Montenegro signs agreement with EU begin accession process News
Montenegro signs agreement with EU begin accession process

[JURIST] Montenegrin Prime Minister Zeljko Sturanovic signed the EU-Montenegro Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) [press release, PDF] Monday, a preliminary step in Montenegro's possible accession [EU materials] to the European Union (EU). The SAA is expected to prepare Montenegro for a projected EU membership in 2015 by creating concrete trade deals and easing access to visas.

Montenegro [JURIST news archive] is the newest European state considering membership; the country's Parliament issued a declaration of independence [JURIST report] June 3, 2006 on the basis of a referendum in which 55.5 percent of Montenegrins voted for independence from Serbia [JURIST news archive]. An EU plan to similarly initiate the membership process with Serbia has been put on hold after Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Carla Del Ponte said that Serbia was not sufficiently cooperating with her investigation. On Monday, Del Ponte criticized [statement; JURIST report] Serbia for not making adequate progress toward apprehending fugitive war crimes suspects. Reuters 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.