[JURIST] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [official profile; JURIST news archive] on Sunday issued an order to prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi to recognize the legal rights of detained journalists Roxana Saberi [advocacy website] and Hossein Derakhshan [personal weblog], according to a report [text] by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). According to the IRNA, the letter called for Mortazavi to make sure the cases against the two were governed by the interests of justice, and that their right to legally defend themselves was recognized, but no other details were released. Saberi is an Iranian-American journalist who was sentenced [JURIST report] to eight years in prison for espionage by an Iranian court on Saturday, and Derakhshan is an Iranian-Canadian blogger who has been detained [Times report] in the country since November, also on espionage charges. Critics of Saberi's arrest and conviction maintain that her trial was a farce [AP report] and have said that the statement was motivated by politics rather than justice.

Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists [advocacy website] reported that Iran ranked sixth in the world [report] for total number of imprisoned journalists. In the past two years, Iran has arrested several journalists and scholars on espionage charges. In 2007, Iran accused four Iranian-Americans of belonging to a US-organized spy network. Iran formally charged [JURIST report] Iranian-American scholar Dr. Haleh Esfandiari [WWC profile] for allegedly plotting "against the sovereignty of the country." Iran also charged Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh [OSI press release] and Radio Farda [media website] correspondent Parnaz Azima with allegedly engaging in an espionage conspiracy [JURIST report]. An Iranian judge said that Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh admitted to carrying out some "activities" [JURIST report], although it was unclear if their statements were tantamount to an admission of spying.

[JURIST] French police arrested Jurdan Martitegi Lizaso [El Pais backgrounder, in Spanish], the alleged leader of Spain's Basque separatist group ETA [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], and two others during Saturday raids in which Spanish police also arrested six other suspected members of the group. Officials alleged that the group was planning a terrorist attack [El Pais report, in Spanish] in Spain, as part of their efforts for Basque independence, and that guns and bomb-making materials were also found during the raids. Spanish Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero [official profile, in Spanish] applauded the capture [press release, in Spanish] of the men, thanking French authorities for their cooperation and warning that the country would continue aggressively to seek the capture of ETA members.

In February, Spain's Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] unanimously banned [JURIST report] the Basque separatist political groups Democracy 3 Million (D3M) and Askatasuna [orders, PDF, in Spanish] from participation in the coming March elections. In January, a Spanish court dismissed the case against Basque Regional Prime Minister Juan José Ibarretxe [official profile]. He and the two leaders of the Basque socialist party were charged [JURIST report] with illegally communicating with the banned Batasuna party [BBC backgrounder], the political wing of the ETA. In November, French authorities arrested [JURIST report] alleged former ETA leader Mikel Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina [BBC backgrounder] near the country's border with Spain. In September, the court banned [JURIST report] the Basque Nationalist Action Party (ANV) from taking part in political activities because of its alleged ties to Batasuna.

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official website] is in violation of international law for declining to prosecute Bush-era CIA agents who allegedly used torture [JURIST news archive], UN special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak [official profile, DOC] said in an interview [text, in German] published Friday in Austrian newspaper Der Standard [media website, in German]. Nowak said the US is bound by the UN Convention Against Torture [text], which requires prosecution in all cases in which there is evidence of torture. Nowak said there was still a possibility of trying agents in American courts, because Obama did not grant them amnesty. Nowak called for an independent investigation and compensation for torture victims.

On Thursday, Obama asserted his intention not to investigate individuals who used or authorized enhanced interrogation techniques, the same day the Department of Justice released memos [JURIST reports] outlining CIA use of those techniques. Earlier this month, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released a final version of a report [JURIST report] calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to determine whether any criminal laws were violated. In March, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) also called for an investigation [JURIST report] into Bush administration policies through the formation of a "truth commission."

[JURIST] The government of Serbia [JURIST news archive] on Friday submitted [press release] its arguments against the legality of Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence [JURIST news archive] to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website; JURIST news archive]. Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic [official profile] said the government, in the almost 1,000 pages it submitted in the case [materials], argues that the claim of independence violated [press release] UN Security Council Resolution 1244 [text, PDF], which reaffirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Serbian state, the UN Charter [text], and the Helsinki Final Act [text, PDF]. Jeremic said Serbia is asking the court to consider the effect its holding will have on similar cases worldwide, noting that China [JURIST news archive] had, for the first time, offered its opinion to the ICJ for this case.

In March, more than 100 Serbian judges, prosecutors, and legal professionals prevented the opening [JURIST report] of the first EU-backed trial in Kosovo by protesting in front of the Mitrovica court house. In October, the UN General Assembly [official website] voted [JURIST report] to ask the ICJ for a non-binding advisory opinion on the legality of the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo. That same month, Serbian President Boris Tadic [official website] said he had not ruled out partitioning parts of Kosovo [JURIST report]. Kosovo's constitution [text] went into effect [JURIST report] in 2008 despite Serbia's argument that the charter of the breakaway province was legally void.