Mexico City mayor faces charges News
Mexico City mayor faces charges

[JURIST] Prosecutors have finally charged Mexico City's popular mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [World Mayor profile] with abuse of authority, a move that could threaten Obrador's run for president. A week after President Vicente Fox [official site] considered – then reconsidered [JURIST report] a pardon, and two weeks after Lopez Obrador promised he would surrender to authorities [JURIST report] when he was stripped of public official immunity, prosecutors asked the court to order Lopez Obrador to appear before a judge, who will then decide whether to accept or dismiss the charges. Two legislators from Fox's National Action Party [Wikipedia entry] paid the bond, a move many suspect was made to prevent a surge of public sympathy for the mayor, who promised to fight charges from his cell. Lopez Obrador claims the charges are a fabrication to keep him from the presidential race and called the payment of his bail an act of "cowardice" perpetrated by "swindlers". AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.