[JURIST] A Russian law outlawing gambling in most of the country went into effect Wednesday, with authorities shutting down casinos and confiscating gambling machines. The law, passed [NYT report] in 2007, bans gaming in Russia's cities and towns, but designates some remote areas [BBC report] of the country where gambling is still allowed, including Primorye and Siberia. Industry representatives estimated [CSM report] that 450,000 casino jobs would be lost nationwide, with a $1 billion loss in taxes. A poll published [RIA Novosti report] on Monday found 72 percent of Russian city-dwellers in favor of the measure.

Gambling has become a central part of the Russian urban landscape, as Western-style capitalism replaced Soviet anti-gaming regulations. In 2006, then-president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin [official website] likened gambling addiction to alcoholism and said that tough measures were needed to curb Russians' appetite for gambling. The Duma [official website, in Russian], Russia's lower house of parliament, first considered [RFE report] the bill in later that year.

[JURIST] The lawyer for jailed Zimbabwe opposition cabinet member-designate Roy Bennett [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] said Wednesday that his trial on terrorism charges will begin on October 13. Trust Maanda [advocacy profile] said that prosecutors have also revised [Reuters report] the conditions of Bennett's bail [JURIST report], requiring him to report bi-monthly to police, rather than three times a week [AFP report]. Bennett, the treasurer general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [party website] party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], faces charges under Zimbabwe's Public Order and Security Act [materials] for "attempting to commit terrorism, banditry and sabotage."

Bennett, who was arrested in February shortly before he was scheduled to be sworn as deputy agriculture minister in the new power-sharing coalition government [BBC report] led by Tsvangirai, is accused [JURIST report] of funding the purchase of fire arms and explosives intended to be used as part of an insurgency. It is feared that Bennett's arrest could pose a threat to the power-sharing agreement [JURIST report] between the MDC and the African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party of President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Bennett was originally sought for questioning [JURIST report] in relation to the allegations in 2006, but he had been seeking asylum in South Africa until recently [IOL report]. Treason charges against him were dropped [Times report] in favor of the terrorism and other charges.

[JURIST] Fijian Prime Minister Commodore Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday announced [press release] plans to establish a new constitution by September 2013. Bainimarama said that the new constitution would be in place at least one year prior to the elections planned for September 2014 to allow the public to become familiar with the document prior to voting and that would it include, "provisions that will entrench common and equal citizenry, it must not have ethnic based voting ... and, it must have systems that hold Governments accountable with more checks and balances." The new constitution is meant to replace the 1988 Constitution [text], which was suspended [statement text] in April by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo [official profile]. Bainimarama said that the recommendations of the Peoples Charter for Peace, Change and Progress [official website], released in August 2008 by the National Council for Building a Better Fiji, would serve as the basis for the new constitution. He also invited [press release] "international partners and relevant development agencies" to assist in reforming the Fijian legal system.

On April 10, Iloilo suspended the constitution and revoked the appointment of all judicial officers after a ruling [JURIST report] from the Fiji Court of Appeal declaring the appointment of the military government following a 2006 coup d'etat [JURIST report] unconstitutional. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights then urged Iloilo to reinstate the deposed judges [JURIST report]. Concerns about the constitutional suspension have also been expressed [statement text] by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US State Department [official website] spokesperson Richard Aker, who said that it was a step backwards [press release] for the country, and called on Fiji to continue to recognize rights outlined in the suspended constitution.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] on Wednesday announced [press release] that nine prisoners were transferred Saturday to a detention facility in Benin to serve their sentences. A May 18 order by ICTR President Sir Dennis Byron [official profile] requested the transfer from the UN Detention Facility at Arusha, Tanzania to Beninese custody. The prisoners, including former Kigali-Rural governor Francios Karera, Catholic priest Athanase Seromba, and former lawmaker Aloys Simba [JURIST reports], were sentenced by the tribunal to terms ranging from 11 years to life in prison.

The ICTR, set to expire in 2010, was established to try genocide suspects for crimes occurring during the 1994 Rwandan conflict [HRW backgrounder; JURIST news archive] between Hutus and Tutsis in which approximately 800,000 people, primarily Tutsis, died. In May, Byron submitted a plan [letter, PDF] for the ICTR, which extends trial stages through 2009 and reserves the final year of the court's mandate for appellate orders and responses. In March, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official website] pledged his ongoing support [JURIST report] for the ICTR and stressed that the international community must continue to combat genocide.

