[JURIST] Defense lawyers for Jose Padilla [JURIST news archive] said in closing arguments Tuesday that the government had failed to prove its case against their client, saying that Padilla had traveled overseas to study Arabic and not to engage in terrorism as argued by prosecutors. Closing arguments began [JURIST report] Monday, with federal prosecutors urging jurors to convict Padilla and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi [GlobalSecurity profiles] on charges [JURIST report] of conspiracy to murder US nationals, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, and providing material support to terrorists.

Last week, US District Judge Marcia Cooke [official profile] barred jurors from considering the "defensive jihad" defense. This was a setback for the defense, which had presented evidence to show that Islam allows the waging of "defensive jihad," which is different from terrorism because it is intended to defend Muslims from aggression and not intended to threaten innocent lives. Padilla, a US citizen, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and subsequently detained as an "enemy combatant" [JURIST news archive] at a Navy military brig in Charleston, South Carolina. Initially accused of planning to set off a "dirty bomb" in the United States, Padilla went from enemy combatant to criminal defendant when he was finally charged with other offenses in November 2005. Padilla was transferred to civilian custody [JURIST report] in January 2006 and has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to all charges. AP has more.

[JURIST] A German state administrative court affirmed a ban on religious headscarves [JURIST news archive] in the federal district of North Rhine-Westphalia [government website] Tuesday, rejecting a teacher's argument that her headscarf was merely a "fashion accessory" and ruling that it was a symbol of her religious belief. In June, the same court upheld the ban [JURIST report], saying that the public display of religious dress by a teacher violated secular neutrality toward the religions of students and parents. The court has also ruled that a headdress ban in North Rhine-Westphalia prohibits teachers from wearing berets.

Headscarves are prohibited in eight of 16 states in Germany. Last July, a court in Baden-Wuerttemberg [government website] struck down a 2004 ban [JURIST report], ruling it was being enforced in a discriminatory manner [JURIST report] because the ban was not applied to Catholic nuns. In January, a similar law in Bavaria [government website] was upheld [JURIST report] on the grounds that the headscarf, as opposed to other religious markings, is only worn by women and therefore its wearing mitigates against gender equality guarantees in the Bavarian state constitution [text]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A Bangladeshi court on Tuesday sentenced 15 members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) [Wikipedia backgrounder] to seven years for extortion and three years for manipulating elections. The defendants, twelve of whom were convicted in absentia, include BNP party workers, leaders, and a former lawmaker; they will each serve seven years as the sentences will run concurrently. BNP leader and former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia [UN profile] is currently facing tax evasion charges and is scheduled to appear in court on August 26.

Bangladesh [JURIST news archive] is currently governed by an interim emergency government [JURIST report], which took power with the backing of the military in January. The government has used its anti-corruption campaign [BBC Q&A] to justify emergency laws [JURIST report], which allow detention without warrants or specific charges. PTI has more.

[JURIST] Disagreements and rivalries between the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have hampered terror investigations, according to a report [PDF text] released Monday by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) [official website]. The report, compiled by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security [official website], found that the agencies have not effectively implemented a memorandum of agreement (MOA) intended to enable a "seamless, coordinated campaign against sources of terrorist financing" and that ICE agents may have intentionally decided not to pursue leads or a "terrorism aspect" of a case to avoid having to transfer a case to the FBI. In addition, differences between the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) [FBI backgrounder], the leading agency tasked with combating terrorism and terrorist financing, and ICE contributed to a break down of communication between the agencies; ICE agents assigned to the JTTF by a regional ICE field office were removed and subsequently instructed "not to assist with any JTTF financial investigations." The report says:

ICE agents have misperceptions of the MOA and its procedures, and some resent the MOA and the FBI. As a result, ICE agents and headquarters officials reported some ICE agents fail to pursue leads and cases that might develop a nexus to terrorism. Further, agents may not be sending potential terrorism related leads and cases to the JVU or to the JTTFs. The failure to pursue or report terrorism related cases would violate the terms of the MOA and would be detrimental to national security. However, none of the ICE agents we interviewed provided specific instances of violations and agents spoke of the matter in more broad terms. We have no direct evidence that any ICE agent has actually been derelict.

Nine agents from three field offices and ICE headquarters told us that they or other agents drop leads that appear to have a terrorism nexus, or choose to ignore a terrorism nexus and select violations unrelated to terrorism, in order to continue the case without FBI involvement.

[JURIST] Former Taiwanese opposition party leader Ma Ying-jeou [personal website, in Chinese; Wikipedia profile] was acquitted of corruption and accounting fraud charges by the Taipei District Court [official website, in Chinese] Tuesday. The court ruled [PDF text, in Chinese] that there was no evidence that Ma had misappropriated a special discretionary expense fund for his personal use during his term as the mayor of Taipei [government website, English version]. Prosecutors alleged that Ma used the funds for personal gain because he transferred $333,000 from the fund to his personal account. Ma has denied the charges [JURIST report], arguing that the practice was legitimate because he used the money to fund municipal events and pay city employees. A municipal accountant was convicted and sentenced to 14 months in prison for illegally consolidating multiple expenses by switching receipts. Prosecutors have 10 days to file an appeal, but have not yet indicated whether they plan to do so.

