[JURIST] Solidarity [Wikipedia article] founder and former Polish President Lech Walesa [BBC profile; Lech Walesa Institute foundation website] said Monday he has filed charges against Radio Maryja [radio website in Polish], a radical Roman Catholic radio station in Poland, over comments made on the stations that he collaborated with Communist Party authorities in the 1970s. Walesa, who filed the charges with prosecutors in the northern port city of Gdansk last week, said the station accused him of signing secret agreements with Communists and also working as an informer for Poland's secret police. Gdansk prosecutors had started an investigation into the matter after Walesa brought the incident to the attention of the nation's justice minister. Walesa led the Solidarity union protests which is credited with helping to topple communism in Poland in 1989-90. In 2000, a special court set up to check the records of officials running for public office, had cleared Walesa of any Communist activity in the 1970s. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum Monday denied an appeal by Martha Stewart [JURIST news archive] to modify or change her sentence. The appeal would have led to an early release from house arrest. Stewart argued that she should be resentenced because of the US Supreme Court decision in US v. Booker [Duke Law backgrounder] which found federal sentencing guidelines were advisory and no longer mandatory. Judge Cederbaum rejected this assertation saying she would have imposed the same sentence even if the federal guidelines were advisory. Stewart also asked for a relaxing of her detention, including the removal of an electronic monitoring device from her ankle. Stewart was convicted on criminal charges stemming from a personal stock sale. Read Judge Cedarbaum's order [PDF]. CNN has more.

[JURIST] The New York State Assembly Codes Committee [official website] will vote Tuesday on a measure to reauthorize the state's death penalty, which was declared unconstitutional in June. The New York State Assembly recently released a report [official text] detaling five full days of public hearings on the death penalty, featuring testimony from 170 witnesses. The decision [opinion text, PDF] from New York's highest court stated that life without parole was the maximum sentence which could be imposed under current law. Public opinion polls in New York show a large majority preferring a life sentence over the death penalty as the maximum sentence. New York's move away from the death penalty would add to a national focus on the issue, highlighted by the US Supreme Court's recent decision [opinion text] to ban juvenile executions. Last month, legislators in Connecticut voted on a bill [AP report] to ban death penalty. Also in March, a bill to abolish New Mexico's death penalty [bill text] was approved by the state House, but died in committee [Albuquerque Tribune report] before reaching the Senate floor. New York was the most recent state to reinstate the death penalty, and seems likely to be the first to decide that the experiment has failed. The New York Daily News has arguments from state legislators both for and against sending the bill to the full Assembly.

[JURIST] John Bolton [official profile], President Bush's nominee for US ambassador to the UN, appeared Monday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee [official website]. Senate Democrats largely oppose Bolton, who has been criticized for his statements on the irrelevance of the United Nations. In his opening statement Monday, Bolton pledged to work to both strengthen and reform the UN in light of recent scandals. Bolton also dismissed questions about allegations involving the improper reassignment of a State Department analyst. The hearing was interrupted briefly when three protesters holding signs shouted "No on Bolton," and other slogans. Reuters has more. Read Monday's statement from commitee chairman Senator Richard Lugar [official website].

[JURIST] Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, Warren Buffett [Wikipedia profile] is set to appear before the SEC, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer [official website] and the US Department of Justice [official website] to answer questions related to the investigation of insurance giant American International Group (AIG) [corporate website]. The questions will focus on reinsurance company General Re [corporate website], a subsidiary of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. At issue in the investigation is reinsurance AIG purchased from General Re in late 2000 and early 2001 which investigators believe may have been used to bolster AIG's reserves artificially. AP has more. The investigation has already led to AIG chief executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg's [Wikipedia profile] being ousted from the company. According to the Wall Street Journal article [subscription req'd], Buffett gave regulators a tip that implicated Greenberg in the allegedly illegal transaction. Greenberg is set to answer questions on Tuesday though speculation indicates he will invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to testify. Bloomberg has more.

In other news...

• The SEC [official website] has started an informal investigation into Elan Corp. [corporate website] over trading of the pharmaceutical company's shares before the significant drop in its price. The drop in stock price is related to Elan's decision to withdraw the drug Tysabri [Elan press release], a mutiple sclerosis fighting drug which was linked to a potentially fatal disease of the central nervous system. AP has more.
  
