[JURIST] US State Department [official website] spokesman Sean McCormack [official profile] said Friday that the date for the start of the trial of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] will not be changed from October 19, despite reports from a British official earlier this week that the trial might be postponed [JURIST report] due to logistical issues, such as bullet-proof screen installations and the creation of a witness protection program. McCormack said, "The Iraqis have said the trial is scheduled to begin on Oct 19th and it's my understanding that the date still stands." McCormack also stressed that "this is an Iraqi process" and the US is only providing technical and other assistance for the trial. Hussein is on trial for the 1992 massacre of 143 Shiites in Dujail [JURIST report] after an assassination attempt against him. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A Turkish court Friday sentenced the editor of Agos [media website, English version], a weekly bilingual Turkish and Armenian-language newspaper, to six months in prison for "insulting and weakening Turkish identity in the media" in several articles he published last year. Hrant Dink's sentence was suspended and he will not actually have to serve time in jail unless he repeats the offense. Dink said he would appeal the decision, even vowing to go to the European Court of Human Rights [official website] if necessary. Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk [Time Magazine profile] faces a similar charge to be decided later this year; prosecutors say that he slandered the country by saying the mass killings of Armenians 90 years ago was genocide, which Turkey denies. Turkey [JURIST news archive] earlier this year revised its penal code [JURIST report], at the European Union's urging, but a law making it an offense to slander the country or publicly argue against the "official position" still stands. The court ruling came just three days after Turkey began negotiations to join the EU [JURIST report], and the EU's enlargement commissioner said earlier this week that the country has to improve its human rights record. The Financial Times has more.

[JURIST] President Bush Friday expressed confidence that US Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers [official profile] will be confirmed as a justice, despite Republican senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) [official website] saying she will have to get past the "Souter factor" with conservatives who question her commitment to a clear conservative judicial philosophy. Meanwhile, Miers has been calling and meeting with conservatives who voiced concern over her potential role on the high court, saying she will not become a liberal or moderate if appointed to the bench. The Republican National Committee [official website] held a teleconference with conservatives earlier this week to try and reassure doubters that Miers is the right person for the job, explaining that she has been critical in the past on abortion and affirmative action issues. AP has more.

[JURIST] In Friday's environmental law news, the US Environmental Protection Agency [official website] and Hawaii Department of Health [official website] have settled [press release] a case against the Hawaii Department of Transportation (DOT) [official website] for violations of the federal Clean Water Act [text] at highways and airports. The DOT will pay a $1 million fine, another $1 million for a program to assess its environmental responsibilities and $50 million over five years to resolve the violations. The problems mainly stem from stormdrains that run directly into streams or dump right into the ocean, polluting the shorelines and nearshore reefs. The Honolulu Advertiser has more.

In other environmental law news...

• The first witnesses have testified in the Newmont Mining Co. trial [JURIST report] in Indonesia. Newmont [corporate website], and its local director Richard Ness, has been charged [corporate trial backgrounder] with dumping mercury and other pollutants into the Indonesia's Buyat Bay, allegedly causing villagers to develop skin diseases and other illnesses. AP has more.
  
  
• The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection [official website] announced [press release] Thursday that it is issuing new requirements for food preparation facilities to prevent the discharge of fats, oils, and greases into sanitary sewer systems. The new requirements are contained in a general permit [PDF text] for food preparation facilities, and include installing indoor or outdoor "grease interceptor" units. The New London Day has more.
  
  
• Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin [official website, profile] has announced that the country will make palm oil a mandatory gasoline additive by 2008. Malaysia is the world's top producer of palm oil, and the biofuel would consist of 95% diesel and 5% palm oil. The legislation is expected to pass next year, and would reduce the government's diesel subsidies. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) [official website] has issued an interim final rule [text] amending the regulations for the leasing of oil and natural gas in special tar sand areas. The amendments will bring the regulations into accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 [PDF text]. The rule is effective immediately, but comments will still be accepted until December 6, 2005.