Ma, who resigned as party leader of the Kuomingtang (KMT) [party website] after he was indicted [JURIST report], is the KMT candidate and front runner in Taiwan's 2008 presidential elections. He is not the only Taiwanese politician to be accused of corruption recently; the investigation against Ma commenced after high-profile allegations of insider trading and corruption emerged against Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian [BBC profile] and several relatives. In June, a high court affirmed the conviction of Chen's son-in-law on insider trading charges. Chen's wife, Wu Shu-chen, was indicted [JURIST report] last November for embezzlement and falsifying documents. Prosecutors have indicated that they have enough evidence to also indict Chen, but Chen enjoys Article 52 [text] constitutional immunity from most criminal charges while he remains in office. Prosecutors say that the president and first lady embezzled $450,000 from the state affairs budget between 2002 and 2006. Chen has said that the funds were used for classified diplomatic purposes [JURIST report] although he has refused to produce documents to back his claim, saying they are state secrets. Chen has pledged to resign if his wife is found guilty, but it is unlikely that the trial will conclude before his term expires in 2008. AFP has more. The China Times has local coverage, in Chinese.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] is working to complete new guidelines limiting how federal courts can review state-issued death sentences, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. The guidelines will implement a provision included in the 2006 renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act [PDF text; JURIST report], which gives the US attorney general the authority to review whether states are providing "adequate counsel" for defendants sentenced to death. The attorney general's determination will be reviewable by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website]. The new guidelines will limit the amount of time defendants have to file a federal appeal to six months after their conviction, and also impose strict limitations on how long federal judges can take to decide the appeals. District judges will have 450 days while appellate judges will have 120 days. The expedited review process requires state attorneys general to submit an application to the DOJ to be admitted into the program.

Supporters of the expedited review process say it will counter the delays allegedly imposed by "liberal" federal judges and allow states to execute convicted criminals. Critics say the new guidelines will interfere with judicial review and create an inherent conflict of interest by giving the attorney general, the nation's top prosecutor, the authority to review whether defendants' have received a fair trial. The Los Angeles Times has more.

[JURIST] The United States has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) [official website] to establish a "dispute settlement panel" [press release] in its case against China for alleged lax enforcement of copyright and trademark violations [JURIST report; WTO backgrounder], the Office of the US Trade Representative [official website] announced Monday. The request came after the US and China failed to resolve their differences through bilateral consultations [WTO backgrounder] and will be considered by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body [WTO backgrounder] during its next session on August 31.

The case, filed in April, was denounced by Chinese officials [JURIST report] who warned that it would "seriously undermine the cooperative relations the two nations had established in the field." The US also has another case against China [WTO backgrounder] pending, which accuses the Chinese government of adopting "measures that restrict trading rights with respect to important films for theatrical release," audiovisual home entertainment products, and publications. In February, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab [official profile] announced a case [WTO backgrounder] against China for its practice of subsidizing enterprises that "purchase domestic over imported goods or [meet] certain export performance criteria." AFP has more.

[JURIST] Thai Supreme Court Judge Tonglor Choam-ngam issued arrest warrants Tuesday for former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and his wife Pojamarn, saying that the court had reason to believe that couple are "evading prosecution" by remaining in exile. Thaksin and Pojamarn are accused of abuse of power for personal gain [JURIST report], conflict of interest violations, and dereliction of duty for personal gain in charges stemming from a 2003 land purchase by Pojamarn from the government-directed Financial Institutions Development Fund [official website]. Government authorities have not decided whether to seek Thaksin and Pojarmarn's formal extradition from the United Kingdom.

Thaksin, who has been living in exile since his ouster in a September 2006 military coup [JURIST report], indicated that he will consult his legal advisers before making a decision on his course of action. The high court had ordered Thaksin to appear [JURIST report] for the Tuesday hearings, but Thaksin refused citing concerns for his personal safety and doubts on whether he will receive a fair trial [JURIST report]. If convicted, Thaksin and Pojamarn face a maximum punishment of 13 years in prison. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Reggie B. Walton on Monday ordered five reporters to testify [memorandum opinion, PDF] about government sources who provided them information about former US Army germ-warfare researcher Dr. Seteven J. Hatfill [WashPost profile], who was identified as a "person of interest" in the investigations of the 2001 anthrax attacks [GWU backgrounder]. Walton rejected arguments from the reporters that the information Hatfill is seeking has not been demonstrated to be central to Hatfill's civil lawsuit. Hatfill is suing the Department of Justice (DOJ) for its alleged violation of the US Privacy Act [text]. Hatfill contends that FBI and DOJ officials violated federal privacy laws [complaint, PDF; JURIST report] by providing personal information and information about the investigation to journalists. Walton also agreed Monday with a motion by several media companies to quash Hatfill's efforts to compel the companies to provide information, ruling that Hatfill had not exhausted "every reasonable alternative source of information."

In January, US District Judge Claude M. Hilton of the Eastern District of Virginia granted a motion for dismissal [JURIST report] made by the New York Times in a defamation suit filed by Hatfill against the paper. A prior suit against the Times and columnist Nicholas Kristof [NYT profile] was dismissed in the trial court, which ruled that the columns dealing with Hatfill were an ongoing report about a government investigation and did not constitute libel. The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed [opinion, PDF] the ruling, holding that a jury should decide that issue. Last year, the Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari [JURIST report] in the case. The New York Times has more.