  
• The European Union said it will not file a formal complaint with the WTO [official website] over US subsidies to Boeing Co [corporate website]. The announcment comes after a 90-day negotiation period ended with no settlement related to subsidies given to airplane manufacturers Airbus [corporate website] and Boeing by the EU and US respectively. It is not clear what the next step will be between the negotiaters. CBSMarketWatch has more.
  
  
• A Michigan judge has granted class action status to a lawsuit brought by 290 homeowners against Delphi Corp. [corporate website] over a leak of vinyl chloride at a Michigan plant which spread to the groundwater. The lawsuit has gone forward even as the EPA has ruled the tainted water to be too far underground to affect the homeowners' drinking water. CBSMarketWatch has more.
  
  
• As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, Microsoft Corp. [corporate website] will pay $150 million over four years to settle antitrust claims made by personal-computer company Gateway Inc [corporate website]. The settlement comes as a result of the US government antitrust suit against Microsoft during which a judge said Microsoft's dominance had hurt Gateway. Over the past year, Microsoft agreed to pay Burst.com Inc. $60 million [Microsoft press release] to settle a patent-infringement lawsuit and paid Sun Microsystems Inc. $1.6 billion [Microsoft press release]. Read the Microsoft press release. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• Verizon Communications Inc.'s [corporate website] deal to buy MCI Inc. [corporate website] has hit another snag as shareholders are angered by Verizon's agreement [Verizon press release] to buy Carlos Slim's 13% stake in MCI Inc. for more than it is offering other shareholders. Pressure is mounting on the MCI board to get a better deal from Verizon. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• Life assurer Equitable Life [corporate website] has launched a £4 billion claim in British High Court against former directors and auditors of the company. The suit claims Ernst & Young [corporate website] signed off on accounts which they knew to have problems. The company also wants nearly £2 billion from 15 former directors who they claim were negligent in their duties. Equitable Members Action Group has more information on the suit. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Dutch officials Monday demanded an explanation as to why a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines [corporate website] flight was forced to turn around by US authorities on Friday. The 278 passengers aboard the flight returned to Amsterdam 11 hours later after the airline was refused permission to fly over US airspace en route to Mexico. US officials said that two of the passengers aboard were on a "no-fly" terrorist watch list. Two Dutch legislators began sending questions to the Justice Minister on Monday. Ministers are required to respond to questions from parliament members within three weeks. "What was it these people were suspected of by the United States that they couldn't pass through its airspace ... and why isn't that information known in Holland?" wrote legislators Peter van Heemst and Co Verdas. KLM spokesman Bart Koster said the airline was seeking information from US and Dutch authorities, and might file a claim for damages of less than $1 million. KLM said on Monday that US authorities are not allowed to have access to passenger details on flights that do not land in America. The two passengers who were on the US "no-fly" list were flown via England back to Saudi Arabia without detention or arrest. Amsterdam's Expatica has more.

[JURIST] Microsoft has agreed, after mediation, to pay computer manufacturer Gateway $150 million over four years to settle claims arising from the software giant's mid-1990s antitrust case, in which Gateway was specifically identified [Judge Jackson's findings of fact] as having been harmed by Microsoft's practices. The companies announced the settlement in a press release Monday. Gateway will release all antitrust claims based on past conduct, while Microsoft, though denying any liability, will fund Gateway marketing intitiatives, training, and testing of new products that run Microsoft software. Although the statute of limitations on Gateway's claims ran in 2003, the companies had previously agreed to extend that period in order to reach a deal. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] In a strong move for a government-funded body, the first annual report of the Egyptian Supreme Council for Human Rights has confirmed [BBC report] the widespread belief that the country's security forces are involved in torture. The Council noted that it is normal investigative practice for security forces to arrest everyone at the scene of a crime and torture them to obtain information. Such allegations have long been made by human rights groups such as Amnesty International [news release], but this is the first time a government body has corroborated them. The report also recommends lifting the state of emergency, which has been in force for 24 years, before September's elections. This recommendation follows on the heels of last week's threat [Al Jazeera report] by the country's judiciary that judges may refuse to supervise the elections, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the results, unless a law is passed to protect the independence of the judiciary. The Egyptian Parliament [official website] is now expected to debate the report.

[JURIST] Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [official profile] signed an historic border agreement Monday, ending nearly four decades of tense relations between the two nations. The agreement provides for the peaceful resolution of a final border demarcation, which will rely on clearly identifiable geographical features as agreed upon by both nations, while listening to the preferences of border region communities. The two nations have been in a state of unofficial armed conflict since a violent border dispute flared in 1962 [OnWar.com backgrounder]. There has been little violence in the area recently however, due in large part to temporary agreements signed in 1993 and 1996. Monday's agreement did not spell out a cease-fire line, but the documents contained provisions for its establishment. Read a press statement on the agreement from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. AFP has more.

