[JURIST] Eight men judged guilty of war crimes by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) [official website] were transferred to Rwanda Saturday to serve out prison sentences. Because Sierra Leone has no adequate prison facilities, an agreement with Rwanda was reached to allow them to complete their sentences at Mpanga prison [Reuters report]. Three of the men, leaders of the Revolutionary United Front [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], had had their appeals rejected [JURIST report] earlier this week, and will now serve between 15 and 52 year sentences. Other transferees include members of the RUF-ally Armed Force Revolutionary Council and government-backed Civil Defence Forces. With these final sentences, the SCSL in Freetown has reached the end of its mandate and will close down [BBC report].

The 11-year long war in Sierra Leone and Liberia ran until 2002 and caused the deaths of 250,000 people. In July, Charles Taylor, former Liberian president, denied war crimes allegations [JURIST report] while testifying for the first time at his trial. Taylor faces 11 counts [indictment, PDF] of crimes against humanity, violations of the Geneva Conventions [materials], and other violations of international humanitarian law stemming from a "campaign to terrorize the civilian population" of Sierra Leone. Taylor also denied receiving jars full of diamonds by Liberian rebel forces. His defense claims that he could not have commanded rebel forces in Sierra Leone while acting as the president of Liberia. Taylor's trial began in Sierra Leone, but had been moved to The Hague [JURIST report] for security reasons.

[JURIST] Six Chinese Uighur Guantanamo Bay detainees [JURIST news archive] were transferred [press release] to the Republic of Palau [CIA backgrounder] Saturday, according to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website]. The six men, Ahmad Tourson, Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman, Edham Mamet, Anwar Hassan, Dawut Abdurehim and Adel Noori, were relocated to a home in the middle of Koror, the commercial center of the island nation, where they will be among a Muslim population of about 500. The DOJ said the men had been cleared for release under the Bush administration, as they were no longer considered unlawful enemy combatants [10 USC 948a text; JURIST news archive]. The men had also been subject to review by the Joint Task Force [official website] for Guantanamo detainees, and were approved for release. With the transfer, seven Uighurs remain in custody at Guantanamo.

Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal [JURIST report] of the remaining Uighur detainees. In June, Palau President Johnson Toribiong said that his country was willing to accept [JURIST report] all 17 of the Uighur detainees held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archives]. Following that statement, four of the Uighurs were transferred to Bermuda [JURIST report]. The Chinese government has repeatedly demanded the repatriation of the Uighurs, maintaining that they are members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) [CFR backgrounder], a militant group that calls for separation from China and has been a US-designated terrorist group since 2002. The US has previously rejected China's calls to repatriate [JURIST report] the Uighurs, citing fear of torture upon their return.

[JURIST] Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [official profile, in Italian; BBC profile] will stand trial for corruption charges on November 27, according to court officials Saturday. The trial date follows a decision [JURIST report] by the Italian Constitutional Court [official website, in Italian] earlier this month, which struck down [press release, DOC, in Italian] a 2008 law granting immunity from prosecution to the four highest officials of the country, including Berlusconi. The corruption charges stem from reported payments from Berlusconi to his former lawyer David Mills [JURIST news archive] in order for Mills to provide false testimony at two trials in 1997 and 1998 involving Berlusconi's broadcasting company, Mediaset [corporate website, in Italian]. Berlusconi has said that he will serve out the remainder of his term [AP report] even if he is convicted. He has called [AFP report] the charges dishonest, and has said he is being persecuted by the courts.

Bribery and corruption trials against Berlusconi and Mills began in 2007, but Berlusconi was removed as a defendant in July 2008 after the new law granted top Italian lawmakers immunity from prosecution [JURIST report] while in office. In February, Mills was sentenced [JURIST report] to four-and-a-half years in prison for accepting a $600,000 bribe, and that conviction was upheld [JURIST report] last week. Berlusconi has faced trial on at least six occasions involving charges of false accounting, tax fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, and giving false testimony [JURIST reports]. In October 2007, Berlusconi's April 2007 acquittal [JURIST reports] on bribery charges was upheld. In 2005, Berlusconi was acquitted of corruption charges despite testimony accusing him of giving kickbacks to the late Socialist premier Bettino Craxi [JURIST report].