[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website] on Monday ruled [opinion, PDF] that a lawsuit brought by an Islamic charity that alleged it was the subject of an illegal wiretap by the National Security Agency (NSA) [official website] may proceed. Judge Vaughn Walker had previously dismissed the suit [JURIST report], finding that the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation [JURIST news archive] lacked a cause of action because the state secrets privilege [JURIST news archive] trumped procedural requirements under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [text; JURIST news archive]. In Monday's ruling, Walker revived the lawsuit, finding that plaintiffs had enough information so that they could reasonably believe they had been subjected to illegal wiretapping and that certain classified documents should now be reviewed. According to Walker's order:

the court will review the Sealed Document ex parte and in camera. The court will then issue an order regarding whether plaintiffs may proceed - that is, whether the Sealed Document establishes that plaintiffs were subject to electronic surveillance not authorized by FISA.

[JURIST] Human rights group Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) [advocacy website] on Tuesday reported that Chinese activist and blogger Chen Qitang was sentenced last month to two-and-a-half years in prison [press release] for impersonation and fraud. According to the group, Chen's wife Zhang Yueqing learned of his sentence when she called the Foshan Court in Guangdong Province in order to get information on her husband's situation. She was informed that he had already been tried and sentenced, apparently without a lawyer. CHRD claims that Chen's arrest and conviction are in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) [text] and thus unlawful. The government initially refused to comment but promised to release additional information [Sydney Morning Herald report] within the next two days. 

Chen was initially detained in October 2007 and was formally arrested in December of that year. His detention occurred shortly after he made disparaging remarks about the Chinese government on his blog [text, in Mandarin], while he was helping villagers in Sanshan Village, Nanhai District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province draft legal documents appealing the confiscation of their land by the local government. The Chinese government has detained and convicted other activists [JURIST news archive]. China recently released activist Hu Shigen [PEN profile] after he served 16 years of a 20 year sentence. Last April China denied the appeal [JURIST report] of Hu Jia [advocacy blog; JURIST news archive], despite allegations of torture, and imprisoned his supporter Teng Biao for two days without charge. 

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] on Monday announced that two Transportation Security Administration (TSA) [official website] officials and JetBlue Airways [corporate website] have paid a $240,000 settlement [press release] to a man who claims he was discriminated against on a flight. Raed Jarrar [personal blog] alleged that he was illegally discriminated against based on his ethnicity and the Arabic writing on his T-shirt [image], which read "We shall not be silent" in both Arabic and English. TSA and JetBlue Airways agreed to the settlement late last month.

In August 2006, Jarrar was forced both to cover his T-shirt and then to change his seat from near the front of the plane to the rear. Neither the TSA nor JetBlue felt that Jarrar posed a security risk. The ACLU and Jarrar filed suit [complaint text] in 2007. The complaint alleged that one TSA official told Jarrar that "it is impermissible to wear an Arabic shirt to an airport and equated it to a "person wearing a t-shirt at a bank stating, 'I am a robber.'"

[JURIST] An Indonesian court Monday sentenced former legislator Al Amien Nur Nasution to eight years in prison and ordered him to pay more than $23,000 in fines in connection with bribery and blackmail charges. The court found Al Amien, former member of the House of Representatives agricultural and forestry commission, guilty of receiving kickbacks [Jakarta Post report] from local businessmen for securing House approval of several forest conservation projects as well as for blackmailing several companies in order to obtain a global positioning system (GPS), gas stations, and sanitation equipment for the Forestry Ministry. The court dismissed allegations [Jakarta Post report] that Al Amien influenced a House commission decision to go through with the conservation project. Al Amien has said he will appeal the verdict.

Several other former members of the House commission for forestry and agricultural affairs have also been implicated. In September, former commission member Sarjan Tahir was sentenced to twenty years [Jakarta Post report] for his role in one of the conservation bribery schemes.

