German court acquits terror suspect of plot to bomb US targets News
German court acquits terror suspect of plot to bomb US targets

[JURIST] A German court Wednesday found Tunisian national Ihsan Garnaoui not guilty of charges of founding a terrorist organization and planning bomb attacks against American and Jewish targets in Germany. Garnaoui went on trial last May [BBC report] on allegations that he trained at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan and was returned to Germany with instructions to bomb American and Jewish targets. Despite being acquitted on the terrorism charges, Garnaoui was found guilty and sentenced to almost four years in prison on charges of violating laws on possession of weapons, forgery, tax evasion and entering Germany illegally. The prosecutor relied in part on evidence submitted by unidentified police informants, but the Berlin court expressed doubt about the reliability of the evidence, saying it was contradictory and based on hearsay. Bloomberg has more. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has local coverage in German.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.