A Russian judge Friday extended the detention of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky until May 14. Khodorkovsky was arrested in October 2003 on charges of fraud and tax evasion. The prosecutor in the case argued that Khodorkovsky's continued detention is necessary because he could flee Russia or put pressure on witnesses if he is released. [...]

Ukraine prosecutors announced Friday that the criminal investigation into President Viktor Yushchenko's nominee for prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her family will be closed. The investigations began in May 2004 following allegations that Tymoshenko attempted to bribe a judge to end court proceedings against a former associate. Prosecutors have also dropped fraud, embezzlement and tax [...]

Four former leaders of Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet were arrested in Chile Friday. Marcelo Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff, Fernando Laureani and Gerardo Godoy were taken into custody to serve 5-12 year sentences in connection to the 2004 abduction and death of Miguel Angel Sandoval . AFP has more.

Peter Henning, Wayne State University Law School: "Discussed in the Wed. Jan.26th post is the prosecution opening in the case of Tyco executives Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz. Yesterday, the defense responded and it sounds like mens rea, and whether the defendants had the appropriate intent, will be prominent in this case. This is not [...]

Four federal employee union groups have filed suit in federal district court to block the implementation of controversial new personnel regulations at the Department of Homeland Security that may eventually be extended government-wide. The groups contend the new system limits collective bargaining, employee disciplinary appeal rights, and all but eliminates the due process rights that [...]

In a ruling with significant constitutional implications, the UK High Court Friday upheld a law banning the use of hunting with dogs in England and Wales. Challenging the law, the Countryside Alliance had argued that the 1949 Parliament Act , which amended a 1911 version of the statute and permitted the hunting law to be [...]

Vladimir Lazarevic, a Serbian army general accused of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999 , surrendered to Serbian authorities on Friday. Lazarevic, the former commander of the army's "Pristina Corps" stands accused of planning, instigating, ordering, and committing a range of crimes against Kosovo Albanians during the "ethnic cleansing" of the province and the subsequent [...]

Two high-ranking Russian military officers have been arrested and warrants have been issued for the arrest of several others after the Russian parliamentary commission investigating last year's terrorist seizure of a school in Beslan handed over evidence to law enforcement officials about the siege, during which which 330 people – half of them children – [...]

Mamdouh Habib , an Australian who has been held for the last 3 years at the terror suspect detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, returned home to Australia Friday. Habib was arrested in Pakistan in 2001, accused of assisting al-Quaeda and having prior knowledge of the September 11 terrorist attacks. His release was announced two weeks [...]

Luxembourg Justice Minister Luc Frieden , speaking Friday at a meeting of EU justice ministers, has called for the European Union to institute a ban on the use of Nazi symbols as part of a larger effort to punish hate crimes motivated by racism or xenophobia. Luxembourg holds the Presidency of the EU through June [...]