[JURIST] Judges for the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] on Monday ruled [opinion, PDF] that the City of Chicago's use of mounted cameras that take pictures of motorists running red lights or making illegal turns does not violate equal protection or due process. More than 200 so-called "red light cameras" have been installed in the Chicago area [Chicago Sun-Times report] since 2003, and a photographed violation results in the mailing of a $90 fine to the owner of the vehicle. Three automobile owners claiming they had received fines for the actions of other drivers using their cars filed suit against the city, claiming that the system punishes owners rather than specific drivers. They also argued that the system violates due process and equal protection, and that it generates citywide revenue rather than acts as a law enforcement mechanism. The court dismissed all of the plaintiffs' arguments, holding:

A camera can show reliably which cars and trucks go through red lights but is less likely to show who was driving. That would make it easy for owners to point the finger at friends or children - and essentially impossible for the City to prove otherwise. A system of photographic evidence reduces the costs of law enforcement and increases the proportion of all traffic offenses that are detected; these benefits can be achieved only if the owner is held responsible.

[JURIST] US President-elect Barack Obama [transition website] on Monday nominated four former Clinton-era attorneys to high-level posts [press release] within the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website]. Obama has designated Elena Kagan as his pick for Solicitor General, David Ogden to be Deputy Attorney General, Tom Perrelli as Associate Attorney General, and Dawn Johnsen [professional profiles] as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. Kagan [HLS press release], Dean of Harvard Law School, served as Associate Counsel to the President and then as Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council under former President Bill Clinton. Ogden, a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, served as Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division under Clinton. Perrelli, a partner at Jenner & Block, served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General during the Clinton administration. Johnsen, a professor of law at Indiana University, served in the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel as the acting assistant attorney general heading that office and as a deputy assistant attorney general under Clinton. Obama said:

These individuals bring the integrity, depth of experience and tenacity that the Department of Justice demands in these uncertain times. I have the fullest confidence that they will ensure that the Department of Justice once again fulfills its highest purpose: to uphold the Constitution and protect the American people. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.

[JURIST] The trial for imprisoned Zimbabwe human rights activist and head of Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) [advocacy materials] Jestina Mukoko [advocacy website, JURIST news archive] was put on hold Monday until she recieves medical care. Mukoko was allegedly tortured and forced to ingest poisons while imprisoned in Chikurubi Maximum Security prison after a judge ordered that she remain in custody [JURIST reports] over the weekend. Mukoko had previously been ordered released from the prison for medical care [JURIST report] but the state ignored the order.

Mukoko, who played a key role in monitoring and publicizing the violence that has occurred before and after the recent Zimbabwe presidential elections and the run-off elections [JURIST reports] that followed, was apprehended from her home on December 3 and held in an undisclosed location for several weeks because of her alleged involvement in Mugabe's opposition. Mukoko is accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Zimbabwe's President Mugabe. Rumors of mistreatment have alarmed human rights groups [OMCT press release] worldwide and compelled worldwide protest.

[JURIST] A Paris court on Monday began a trial in absentia for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], the self-proclaimed architect of the 9/11 attacks [JURIST report], for his alleged involvement in a suicide bombing of a Tunisian synagogue [BBC report] located in Djerba in April 2002. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, in which 21 people were killed. Mohammed, along with German national Christian Ganczarski [Global Jihad profile] and Tunisian citizen Walid Nouar, are accused of "complicity in attempted murder in relation to a terrorist enterprise" for their roles in the planning the attack, carried out by Nouar's brother Nizar Nouar. Among those killed were two French citizens, giving French courts jurisdiction under French law. Immediately prior to carrying out the attack, Nizar Nouar called both Mohammed and Ganczarski. Though Mohammed is the most well-known of the accused, Ganczarski is expected to be the focus of the trial, as he is accused of giving Nizar Nouar the final approval [AFP report] to commit the suicide attack.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed must be tried in absentia because he is currently held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] military prison in Cuba in anticipation of his trial on charges relating to the 9/11 attacks. Last month, Mohammed and four other defendants said they wanted to withdraw all motions and plead guilty [JURIST report] to the charges against them relating to 9/11. The suspects later postponed their offers to plead guilty [JURIST report] after the judge required competency hearings for two of them.