UN tribunal allows indicted ex-Kosovo PM to resume political activities News
UN tribunal allows indicted ex-Kosovo PM to resume political activities

[JURIST] The UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] has said that it will allow former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj [BBC profile] to participate in politics during his provisional release pending his war crimes trial. The tribunal eased the conditions of Haradinaj's release [ICTY decision], giving the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) [official website] the ability to allow or reject his proposed political activities on a case-by-case basis. Haradinaj, a former regional commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army [BBC backgrounder], faces charges [ICTY case backgrounder] of murder, rape and deportation of Serb civilians during the war against Serb forces in 1998-99. He was commended for quickly turning himself over to the tribunal earlier this year upon his indictment. One dissenting tribunal judge disagreed with the decision to give the UNMIK authority over Haradinaj's political activities, saying it would give Kosovo citizens the impression that he was being gradually reinstated as a key political leader. No date has yet been set for Haradinaj's trial. 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.