[JURIST] The trial of former Suriname [JURIST news archive] dictator Desi Bouterse [backgrounder] resumed Friday with testimony by a former prison warden that he brought a leader of a 1982 military coup to an army barracks for execution. The testimony [AFP report] of the former warden of Suriname's Santo Boma prison, a former military officer under Bouterse, came during the ongoing trial of Bouterse for the so-called "December Murders" of 15 of Bouterse's political opponents by the military regime at Fort Zeelandia, Paramarimbo in 1982. The trial began [JURIST report] in July 2008, and has already included testimony by Bouterse's former bodyguard Onno Flohr that the former dictator was present at the killings. Bouterse, who was charged [JURIST report] in April 2008 and faces up to 20 years in prison, has staunchly denied his involvement, insisting that he was not present at the military compound at the time of the shootings.

Bouterse seized control of northeastern South American state of Suriname during a military coup in 1980, five years after the country achieved independence from the Netherlands. He stepped down in 1987 in the face of international pressure and briefly seized power in 1991. He is now the leader of the county’s primary opposition party, the National Democratic Party [official website, in Dutch], which is preparing for the 2010 presidential elections.

[JURIST] A report prepared for the Pentagon by US Navy Admiral Patrick Walsh [official profile] has concluded that the Guantanamo Bay detention center [JURIST news archive] meets the requirements of the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials], according to Friday statements from US officials who have reviewed the document. The report, which has not been released, was prepared by the Pentagon in response to President Barack Obama's January 22 executive order [text; JURIST report] requiring the closure of the Guantanamo facility within one year. The report is believed to contain recommendations [NYT report] to alleviate solitary conditions in the prison by increasing the ability of detainees to speak with each other and congregate in communal spaces. The report also approved certain controversial tactics [Washington Post report] used at the facility, including the force feeding of inmates engaged in hunger strikes, and the placement of high-risk detainees in isolation.

Walsh was chosen [Pentagon press release; JURIST report] to lead the assessment of operations last month by Defense Secretary Robert Gates [official profile], pursuant to the January 22 executive order. Last week, the Obama administration announced that it had taken the first step towards closure of the Guantanamo facility by beginning a review of detainees [JURIST report] being held at the prison. The January 22 order called for the review to be conducted by a "Special Task Force on Detainee Disposition," which includes US Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] and Gates as co-chairs. The review is intended to determine the options available in regards to the prosecution, transfer, or other dispositions of detainees, along with providing an assessment of detention policies. In addition, the order instructed Gates immediately to halt military commission [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] proceedings pending the comprehensive review, but did not specify where detainees would go upon release. The order also called for diplomatic efforts with foreign states in order to facilitate the closure of the facility.

[JURIST] A three judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Friday unanimously upheld [opinion text, PDF] a US District Court ruling [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] that a California law [text, PDF] banning sales of video games to minors is unconstitutional because it is a violation of First Amendment free speech rights. In Video Software Dealers Assoc. v. Schwarzenegger, the appellants, a group of California state officials, argued for a reduced standard of review based on US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] precedent in Ginsberg v. New York [opinion text]. The Ninth Circuit refused to apply the lower “variable obscenity” standard from Ginsberg instead of strict scrutiny based on the differences between sexually explicit content, which was the subject in Ginsberg, and violent content. In its opinion the court also found that the appellants did not meet the strict scrutiny standard by presenting a compelling state interest which was narrowly tailored:

In sum, the evidence presented by the State does not support the Legislature’s purported interest in preventing psychological or neurological harm... [n]one of the research establishes or suggests a causal link between minors playing violent video games and actual psychological or neurological harm, and inferences to that effect would not be reasonable. In fact, some of the studies caution against inferring causation. Although we do not require the State to demonstrate a “scientific certainty,” the State must come forward with more than it has. As a result, the State has not met its burden to demonstrate a compelling interest.

Instead of focusing its argument on the possibility of less restrictive means, the State obscures the analysis by focusing on the “most effective” means, which it asserts is the one thousand dollar penalty imposed for each violation. Further, the State does not acknowledge the possibility that an enhanced education campaign about the ESRB rating system directed at retailers and parents would help achieve government interests. Even assuming that the State’s interests in enacting the Act are sufficient, the State has not demonstrated why less restrictive means would not forward its interests. The Act, therefore, is not narrowly tailored.

[JURIST] A judge for the Khamovnichesky District Court in Moscow on Thursday ordered former Russian oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky [defense website; JURIST news archive] to be transferred to the Russian capital to face new charges [JURIST report] including embezzlement and theft, according to court officials. Both Khodorkovsky and his former partner Platon Lebedev [defense website] are to be transferred from the Siberian region of Chita, where both men have been serving prison sentences based on 2005 convictions [JURIST report] for fraud and tax evasion. A preliminary hearing on the charges is set [Moscow Times report] for March 3 at the Khamovnichesky Court. Khodorkovsky's lawyers called the charges baseless, and several critics believe they are politically motivated based on Khordorkovsky's opposition of former Russian president Vladimir Putin [JURIST news archive]. Also this week, the European Court of Human Rights [official website] published its January decision [text] to accept a $34 billion lawsuit [RIA Novosti] filed in 2004 by former managers of Khodorkovsky's company OAO Yukos Oil Co. [TIME backgrounder]. The complaint alleged that the tax charges against Yukos, which led the company to bankruptcy, were part of an illegal effort by the Russian government to seize the company. In accepting the claims, the court rejected arguments by the Russian government that the complaint should not be heard because the claimants failed to exhaust all appeals in Russian courts and that that the company did not legally existed after 2007.

Khodorkovsky was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2005 for fraud and tax evasion, charges which he still denies. Khodorkovsky applied for early release last July, but his application was rejected [JURIST reports] by a Russian judge in August because he disobeyed guards at the Krasnokamensk penal colony [Guardian backgrounder], refused to participate in a training program, and faced the possibility of additional charges. Khodorkovsky appealed [JURIST report] that decision in September.