely banning calls or foreclosing the ability of companies like FreeEats from still using prerecorded messages should they obtain prior consent to play the message. The statute also empowers the homeowner to choose what messages are unwanted by giving them the opportunity to decline to listen to a message at any time and the ability to request not to be called again, both without having to completely prevent all such calls

[JURIST] The International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA) [industry website] in West Hollywood, California, has announced that JURIST has won a W³ Gold Award [W³ Awards website] for website excellence in the Law and Legal Services category for 2006. The W³ Awards - evoking the triple "w" in many addresses on the World Wide Web - honor outstanding websites, web marketing, and web advertising created by some of the best interactive agencies, designers, and creators worldwide. IAVA, which presents and judges the W³ Awards, is an invitation-only body consisting of professionals from leading media, interactive, advertising, and marketing firms including BRANDWEEK, Estee Lauder, HBO, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby's Institute of Art, Wired, and Yahoo!. There were some 2300 entries in all W³ categories this year. W³ Gold Award winners in other categories included Gameboy, Colonial Williamsburg, Royal Caribbean Cruises, the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian, Flickr, and Sony Pictures.

JURIST is the first law school-based website to win a W³. In May, JURIST won [JURIST report] the Webby People's Voice Award [awards website] as the best Law website of 2006.