[JURIST] In a swift reversal from its announcement last week, the Pakistani government has taken away the passport of gang-rape victim Mukhtar Mai [BBC profile], according to an official from the US State Department speaking Tuesday. The official, who asked not to be named because of sensitive US-Pakistan relations, said Pakistan has taken possesion of Mai's passport just days after it had announced that she was free to travel [JURIST report] outside the country. A State Department spokesman declined to confirm the report but reaffirmed the US position that Mai should be free to travel. Mai, the victim of a gang-rape ordered by a village council, sought to leave Pakistan after 12 men involved in the case were freed [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The British government Tuesday weathered an attempt by opposition MPs and some Labour Party backbenchers to stop its proposed [JURIST report] Racial and Religious Hatred Bill [BBC backgrounder; bill text] when an amendment to block the bill failed by a vote of 303-246. The controversial measure has been criticized as a limit on free expression [JURIST report] that would go so far as to prohibit some religious jokes. UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke denied that the bill would have any chilling effect on religious humor and emphasized that the proposal was aimed at "hatred and incitement to hatred." Current UK laws aimed at curbing racial hatred have resulted in 76 prosecutions and 44 convictions over 20 years. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The White House Tuesday snubbed a proposal to create an independent commission to look into detainee abuse at US detention facilities, especially Guantanamo. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan pointed to some 10 previous investigations [press release] and maintained that Defense Department and Pentagon investigations would continue as necessary with any guilty parties being held accountable. McClellan also noted that the Pentagon included outsiders in some of its investigations. The formation of an independent commission has been pushed by Democrats like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi [official website], citing concerns about US reputation abroad and particularly in the Muslim world. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, the New York Stock Exchange [corporate website] has announced that it is investigating the possibility that more traders have acted inappropriately. In April, 17 NYSE traders were charged with securities fraud violations [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

In other corporations and securities news...

• As reported earlier on JURIST's Paper Chase, a three-judge panel of the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the SEC to reconsider a controversial rule requiring mutual funds to be overseen by independent chairmen. In its opinion, the court said the SEC failed to adequately consider the costs the rule imposed on mutual funds. The US Chamber of Commerce, who along with Fidelity Investments and the Vanguard Group brought suit challenging the rule, called the ruling a "significant victory" in a press release. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• An independent committee looking into possible securities violations at troubled doughnut maker Krispy Kreme [corporate website] has recommended that 6 top executives be fired. Krispy Kreme's press release did not explain why the executives should be fired but did say that the committee is cooperating fully with the SEC and the US Department of Justice. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's states brief, the Indiana Supreme Court heard oral arguments today [RP recorded audio] on whether abortion clinics should be allowed to pursue their challenge to the state's abortion "implied consent" law [text], which requires women seeking an abortion to have in-person counseling and then wait at least eighteen hours before having the procedure. An attorney for the abortion clinics argued that the clinics should be allowed to pursue their challenge because privacy is a core right under the state constitution and extends to women seeking to terminate their pregnancies. The state argued that privacy is not a specific right enforceable by the courts, and that the legislature has broad discretion to protect state citizens. The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled [opinion] that the clinics could continue their challenge after determining that privacy is a core issue that extends to all citizens. AP has more.

In other states news ...

• Minnesota Department of Revenue [official website] Commissioner Dan Salomone told a panel of state lawmakers Tuesday that the recent state Supreme Court decision in Hutchinson Technology Inc. v. Commissioner of Revenue [opinion] will cost the state between 250 and 300 million dollars in lost revenue over the next two-year budget cycle. In the ruling the court struck down the Department of Revenue's attempts to deny tax exemptions Hutchinson Technology [official website] sought on income generated by foreign subsidiaries between 1994 and 1998. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's international brief, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka [official profile], Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme [official website], as Special Envoy to Zimbabwe [government website] to investigate the continuing mass evictions [JURIST report] taking place under Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [Wikipedia profile] and "Operation Restore Order". Mugabe reportedly agreed Tuesday to allow Tibaijuka access to the country and the right to inspect affected areas. She is expected to arrive sometime next week from Nairobi, Kenya. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive]. Read the official UN Press Release. Read the UN News Centre official report. ZimOnline has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• Rabbi Yonah Metzger [official profile], Chief Rabbi on the Israeli Rabbinical High Court and the judicial body that approves judicial appointments, notified the Israeli High Court of Justice Tuesday that he was disqualifying himself from sitting on any current cases while he awaits word on whether he will be charged with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Israeli police announced at the end of last month that they had sufficient evidence to arrest Metzger. Israeli Attorney General Menachem Mazuz [official profile] has not yet indicated whether he intends to indict Metzger, but the Rabbinical Courts had already removed Metzger from several cases, and the judicial appointment body has excluded him from several recent committee votes. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Israel [JURIST news archive]. The Jerusalem Post has local coverage.
  
