Egyptian presidential candidate trial postponed after witness claims coercion News
Egyptian presidential candidate trial postponed after witness claims coercion

[JURIST] The forgery trial of Egyptian presidential candidate and prominent al-Ghad party opposition leader Ayman Nour [Wikipedia profile] was delayed Wednesday after a witness recanted his testimony in court. Ayman Hassan said security agents threatened to hurt his nieces if he didn't implicate Nour, who has maintained his innocence on charges of forging signatures[JURIST report] to get his opposition party registered last year. The trial has been postponed until September 25 and will likely conclude after Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential election [JURIST report], which is expected in the middle of that month. Nour stated that "despite all that is happening, I'm running in the upcoming elections, this is final irreversible decision." If convicted, he could face 15 years in prison and the loss of his right to run for office. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.