Former Malaysia deputy PM appeals defamation ruling News
Former Malaysia deputy PM appeals defamation ruling

[JURIST] Malaysian former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim [personal website] Thursday appealed a lower court judge's decision dismissing his defamation suit [JURIST report] against former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad [BBC profile] in connection with renewed allegations that Anwar is homosexual. The appeal challenges Judge Tengku Maimon's order awarding Mahathir legal costs, and also seeks to reverse Tengku's ruling so that Anwar may proceed with the defamation suit.

Anwar, who was dismissed by Mahathir in 1998 following disagreement on the handling of the 1997 Asian financial crisis [Wikipedia backgrounder], was sentenced to 15 years in prison on sodomy and corruption charges but was released in 2004 after an appeals court overturned the sodomy conviction [JURIST report]. In 2006, Anwar sued Mahathir after Mahathir allegedly suggested at a human rights conference that Anwar was unfit for office because of his supposed homosexuality and later refused to apologize or pay damages to Anwar. AFP 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.