[JURIST] Women's rights activist Delaram Ali [advocacy profile; personal blog] is to begin a sentence [JURIST report] of 34 months in prison and 10 lashes Saturday, despite leniency pleas from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Change for Equality [advocacy reports]. Ali was sentenced for her part in a 2006 demonstration [JURIST report], where she and other activists protested Iranian laws that discriminate against women. She had been out on bail, but her pending appeal was recently dismissed and Iranian authorities ordered her to begin serving her sentence on Saturday. Charges of abuse [arrest photos] that Ali had brought against police were also dismissed.

The demonstration was intended to help collect one million signatures [advocacy website] protesting Iran's interpretation of Sharia law [BBC backgrounder], which has been held to require a woman to obtain her male guardian's permission to work or travel, to prohibit women from serving as judges, and to give a woman's testimony only half the value of a man's. Ali was officially charged [Iranian penal code, PDF] with "acting against national security" and "advertising against the system," as were other activists present. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Malaysian police Saturday fired tear gas and water cannons at demonstrators participating in an unauthorised election reform rally held by the electoral rights group Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) [advocacy website] in the face of official warnings. BERSIH said 23 people were arrested. Marchers managed to reach the National Palace of Malaysia [JURIST news archive], where they delivered a memorandum calling for, among other things, "the use of indelible ink to prevent multiple voting" and "fair and equitable access to the national media." BERSIH called the "flawed electoral process - which virtually guarantees the perpetual rule of the governing Barisan Nasional" the "core cause of the exploding political, administrative and judicial rot in Malaysia, with far-reaching implications on the economy and society at large." The group said 40,000 to 50,000 people attended the rally, but claimed the number would have been higher if not for police interference, which included roadblocks, checking cars for BERSIH-related shirts and other material, turning back buses, and preventing commuter trains from stopping at stations closest to the venue.

At a United Malays National Organisation political party conference earlier in the week, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi [official website; BBC News profile] had warned activists of a stern response if the rally planned for Saturday went ahead, pointing out that no permit had been issued. In September, a group of Malaysian lawyers made a similar march, delivering a memorandum protesting judicial corruption [JURIST report]. BBC News has more. Channel NewsAsia has additional coverage.

[JURIST] New Jersey Assembly speaker Joseph Roberts, Jr. [official profile] said Friday that the State Assembly [official website] will vote Dec. 13 on a proposal [A3716, PDF] to abolish the death penalty [JURIST news archive]. If the vote passes, New Jersey would be the first state to abolish capital punishment since it was reinstated nationally in 1976. The proposal is divided along party lines, but the two most influential politicians in the state, Gov. Jon Corzine (D) and Senate President Richard Codey (D) [official profiles], have voiced their support for the initiative. New Jersey currently has eight prisoners on death row, but there have been no executions in the state since 1963.

A report [PDF text; JURIST report] in January endorsed by 12 of the 13 members of the New Jersey Death Penalty Commission [official website] concluded that there was "no compelling evidence that the New Jersey death penalty rationally serves a legitimate penological intent," although there was "increasing evidence that the death penalty is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency." Corzine, a longtime opponent of capital punishment, welcomed the report [statement] and said he would work with the legislature to implement it. AP has more. The Star-Ledger has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Saudi Arabian government said Saturday that 14 Saudi detainees have returned home [SPA press release; DOD press release] following their transfers from Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz [official website] said that the ex-detainees would be referred to Saudi courts, but it was unclear what charges, if any, that they would face.

The transfer follows a similar transfer of 16 Saudis [JURIST report] in September, and now brings the total number of Saudi detainees at Guantanamo down to 22. On Monday, the DOD transferred 11 prisoners [JURIST report] to Jordan and Afghanistan, and now lists the total number of detainees eligible for transfer at 70. In August President George W. Bush expressed hope that the Guantanamo detention facility would eventually be shut down [JURIST report], but said that other countries have shown reluctance to accept detainees. Roughly 305 detainees remain at the prison facility. AP has more.

[JURIST] Police blocked former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC profile] from visiting deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry [JURIST news archive] Saturday, despite orders issued Friday lifting her house arrest [JURIST report] and allowing her to freely move about the country. Bhutto used a megaphone to chant "He is the chief justice, he is the real chief justice," as she tried to move through the police blockade that encircled Chaudhry's residence in Islamabad. Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan [JURIST report] last month after a decade of self-imposed exile in England and Dubai, also planned to move forward with a pro-democracy rally in direct defiance of a declaration of emergency rule [PDF text] issued by President Pervez Musharraf [BBC profile]. Bhutto said that the protest could be avoided if Musharraf ended emergency rule, reinstated Pakistan's constitution, stepped down as Chief of Army Staff, and allowed planned parliamentary elections to occur in January.

Musharraf issued the emergency declaration [JURIST news archive] last week citing an increase in Islamic extremism and interference by the judiciary in executive affairs. The declaration has sparked nationwide protests and resulted in the detention of hundreds of lawyers, rights activists and opposition figures [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Nineteen lawmakers in the US House of Representatives [official website] have introduced a resolution [HR 250 materials] to support Taiwan's bid for UN membership. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) [official website] introduced the bill at a Thursday meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee [official website], despite opposition by the Bush administration to a recent push by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-Ban [official profile; BBC profile] for a Taiwanese national referendum on UN membership [JURIST report]. No date has been set for debate on the legislation.

The resolution was introduced despite the fact that the UN General Assembly rejected Taiwan's latest effort to gain a seat in the UN in September. Taiwan, which officially refers to itself as the Republic of China, was kicked out of the UN in 1971 by General Assembly Resolution 2758 [PDF text] and replaced by the People's Republic of China as the representative of China. This is the 15th straight year that Taiwan's application for UN membership has been rejected. AFP has more.