[JURIST] The lawyers for terrorism suspect Ahmed Ghailani [GlobalSecurity backgrounder; JURIST news archive] on Tuesday requested access to secret prisons [JURIST news archive] operated by the Central Intelligence Agency [official website] at which their client was held prior to his transfer to Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. The motion asks Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] to grant them access to "black sites" where they allege Ghailani was subjected to physical and psychological mistreatment. The lawyers said that evidence at the facilities must be preserved in light of the CIA's April decision to close secret prisons [JURIST report].

Ghailani, who faces charges for his alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of US embassies [PBS backgrounder; JURIST news archive] in Tanzania and Kenya, is the first Guantanamo detainee to be brought to the US for prosecution. Having been held at the Guantanamo facility since 2006 following his 2004 arrest in Pakistan, Ghailani was transferred [JURIST report] to the US last month to face 286 separate counts including involvement in the bombings and conspiring with members of al Qaeda to kill Americans worldwide. He pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] at his initial appearance. In a rare move [JURIST op-ed] last month, Kaplan tentatively granted [JURIST report] Ghailani's request that his military lawyers be allowed to represent him in civilian court. The announcement [JURIST report] that Ghailani would be tried in federal court came last month following the ordered review of all Guantanamo detainees pursuant to plans to close the detention facility [JURIST news archive].

[JURIST] The White House on Monday accepted the resignation of impeached federal judge Samuel Kent [JURIST news archive] from his seat on the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas [official website]. In a resignation letter submitted [JURIST report] last week, Kent said he would step down by the end of June. Kent recieved a letter [AP report] from White House Counsel Greg Craig saying that US President Barack Obama [official profile] had accepted the resignation. Kent's termination comes amidst impeachment trial proceedings [JURIST report] against him in the US Senate [official website], which last week accepted articles of impeachment [text, PDF] approved [JURIST report] by the US House of Representatives [official website] earlier this month. Kent is the first federal judge to be impeached in 20 years, and only the thirteenth federal judge ever to be impeached.

Last month, Kent submitted a letter of resignation [JURIST report] that would have been effective June 2010, allowing him to collect his $174,000 annual salary and full health benefits until then. In May, Kent pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to obstruction of justice [18 USC § 1512(c)(2) text] charges in connection with the alleged sexual harassment of his secretary and former case manager as part of a plea agreement [text, PDF] that prevented him from facing a criminal trial. Following his plea, he was sentenced [JURIST report] to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and $6,500 in restitution.

[JURIST] The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] on Tuesday upheld [press release] Spain's ban of Basque political groups Batasuna [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] and Herri Batasuna for their alleged ties to Basque separatist group ETA [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. In Herri Batasuna and Batasuna v. Spain [judgment, DOC, in French], the ECHR considered the political groups' argument that Spain's organic laws (LOPP) [text, in Spanish], banning the Batasuna political groups in response to ETA terrorism, violated the their freedom to associate under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights [text]. The court found that since Batasuna and Herri Batasuna had ties to the ETA, the purposes of the groups were contrary to the overall goal of democracy, and refused to extend international condonation to the possible terroristic threats that would be associated with the their re-formation. With regard to the appeal of Spanish electoral groupings associated with Batasuna that were seeking relief from the ECHR on grounds that their freedom of political expression was denied, the court reasoned in Etxeberria and Others v. Spain [judgment, DOC, in French] that since the dissolution of the political parties Batasuna and Herri Batasuna was lawful, the consequences to the electoral groups were foreseeable, warranted, and justified. If the rights of the electoral groups associated with the political parties Batasuna and Herri Batasuna had not been limited, the overall purpose of the LOPP would have been rendered ineffective. The court reached the same result in the case of Herritarren Zerrenda v. Spain [judgment, DOC, in French]. Zerrenda's standing as a candidate for the European Parliament was barred by LOPP. 

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 September, the Supreme Court banned the Basque Nationalist Action Party (ANV) [party website, in Basque] from taking part in any political activities in the country, because of its alleged ties to ETA. The Basque Region's prime minister was charged with illegally communicating with members of the Batasuna party in 2007, but that case was dismissed [JURIST reports] in January.