  
• As expected [JURIST report], former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma [party profile] was formally charged on Tuesday with two counts of corruption according to Makhosini Nkosi, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority. Zuma's first hearing has been scheduled for June 29 in a Durban magistrate court. Zuma will not be arrested, but has been ordered to appear before the court on pain of arrest. Zuma said he welcomed the opportunity to put the record straight concerning his relationship with former financial advisor Shabir Shaik [Wikipedia profile], who was recently convicted [JURIST report] of corruption and fraud. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of South Africa [JURIST news archive]. South Africa's News24 has local coverage.
  
  
• The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia [official website] announced Tuesday that only 135 of the nearly 300 registered complaints about last month's national election [JURIST report] would be investigated for fraud and intimidation. NEBE spokespersons said that the other 164 complaints had been dismissed for lack of evidence, and would be permanently rejected unless the complaining parties, which include the government ruling party and the major opposition party, file supporting evidence by Thursday. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.

[JURIST] A military court sentenced 12 French soldiers to prison for up to one year on Tuesday for robbing an Ivory Coast bank [Africa News report] regularly while stationed with France's Licorne Force [Wikipedia entry, in French] backing up a UN peacekeeping mission [official website]. The Licorne forces are supporting the UN forces [JURIST report] in Côte d'Ivoire [Wikipedia profile], where troops are needed to enforce a ceasefire and disarmament plan [BBC News report] between the government supported south and rebels in the north. The soldiers admitted to most of the charges against them, leading to a prison sentence of 12 months for the eight men charged with theft and two to eight months for the four accomplices to the robberies. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archive; BBC profile] suffered a stroke Tuesday and was taken to the hospital a day before the Santiago Appeals Court was to consider whether he could be tried for crimes against his regime's opponents. Pinochet, who reportedly collapsed while eating breakfast and lost conciousness, was to face the court as it decided whether to remove his immunity and try him for involvement in "Operation Colombo" [BBC report] which resulted in the murder and abduction of many of his political opponents. It is the second stroke Pinochet has suffered in a month and his son claims he is not able to comprehend the charges against him. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Tuesday ruled [opinion, PDF text] that the US Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] should reconsider its rule that requires mutual funds to be run by boards with independent chairmen. The SEC originally enacted the rule to combat trading and sales abuses in the industry. Citing costs, the US Chamber of Commerce had opposed the new standard along with firms like Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Group, run by corporate "insiders.". The court only asked that the rule be reviewed, so it is possible that it will not be thrown out completely. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski [official website] said Tuesday that holding a planned referendum in Poland on the EU constitution [JURIST news archive] in October was "unrealistic." Kwasniewski, set to leave office after his second term expires this October, said he would allow his successor to decide when a referendum should be held, but added that it certainly would not be this year. The decision follows speculation that the vote would be delayed [JURIST report] because of the charter's recent rejection by French [JURIST report] and Dutch [JURIST report] voters. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] released a report [PDF text] Tuesday describing what it calls an "assault on scientific and academic freedom" by the Bush Administration. The report purports to detail how the US government has attacked the free exchange of technology information in the name of homeland security by imposing more restrictions on the flow of scientific data [ACLU press release]. Since September 11, the act of classifying information for reasons of Homeland Security has increased greatly, affecting many areas of science. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal appeals court in Chicago has thrown out a lawsuit filed by student journalists at Governors State University [official website] who claimed that the Dean of Student Affair's demand to review their newspaper before it went to press was a violation of their First Amendment rights. The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] ruled Monday that Dean Patricia Carter could not be held responsible for "constitutional uncertainties" and that the University had some discretion to regulate the content to be published because it supported the paper. Read the opinion [PDF]. The journalists, now all graduates of the university, plan to appeal. AP has more. The Student Press Law Center provides extensive background materials on the case.

[JURIST] Edgar Ray Killen [JURIST news archive] has been convicted of three counts of manslaughter in connection with the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers. The conviction came on the 41st anniversary of the rights workers disappearance and a day after jurors reported being deadlocked at 6-6. Killen faces upt to 20 years in prison for each of the three manslaughter counts. AP has more.

