[JURIST] Organic grocer Whole Foods Market [corporate website] agreed to a settlement [decision and order, PDF; FTC docket] with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) [official website] on Friday over its 2007 merger with rival grocer Wild Oats Market [corporate website]. If approved by the FTC Commissioners, the settlement will require Whole Foods to divest itself of approximately 32 store locations, including 13 operating stores and 19 closed locations, as well as all Wild Oats intellectual property, including the Wild Oats brand name and trademarks. In return, the FTC will stop its legal attempts [JURIST news archive] to block the merger. In a press release [text], the Acting Director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition David Wales said:

Over the past two years we never wavered in our belief that Whole Foods’ acquisition of Wild Oats was anticompetitive, and we were prepared to demonstrate in court the actual, real-world consumer harm that resulted from the transaction[.] The consent order announced today is a major win for consumers and is the result of the superb work done by all the FTC staff.

[JURIST] A Turkish court ordered the arrest of Cumhuriyet [media website, in Turkish] journalist Mustafa Balbay Thursday for his alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) [party website]. Balbay was arrested [Hurriyet report] along with internet publisher Neriman Aydin as part of the ongoing probe into secular group Ergenekon [BBC backgrounder]. The Ergenekon probe has been criticized as an attempt by the AKP to silence opposition and further their imposition of Islamic principles [Ha'aretz report; JURIST report] in violation of Turkey's secular constitution [text].

The arrests of Balbay and Aydin are among many others related to the Ergenekon probe. There are currently more than 100 suspects in custody, with 40 arrested January 7, another 12 arrested January 12, and 30 arrested January 19. [JURIST reports]. The suspects arrested include journalists, academics, army officers, policemen and Turkish Workers' Party [party website, in Turkish] leader Dogu Perincek [JURIST report]. These arrests came after the October trial [JURIST report] by the High Criminal Court in Istanbul for 86 defendants allegedly involved in the coup plot.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Friday granted [order, PDF] a motion by the US government to dismiss as moot an appeal challenging the indefinite detention of suspected al Qaeda operative Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri [NYT profile; JURIST news archive]. The Court had granted certiorari [JURIST report] in December on al-Marri's appeal of a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upholding his detention. Acting Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler presented a motion [text, PDF] to the Court, asking it to dismiss the appeal as moot in light of the administration's decision last week to try al-Marri in US federal court [JURIST report]. Al-Marri was indicted [indictment text; DOJ press release] last week on two charges of providing material support to al Qaeda and conspiring with others to provide material support to al Qaeda.

In January, shortly after taking office, President Barack Obama ordered an immediate review [JURIST report] of al-Marri's detention. Al-Marri was arrested at his home in Peoria, Illinois by civilian authorities in 2001, and was indicted for other crimes. In 2003, then-President George W. Bush declared him an enemy combatant [CNN report] and ordered the attorney general to transfer custody of al-Marri to the defense secretary, claiming inherent authority to hold him indefinitely. His indefinite detention and classification as an enemy combatant caused controversy between the Bush administration and rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website], which is providing him with legal representation [case materials]. Al-Marri has claimed abuse [JURIST report] while being held in a US Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina, where he currently remains.

[JURIST] Defense lawyers for former Russian oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky [defense website; JURIST news archive] on Friday sought to have new charges [JURIST report] of embezzlement and money laundering against Khordorkovsky and his former business partner Platon Lebedev [defense website] dropped. The two men are accused of illegally taking approximately $20 billion from Russian energy firm OAO Yukos Oil Co. [TIME backgrounder], but challenged the allegations, asserting that the evidence against them was insufficient [RIA Novosti report] to sustain the prosecution. Their trial on the charges began on Wednesday [JURIST report] and their latest request comes one day after Judge Viktor Danilkin refused to recuse himself [St. Petersburg Times report] from the case amid accusations of bias. If found guilty, Khodorkovsky could face 22 years in jail in addition to the eight years he is already serving for fraud and tax evasion.

Critics have claimed that the charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are politically motivated due to Khodorkovsky's opposition of former Russian president Vladimir Putin [JURIST news archive]. The transfer of the two from prison to Moscow to stand trial on the new charges was ordered [JURIST report] two weeks ago by a judge for the District Court in Moscow. Khodorkovsky still maintains that his 2005 conviction [JURIST report] on the fraud and tax evasion was unjust, and maintains his innocence. He requested early release from that sentence last July, but his application was rejected [JURIST reports] 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 has appealed [JURIST report] that decision.

[JURIST] The European Union (EU) [official website] announced Friday that it has entered into an agreement with Kenya [press release, PDF] to transfer suspected pirates [JURIST news archive] captured by EU counter-pirate operations into Kenyan custody for prosecution. The agreement contains provisions for the nine Somali pirates captured by German forces [DW report] on Tuesday, and "defines modalities" for any capture of suspected pirates in the future. Germany has maintained a presence in the Gulf of Aden as a part of the EU's Naval Forces Atalanta mission to stem pirate activity in the troubled Gulf region. The EU's agreement with Kenya is the first agreement [DW report] between the EU and a country located within that African region.

Kenya has become the lead prosecutor of suspected pirates captured by third-party countries within the Gulf of Aden. In November, eight Somalis were charged [JURIST report] in a Kenyan court [Kenya judiciary website] for piracy after being turned over to Kenyan officials by the British Royal Navy [official website]. In January 2006, the US Navy [official website] captured 10 Somali men 200 miles off the coast of Somalia and turned them over to Kenyan courts in Mombasa for prosecution [press release]. In November 2006, each of the 10 men was sentenced to seven years in prison.

