[JURIST] The possibility that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf [official website; JURIST news archive] will face impeachment increased Saturday as a spokesman for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) [official website], the main ruling party in the country, said it will not protect him from criminal charges if he does not announce he will step down. AP quoted Pakistan foreign minister and PPP member Shah Mahmood Qureshi [official profile] as saying that "If [Musharraf] fails to decide to quit within the next two days, the impeachment process will take its course." On Friday Pakistan's Minister of Information and Broadcasting said that a draft charge-sheet against Musharraf had been finalized and turned over to the Minister of Law and Justice [official website]. Three provincial assemblies have already passed resolutions favoring impeachment, including the Punjab Provincial Assembly [official website] which voted [JURIST report] on Monday. AP has more. The Times of India has additional coverage.

Earlier this month, Musharraf affirmed his June vow [Dawn report] that he will neither step down nor go into exile in the face of impeachment threats. Impeachment would require the endorsement of two-thirds of legislators in a joint session of parliament.

[JURIST] Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre [HRW materials; JURIST news archive] and eleven other rebel commanders were sentenced to death Friday in a Chadian court for crimes against the state after a mass trial in which dozens were tried. Habre is currently living in Senegal where he is to be eventually tried [JURIST report] on charges for murder and torture. The court, lead by Judge Ngarhondo Dgide, issued no warrants for the defendants and they mounted no legal defense during the hearings. Among those sentenced were Mahamat Nouri [Nationmaster profile], Habre's defense minister, and Timane Erdimi, the cousin of current Chadian President Idriss Deby [BBC profile]. Both Erdimi and Habre's lawyer said they had heard nothing official about the proceedings. At the same trial 32 others were sentenced in absentia to life in prison with hard labor for attempting to "overturn constitutional order". The International Herald Tribune has more. Al-Jazeera has additional coverage.

Habre has been accused of involvement in the murder or torture of more than 40,000 political opponents during his rule from 1982 to 1990. Senegal courts have long refused to extradite Habre, despite the issuance of an international arrest warrant [JURIST reports] by Belgium pursuant to its universal jurisdiction laws [HRW backgrounder]. Under growing international pressure to either try Habre locally or extradite him to Belgium, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade [official profile, in French; BBC profile] agreed in April 2006 to try him in Senegal and the Senegalese government later determined [JURIST report] he would face charges in a criminal court, rather than in front of a special tribunal. Previously the Senegalese courts dismissed an action against him in 2001 [HRW case backgrounder], claiming that they lacked jurisdiction over crimes committed elsewhere. In July this year Senegal formally adopted [JURIST report] a constitutional amendment giving the nation's courts jurisdiction over Habre's trial.

[JURIST] Chinese media reported Friday that the Shanghai Municipal First Intermediate People's Court sentenced a former city official to death [JURIST news archive] after being convicted of multiple corruption charges on Thursday, though the sentence will not be imposed for another two years. Former deputy director of the Shanghai Housing, Land and Resources Administration Bureau [official website, English version] Yin Guoguan was suspected of using city pension funds to make loans for real estate purchases. The court sentenced him to death for accepting bribes and for possession of ammunition, six years in prison for abuse of authority, and four years in prison for possessing property of unknown origin. The death sentence could eventually be reduced to a sentence of life in prison. AP has more. Xinhua has local coverage, in Chinese.

China has taken a hard line on corruption in recent years, punishing several officials with lengthy prison terms or execution [JURIST report]. In January, the Chinese government issued new anti-corruption rules [JURIST report] for public officials. In December 2007, a former prosecutor received a suspended death sentence [JURIST report] after being convicted of accepting bribes and embezzling money. In September 2007, a former official of the Agricultural Bank of China was executed [JURIST report] for taking bribes and embezzling nearly $2 million. In July 2007, the former commissioner of China's State Food and Drug Administration was executed for accepting $850,000 in bribes [JURIST report].

[JURIST] Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic [official profile] presented a formal request [press release] to the UN General Assembly [official website] Friday seeking a determination by the International Court of Justice [official website] on the legality of Kosovo's February declaration of independence [JURIST report; JURIST news archive] from Serbia. Jeremic sought to have the anticipated request [JURIST report] included on the agenda for the General Assembly's upcoming 63rd Session [meeting schedule] in September. Jeremic said his goal is to obtain an advisory opinion on the legality of the unilateral independence proclamation, to stop further recognition of Kosovo's independence, and to ultimately return to negotiations with Kosovo. AFP has more.

Kosovo declared its independence after negotiations on a UN-supervised independence plan stalled last year in part due to objections [JURIST reports] from Russia and Serbia's insistence that the province should only be given autonomous status short of full independence.