Former UN officer pleads guilty to taking oil-for-food bribes News
Former UN officer pleads guilty to taking oil-for-food bribes

[JURIST] A former UN official pleaded guilty [US DOJ press release, PDF] Monday to US charges that he accepted close to $1 million in bribes from UN contractors in the Oil-for-Food scandal [JURIST news archive]. Alexander Yakovlev, a procurement officer and the first UN official to face criminal charges, pleaded guilty to accepting and soliciting bribes, wire fraud, and money laundering after having his diplomatic immunity stripped [Kommersant report] by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Yakovlev resigned in June in response to separate allegations that he helped his son get a job with a company working with the UN. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emporer

On December 25, 800 A.D., Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in Rome, Italy. During his lifetime, Charlemagne united most of Western Europe for the first time since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. He is credited with spreading the rule of law throughout his dominions as well as starting the French and German monarchies.

President Andrew Johnson pardoned Confederates

On December 25, 1868, President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all who had been involved in "insurrection or rebellion" during the US Civil War.