Ex-professor calls no witnesses to defend against US terror charges News
Ex-professor calls no witnesses to defend against US terror charges

[JURIST] Lawyers for Sami Al-Arian [advocacy website], the former Florida college professor charged by the US government with aiding and abetting Palestinian terrorists, rested their case Thursday without calling a single witness to refute the five months of prosecution testimony. Al-Arian's lawyer called the prosecution an "all-out assault on the First Amendment" and then rested his case. Al-Arian was indicted [PDF text; JURIST report] in 2003 on 50 counts, including charges of conspiracy to commit terrorism. Al-Arian, 47, taught computer science at the University of South Florida [official website], until being fired shortly after his indictment [JURIST report]. AP has more. The Tampa Bay Tribune has local coverage.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase…

THIS DAY @ LAW

US House voted to impeach President Clinton

On December 19, 1998, a divided US House of Representatives voted to impeach President Bill Clinton on charges of lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice in the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Read the Articles of Impeachment.

UK signs Hong Kong over to China

On December 19, 1984, the United Kingdom and China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which ceded control of Hong Kong to the government of mainland China in 1997. The treaty also ensured that Hong Kong would retain its capitalist and democratic systems for at least 50 years after the transfer of power.