[JURIST] Four professors at the University of Dhaka [university website] in Bangladesh [JURIST news archive] were acquitted Monday of inciting students during campus protests which caused the interim government to impose a curfew [JURIST report] in August 2007. Eleven students were also acquitted for their part in the protests. Four other youths were sentenced in absentia to two years imprisonment. Lack of evidence was cited as the reason for the acquittals. In a separate action, the President of Bangladesh, Iajuddin Ahmed [official profile], pardoned fourteen students from Dhaka and Rajshahi [official website] universities who were involved in the August uprisings.

The acquittals comes a month after four university professors from Rajshahi University were sentenced [JURIST report] to prison terms for their involvement in the protests. The student protests against the military-backed interim government resulted in hundreds of injuries and one death. The riots first began at Dhaka University, when students demanded that a military post be removed from the campus, and then spilled out into the Dhaka city streets. Protesters called for an end to emergency laws [JURIST report], which have been in place since January 2007. Reuters has more.

9:58 PM ET - A late report says President Ahmed has pardoned the four convicted students. From Dhaka, the Daily Star has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers for the east African state of Djibouti Monday asked the International Court of Justice [official website] to allow the country to take over a French murder probe into the death of French judge Bernard Borrel [advocacy website, in French] as public hearings in Djibouti v. France [ICJ case archive; JURIST report] began at The Hague. The case was brought by Djibouti in 2006 in a bid to force France to turn over investigation materials and to withdraw summonses against Djibouti government officials, including Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh [IRIN backgrounder], accused of involvement in the death by the judge's widow, Elisabeth Borrel. Djibouti maintains that France has no right to summon Djibouti officials because of diplomatic immunity.

Borrel was as an adviser to the Djibouti Justice Ministry when he was found dead near the city of Djibouti in 1995 while engaged in a money laundering probe. In a initial investigation Djibouti authorities ruled the death a suicide, but subsequent investigations by the French found that there was a possibility of murder. Borrel's widow has argued against the transfer by saying that senior government officials of Djibouti have been implicated in the murder and that the authorities are not neutral. AP has more.

[JURIST] The most popular independent television network in Pakistan, Geo-TV [media website], resumed on-air broadcasting Monday after the government lifted a ban imposed during the declaration of emergency rule [JURIST reports] issued by President Pervez Musharraf [JURIST news archive] in November. The network was allowed to start broadcasting again only after it signed a government code of conduct which included guidelines on media conduct. The guidelines include bans on live coverage of demonstrations and programs that "defame or ridicule" the President, and require anchors and talk show hosts not to give opinions that threaten Pakistan's sovereignty and security.

Geo-TV risked the wrath of the Musharraf regime in March 2007 when it provided extensive coverage of events surrounding the suspension and eventual reinstatement of now-ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry [official profile; JURIST news archive]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Iraqi parliament [official website, in Arabic] gave first reading Monday to a draft bill forwarded by the Iraqi cabinet [JURIST report] which could allow for the pardon and release of around 5,000 detainees currently held in Iraqi prisons. The bill, approved [JURIST report] by the cabinet in December 2007, would exclude prisoners held in US custody and others who are imprisoned for a number of different crimes including terrorism, kidnapping, rape, adultery and homosexuality. The bill would also exclude senior Baath party [JURIST news archive] figures from the regime of Saddam Hussein. The bill will be put to a vote after a second reading scheduled in four days.

Currently, there are more than 26,000 detainees held in US-run Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca and some 24,000 more held in facilities run by the Iraqi defense, interior and justice ministries. Most of the detainees covered by the bill are Sunni Arabs [IHT report] who have been held for more than a year on suspicion of supporting the insurgency. Despite criticism by Sunni members of parliament who say the bill is too limited, Iraqi officials have expressed hope that mass releases will help ease tensions between Shiite and Sunni communities and boost national reconciliation. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Malaysian lawyer whose 2001 video [Malaysian Bar Council report and streaming video] of a deal over a judicial appointment has sparked accusations and investigations into judicial corruption, claimed Monday he must have been intoxicated when he appeared to be arranging for the appointment of "friendly" senior judges. V.K. Lingam told an official inquiry that he "must have had one too many drinks" in the video which apparently shows him on the phone with someone who is believed to be former Malaysian Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim [Wikipedia profile] brokering Halim's appointment to become chief justice with the help of a tycoon and a politician. At the time of the video in December 2001, Halim was Malaysia's third-ranking judge but served as chief justice from 2003 to 2007. Lingam also would not confirm or deny he was the man in the video and has rejected claims that he conspired to rig judicial appointments.

The inquiry has produced evidence of a close and sometimes dubious relationship between the Malaysian judiciary and lawyers, politicians and businessmen. In September 2007, approximately 2,000 lawyers and activists, led by the Malaysian Bar Council [profession website], held a large protest [press release; JURIST report] in Malaysia's capital, calling for an investigation into judicial corruption. In November, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi [official profile] announced that a Royal Commission would be set up to investigate the matter. AP has more. The International Herald Tribune has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] Sunday condemned the appointment of a suspected Janjaweed [Slate backgrounder] militia leader as an advisor to Sudan's Ministry of Federal Affairs and special advisor to President Omar El Bashir [BBC profile]. Musa Hilal is a tribal leader from northern Darfur [BBC report] and is suspected of running one of the 16 known Janjaweed bases. The Janjaweed are accused of committing atrocities and mass murders of Darfur civilians. Federal Affairs Minister Abdelbasit Sabderat told AP Monday that Hilal's appointment is already effective and that he will be handling tribal affairs throughout the Sudan [JURIST news archive]. HRW called the appointment of Hilal "a stunning affront" to victims [press release] of Janjaweed atrocities committed in Darfur [JURIST news archive].

Hilal was identified as an individual responsible for acts or abuses committed in Darfur in April 2006 when the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1672 [text; JURIST report], restricting his assets and international travel. Since fighting between the government-backed Janjaweed and ethnic African rebels began in 2003, over 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been forced into refugee camps. AP has more.