[JURIST] Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urged judges on Tuesday to adhere to federal sentencing guidelines, citing a growing disparity since the US Supreme Court invalidated mandatory guidelines in US v. Booker [JURIST report]. Addressing the National Center for Victims of Crime [advocacy website], he said he has seen a "drift toward lesser sentences". A report by the US Sentencing Commission [official website] says 11.4 percent of sentences since the ruling do not comply with the guidelines. Pending legislation in Congress would set new mandatory minimums, but former Attorney General Edwin Meese and former Deputy AG Philip Heymann are urging Congress not to rush into making changes. Read the full text of Gonzales' speech [US DOJ transcript]. AP has more.

[JURIST] In a speech to the Philadelphia Bar Association Monday Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter [official website] implied that he does not expect to see the resignation of any Supreme Court Justice by the end of the current term. Specter based his comments on observations of Chief Justice Rehnquist [official profile], who is battling thyroid cancer, saying he "looked really good" and had "a strong suspicion that he may be with us a while" [Philadelphia Inquirer report]. Specter also commented that while the judicial filibuster compromise averted a potential disaster, "we're not beyond the issue" and spoke in favor of embryonic stem cell research. Law.com has more.

[JURIST] Iran's Interior Ministry [official website, in Arabic] Tuesday warned of the danger of fraud in Friday's scheduled run-off presidential vote, with a spokesman referring darkly to "some people who are ready to do anything to stay in power." The Ministry spokesman also alluded to fraud in the first round last Friday, blaming "people belonging to institutions whose job is to protect people and reinforce order". The statement appeared to contradict an earlier assertion by Iran's Guardian Council [BBC profile] finding no fraud in the first round of the voting. The Council has, however, authorized a partial recount [JURIST report] of first-round ballots. The Iranian Judiciary said Tuesday that approximately 150 violations of electoral laws [IRNA report] had been reported in last Friday's vote and would be investigated. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Abdel Hussein Shandal, Iraq's Sunni justice minister, accused the US on Tuesday of trying to delay Iraqi efforts to interrogate Saddam Hussein. While he said he expects Saddam's trial for war crimes [JURIST news archive] to be over by the end of the year [AHN report], he also said the US has been hampering efforts to question him and that "it seems there are lots of secrets they want to hide" [Aljazeera report]. US officials had no comment about his remarks, but have previously warned against rushing the trial and letting it interfere with the constitutional process. AP has more.

4:25 PM ET - Hours after Shandal's comments, Saddam Hussein legal advisers Giovanni di Stefano criticized the Justice Minister from commenting on the trial, stating that "the Iraqi government should desist from making political statements." Di Stefano also repeated the defense call for the trial to be held in a safe country like Sweden. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal immigration judge ruled on Monday that John Demjanjuk [Wikipedia profile], who lost his US citizenship [JURIST report] for serving as a guard at a concentration camp, can be deported. The case dates back to 1977 [Cleveland Plain Dealer report], when the Justice Department originally asked for his citizenship to be revoked. That was granted in 1981. In 1983, he was sentenced to death in Israel for war crimes, but the Israeli Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 1993 and he returned to the US. His citizenship was restored in 1998 and proceedings began against him again. Demjanjuk has until June 30 to file motions [AP report] against his deportation. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Luxembourg leaders say they will stick to their original plan for a July 10 referendum on the embattled European Union constitution [JURIST news archive]. Following popular rejection of the charter in France and the Netherlands, seven other European countries have thusfar postponed similar votes [JURIST report] and the ratification deadline has been extended to at least 2007 [JURIST report]. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker [official website], whose country has held the EU Presidency [official website] for the past tumultuous six months, says he will resign [AFP report] if his country votes against it. Opinion polls show the issue getting tighter, with the Yes side holding a 10-point lead, down from 18 points since May. Xinhua has more.

