Iraqi tribunal insists Saddam trial judge not seeking UK asylum News
Iraqi tribunal insists Saddam trial judge not seeking UK asylum

[JURIST] The Iraqi judge responsible for sentencing Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] to death is not seeking political asylum in Great Britain, according to the Iraqi High Tribunal [official website] Sunday. Judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] has been in London since December but reportedly confirmed to the tribunal that he does not intend to apply for asylum for himself or his family, despite a Friday Aljazeera TV report to the contrary.

In November 2006 Abdel-Rahman, a Kurd, sentenced Hussein to death [JURIST report] for crimes against humanity committed in the town of Dujail in 1982. Hussein was executed [JURIST report] on December 30. AFP 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.