[JURIST] John R. Bolton [official profile], the State Department official who is President Bush's nominee for US Ambassador to the United Nations, faces questioning Monday before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee [official website] before a confirmation vote that is currently expected Thursday. Bolton, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security [official website], has a reputation as a blunt speaker and has often been accused of lacking tact and the necessary skills for effective diplomacy. His critical comments about the UN system have made him the target of recent criticism, although supporters argue he could help the cause of UN reform already embraced by the UN leadership. Republicans currently control the Foreign Relations Committee 10 - 8, and Bolton's nomination is expected to be approved along party lines. Nomination hearings begin at 9:30 AM EST. Watch live coverage of the hearings direct from the Committee, and review the notice of hearing. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Kyrgyzstan Parliament, meeting for the fourth time on the issue of former President Askar Akayev [archived profile], finally accepted his formal resignation Monday by a majority vote. The parliament had struggled to approve the resignation, as some members wanted to initiate impeachment proceedings or even a criminal trial against Akayev. While some members still view both of those as options, the official acceptance of Akayev's April 4 resignation [JURIST report] lessens the likelihood of either of those events. There is no word on a new date for national elections, which were temporarily postponed [JURIST report] while parliament considered the resignation issue. Interim President Kurmanbek Bakiyev [BBC profile] signed amendments [Itar-Tass report] to the presidential immunities law Monday that strip Akayev and his family of their immunity status and partially remove national privileges. The amendments were passed by the parliament Friday as a reply to members who wish to see Akayev tried for his failure to remain in the country. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Kyrgyzstan [JURIST Country news archive]. Itar-Tass has local coverage.

In related news, opposition leader Felix Kulov [party profile] has been acquitted of the final criminal conviction against him, clearing the way for him to run for president in the upcoming Kyrgyzstan national elections. Kulov had already been cleared of a previous conviction for criminal abuse of power [JURIST report] and the Kyrgyz Supreme Court ruled Monday that Kulov's second conviction on charges of embezzlement were invalid. Novosti has local coverage.

10:40 AM ET - Reports just in say that the Kyrgyz parliament has now rescheduled the postponed national elections for July 10. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A Moscow court adjourned Monday to begin consideration in the criminal case against former Yukos [corporate website] CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky [BBC profile] on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion. Defense counsel finished its defense Friday [JURIST report], alleging that the charges against Khodorkovsky were trumped up by the government to quiet the politically active millionaire. Prosecutors asked the court for the maximum sentence [JURIST report] of ten years for Khodorkovsky. Judge Irina Kolesnikova said the court would return with a verdict on April 27. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST news archive]. MosNews has local coverage.

[JURIST] The International Court of Justice [official website], the principle judicial organ of the UN, will begin hearing oral arguments Monday in the case of Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda). The case, filed in 1999, concerns DRC allegations that Uganda [government website] invaded its territory, violated international human rights law, and massacred Congolese citizens. Congo is seeking reparations for damages from destruction and looting of local towns and villages, as well as "the restitution of national property and resources appropriated for the benefit of Uganda." Oral arguments will last for three weeks, ending on Friday, April 29. View the ICJ docket information for DRC v. Uganda. Read the ICJ press release on the hearings. AP has more.

[JURIST] Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, April 11.

The US Senate [official website] convenes at 2 PM ET today. At 3 PM ET, it will begin consideration of H.R. 1268 [bill summary], the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief. Following that, the Senate will consider the nomination of Paul A. Crotty [DOJ resume] as District Judge for the Southern District of New York at 5 PM ET. Watch a live webcast of the session. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee [official website] is holding a hearing at 9:30 AM ET today to consider the nomination of John R. Bolton [official profile] as US ambassador to the UN. Watch a live webcast of the session via C-SPAN.

The US House [official website] is not in session today.

The European Parliament [official website] opens a plenary session at 5 PM local time [11 AM ET] today. View the agenda for the session.

At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the trial of Naser Oric [ICTY case backgrounder] continues today at 9:30 AM local time [3:30 AM ET]. Also today, the trial of Fatmir Limaj and others [ICTY case backgrounder] continues today at 2:45 PM local time [8:45 AM ET]. Watch a webcast of proceedings.