[JURIST] British Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith [official profile] Tuesday announced a government plan to abolish jury trials in complicated fraud cases. The move follows the collapse of a fraud trial [Guardian report] earlier this year, partly because of jury problems. Goldsmith estimates about 15 to 20 trials each year would be affected by the proposal, and denied that the proposal reflected any government judgment on the jury system as a whole [Telegraph report]. The plan faces stiff opposition from both major parties in Parliament and the Criminal Bar Association [profession website]. A vote on the plan is expected in the fall. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] According to documents obtained by the Associated Press Monday, the Transportation Security Administration [official website] collected private information about commercial airline passengers who flew in June 2004, despite Congressional instructions not to do so. The documents indicate the information was gathered to test Secure Flight [official website], a passenger pre-screening program which, along with its predecessor CAPPS II [JURIST report], has been criticized for failing to protect private personal information. The documents will be published in the Federal Register [official website] this week. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Turkish court sentenced Metin Kaplan [BBC profile] Monday to life imprisonment for plotting to kill members of the country's ruling elite by flying a plane into the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic. Kaplan's lawyer did not agree with the ruling, stating "we believe such a decision was reached beforehand" and that there will be an appeal. The so-called "Caliph of Cologne" was extradited from Germany to face charges in Turkey [JURIST report] in 2004 after serving a four-year prison term in Germany for ordering the murder of a rival religious leader. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Cambodian government announced Tuesday that it will accept Japan's offer of $11 million [JURIST report] to fund a shortfall in the estimated budget for trying former leaders of the communist Khmer Rouge [Wikipedia backgronder] regime, considered responsible for the genocide of the "killing fields" in Cambodia [Yale CGP backgrounder] after taking power in the 1970s. Opposition groups in Cambodia had initially called for public contributions [JURIST report] when Cambodia was able to offer only about $1 million of its own money towards the trials and international donations fell short. Japan had already committed to paying half of the tribunal's $70 million cost, which is also being defrayed [JURIST report] by major contributions from France, Britain, and Australia. Radio Australia has more.

[JURIST] US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official website] called for democratic reforms by US allies across the Middle East [text; recorded audio] in a major foreign policy address in Cairo Monday, and publicly called on Saudi Arabia to release "three individuals...imprisoned for peacefully petitioning the government." Rice was referring to Ali al-Demaini, Abdullah al-Hamed and Matruk al-Faleh [Middle East Online report], activists sentenced to six to nine years in May for demanding a constitutional monarchy. The activists had also allegedly questioned the king's role as head of the judiciary. After talks, Saudi Prince Saud parried the request to free the trio by saying that "[the activists] are in the hands of the court. The government cannot interfere until the court action is taken in this regard." AFP has more.

[JURIST] The California Supreme Court upheld state sentencing guidelines [opinion, PDF] on Monday, ruling that allowing judges to impose a discretionary range of sentences for various crimes did not give them too much power. The ruling follows the recent US Supreme Court holding in US v. Booker [JURIST report], which invalidated federal sentencing rules insofar as those had allowed judges to increase sentences based on facts not decided by a jury. A convicted child molester's sentence was upheld by the California court because they found that the trial judge didn't base the highest sentence on a factual determination he made. AP has more.

[JURIST] The International Whaling Commission [official website] voted 29-23 against lifting its ban on commercial whaling Tuesday at its 2005 annual meeting [agenda]. Japan had recently threatened to leave the organization [JURIST report] if it didn't allow for some sort of sanctioned whaling. The ban has been in place since 1986. Only Norway continues to practice commercial whaling in spite of the ban, but Japan's practice of research whaling [government press release] has drawn criticism as being disguised commercial whaling. AP has more.

[JURIST] Moroccan Abdelghani Mzoudi [Wikipedia profile], acquitted by a Hamburg court in February on charges of helping the September 11 hijackers, flew home Tuesday to avoid deportation. Hamburg city officials had given Mzoudi two weeks to leave the country, or face arrest or deportation after the June 9 confirmation of the acquittal on appeal [JURIST report]. Hamburg authorities have said Mounir El Motassadeq [Wikipedia profile; JURIST report] will face the same treatment if he is acquitted of complicity in the attacks. A new German law, introduced January 1, makes it easier to expel suspected foreign militants. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Michael Schiavo buried the cremated remains of his late wife Terri Schiavo [JURIST news archive] Monday at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park [funerary website] in Clearwater, Florida. He had previously said he would bury her remains in his family plot in Pennsylvania [JURIST report]. Schiavo's parents were not notified of the interment. Michael inscribed the words "I Kept my Promise" at the bottom of his wife's gravemarker, listed the date of her 1990 collapse as the date his wife "Departed this Earth," and the date that she actually died as the date she was "at peace." Terri Schiavo's death [JURIST rpeort] on March 31 this year ended an intense legal and political struggle between right-to-life and right-to-die advocates over the status and interpretation of her wishes concerning her care while in an apparent persistent vegetative state. AP has more.