Serbia to freeze assets of ICTY war crimes fugitives News
Serbia to freeze assets of ICTY war crimes fugitives

[JURIST] Members of the Serbia-Montenegro parliament have passed a law to authorize the freezing of assets of fugitives accused of war crimes in an effort to comply with requirements of the European Union [official website] and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website]. Serbia has promised the ICTY [JURIST report] that it will turn over fugitive Ratko Mladic [ICTY case backgrounder; BBC profile] by the end of April and has pledged to find and extradite four other indictees, including Radovan Karadzic [ICTY case backgrounder; BBC profile]. The Council of the European Union [official website] had urged Serbia to adopt the measure, which will render indictees unable to access their money or property.

The EU has made handing over Mladic, who has been indicted [text] for crimes against humanity, including the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [JURIST news archive], a condition of signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement [EU backgrounder] with Serbia and Montenegro. The Southeast European Times 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.