Polish officers arrested for taking bribes from US, Iraqi companies while in Iraq News
Polish officers arrested for taking bribes from US, Iraqi companies while in Iraq

[JURIST] Polish authorities have arrested five officers, including a colonel and two majors, for allegedly accepting bribes from both US and Iraqi companies while serving in Iraq. Officials from the Polish Defense Ministry [official website in Polish] claimed that two of the officers were caught red-handed in a Polish airport on their way back from Iraq with $90,000 in cash with no adequate explanation of the source of the money. Two Polish civilians have also been arrested. The US and Iraqi companies involved were not named, but press reports say that the bribes were given in connection with oil contracts. In the midst of the preliminary investigations into these allegations Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski [official profile] indicated in a press conference Friday that Poland would likely withdraw from or significantly reduce its 1,700 troop presence in Iraq sometime in 2005 citing increased stability in the country. BBC News has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.