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions [official website] Philip Alston on Friday called for an independent investigation into the Thursday killings of Kenyan human rights activists Oscar Kamau Kingara [advocacy profile] and John Paul Oulu. The two men were officers for the Oscar Foundation [advocacy website], a group critical of the Kenyan government for its use of extra-judicial killings, and were killed in Nairobi [BBC report] following student protests against police. Earlier in the day, a government official had accused [Standard report] the Oscar Foundation of fundraising for the Mungiki [BBC backgrounder] religious group, which has been banned in the country. Alston also called for the resignation [Daily Nation report] of Police Commissioner Hussein Ali and Attorney General Amos Wako in light of the killings, but Ali rebuked Alston's call and said that the police were capable of investigating the murders without a special investigation.

In February, Alston issued a report [text] on extra-judicial killings in Kenya in which he said that killings by the police in the country were "systematic, widespread and carefully planned," and that they were committed with "utter impunity." During his trip to the country, Alston met with Kingara, and the Oscar Foundation in 2007 issued its own report [text, JURIST report] claiming that police had killed more than 8,000 for their alleged connections to the Mungiki group.

[JURIST] A panel of legal and medical experts headed by Spanish Minister of Equality Bibiano Aido [official website, in Spanish] on Wednesday proposed sweeping reforms [press release, in Spanish] to Spain's current abortion [JURIST news archive] laws. The panel contends that women should have the right to choose to abort during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. Where the fetus is malformed or where the mother faces serious health risks, the panel suggests the right to abort should extend for up to 22 weeks. In cases where extreme fetal malformation would likely prove incompatible with life, the panel recommends extending the right to abort beyond 22 weeks. The panel also suggests the necessity of lowering the legal age from 18 to 16. These reforms are in sharp contrast with the current law, established in 1985, which allows women over the age of 18 the right to abort only in cases of rape (up to 12 weeks), fetal malformation (up to 22 weeks), and serious health risks to the mother (at any stage). Aido issued a statement [statement, PDF, in Spanish] in anticipation of public opposition to the reforms, urging society to view the law as a necessarily neutral guarantee of fairness to and protection of women in Spain. The Association for Families and Human Dignity [profile, in Spanish], a pro-life advocacy group, has already expressed their view that adding a relaxation of the law would be harmful to women [Diariocritico report, in Spanish] and would result in a spike of the number of abortions performed in the country.

The panel was formed in September [JURIST report] at the request of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero [official profile, in Spanish] as part of a series of social reforms including same-sex marriage [JURIST report] and streamlined divorce proceedings. Since Aido's committee was formed, the conservative Popular Party [official website, in Spanish] has repeatedly expressed the opinion [El Pais report, in Spanish] that relaxed abortion laws would stand in opposition to Article 15 of the Spanish Constitution [text, in Spanish], which guarantees the right to life.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] spokesman Rupert Colville said Friday that his office may investigate whether Sudan's expulsion of foreign aid agencies [Oxfam press release] is a possible breach of human rights law or war crime. Colville said that such an investigation had not yet begun, but strongly criticized [NYT report] Sudan for ordering the groups to leave. Also Friday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees [official website] spokesman Ron Redmond warned that the removal of the aid agencies could have a serious impact [press release] not only in Darfur, but also in the rest of Sudan and the region:

Our experience shows that when vulnerable populations are unable to get the help they need, they go elsewhere in search of protection and assistance. If food can't get through to people, for example, then those people will soon suffer and have to look elsewhere.

With some 4.7 million Sudanese – including 2.7 million internally displaced – already receiving assistance in Darfur, we are very concerned over the prospect of new population movements in the region should the fragile aid lifeline inside Sudan be disrupted. There are also 40,000 Chadian refugees in West Darfur.

[JURIST] The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] on Thursday held a hearing [press release] to reconsider California's request to regulate automobile greenhouse gases [materials]. Chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board [official website] Mary Nichols was joined by environmental groups and other state officials [AP report] at the hearing to encourage the EPA to reverse its prior decision [text] denying California's request. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia seek to adopt standards similar to California's. The Clean Air Act provisions on state standards [text] prohibit states from "adopt[ing] or attempt[ing] to enforce any standard relating to the control of emissions from new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines." However, a state can obtain a waiver for exemption from this policy following a public hearing "if the State determines that the State standards will be, in the aggregate, at least as protective of public health and welfare as applicable Federal standards." No such waiver will be issued if the EPA finds that "the determination of the State is arbitrary and capricious," "such State does not need such State standards to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions," or that "such State standards and accompanying enforcement procedures are not consistent with" Section 202(a) [text] of the Clean Air Act [materials].

California's request was initially denied in March 2008 on the grounds that California's regulations were aimed at addressing global climate change and that the Clean Air Act "intended to allow California to promulgate state standards" to "address pollution problems that are local or regional." In January, President Barack Obama ordered [memorandum; JURIST report] the EPA to reassess its 2008 holding. In May 2008, a report by the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that the Bush White House had influenced the March 2008 decision and that the administration later refused to turn over requested documents [JURIST reports] concerning the decision to the committee, citing executive privilege. The 2007 Supreme Court decision of Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency [decision, PDF] held that the EPA has the authority to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

[JURIST] The Sri Lankan government [official website; JURIST news archive] and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) [group website; JURIST news archive] should agree on an evacuation plan for civilians [press release] caught in hostilities between the groups in the country's Vanni region, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] Wednesday. HRW said that approximately 150,000 civilians are caught in the area, and that more than 2,000 have been killed in the last two months. Also Wednesday, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [advocacy website] head of South Asian operations Jaques de Maio said the situation in the country was dire [interview text]:

[I]t is definitely one of the most disastrous situations I have come across. Yet it would be possible to avoid further unnecessary suffering and death by allowing civilians who want to leave to get out of the area. It is urgent that more humanitarian assistance be brought into the Vanni now.