[JURIST] Uganda's defense minister Friday released the names of five men wanted in connection for cruelties suffered at the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) [Global Security profile; BBC backgrounder] after receiving arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court [JURIST report]. Amama Mbabazi said the ICC [official website] distributed the warrants to Uganda, the Congo and Sudan, where the men are thought to be hiding, and said that if the international community does not assist in the arrests, Uganda will "do the job." The LRA has killed thousands of civilians, forced over a million more to leave their homes, and kidnapped over 30,000 children, making them become fighters or concubines. The arrest warrants are for the LRA's leader, Joseph Kony, and his deputies. The warrants are the first in the history of the three-year old ICC, which has been investigating the situation in the Congo since June 2004 [press release]. AP has more.

[JURIST] President Bush's former chief procurement officer entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment Friday, in response to an indictment [JURIST report] on charges that he made false statements and obstructed investigations into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The charges against David Safavian are related to a governmental investigation [JURIST report] into property that Abramoff was trying to acquire, which was controlled by the General Services Administration [agency website]. Safavian's lawyer, Barbara Van Gelder, said the charges against her client stemmed from e-mails written by Abramoff, but Van Gelder said it was likely that prosecutors would not be able to use the e-mails because Abramoff is the subject of a vast federal investigation, and will probably not testify against Safavian. Van Gelder further said that Safavian did not accept as a gift a golf outing in Scotland that the two attended because Safavian paid for himself. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Adelphia Communications [corporate website] CEO John Rigas and his son, the company's former CFO, have been indicted for failing to pay $300 million in taxes, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Friday. The IRS has said that the pair neglected to pay tens of millions of dollars in taxes and assisted family members in doing the same. Each Rigas is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the US government and they received additional charges for tax evasion for the years 1998, 1999 and 2000. The Rigases were convicted last year [JURIST report] on fraud charges which involved taking money from the company for personal use and hiding over $2 billion in company debt. Upon their convictions, John Rigas was sentenced to 15 years in jail [JURIST report] and his son, Timothy Rigas, received a 20-year jail sentence. Both are out on bail pending an appeal. AP has more.

[JURIST] Serbia charged five members of a paramilitary group, the Scorpions, Friday for their roles in the Srebrenica massacre [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] in 1995. They and several others were arrested [JURIST report] in June after a video [JURIST video] showing them executing six Bosnian Muslims was broadcast on Serbian television after being presented as evidence during the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague. The videos prompted widespread public outrage. The charges are the first brought by the Serbian government against their own citizens for alleged war crimes. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Indonesian government is reviewing a decree granting automatic sentence remissions to prisoners, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said Friday. The announcement follows protests from Australia over news that cleric Abu Bakir Bashir [BBC profile], convicted for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings [CNN backgrounder], is up for another sentence reduction in November. Indonesia will consider revising the presidential decree on remissions for serious crimes, including terrorism, however Wirayuda denied that the review is being made in response to Australia's criticisms. Currently, sentence cuts are granted automatically to well-behaved prisoners to mark Independence Day and religious festivals and apply to all imprisoned who have served at least six months. In an interview [transcript] earlier this week, Australian Prime Minister John Howard [official website] said that any further remissions given to Bashir would cause "very deep and lasting anger" in Australia. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Spain began deporting illegal immigrants on Friday after a week of border rushes at Melilla, a tiny enclave on Spain's border with Morocco along the northern coast of Africa. Hundreds of illegal African immigrants have entered the country this past week, and earlier this week Spain announced plans to begin deportations [JURIST report]. Six people died on Thursday during a violent border clash. Only 73 were deported on Friday, but 1,600 are being kept at a holding facility in Melilla. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees [official website] is holding consultations [AFP report] with both Spain and Morocco in an attempt to resolve the refugee crisis, and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that the situation poses "a very serious problem." AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Friday's states brief, the Kansas Supreme Court removed [order] Saline County District Judge George. R. Robertson from the bench today for viewing pornography from his office computer. The court stated that the conduct of a single judge may effect the public's perception of the judicial system and that "public trust is essential to an effective judiciary." Robertson told a judicial panel, who recommended his removal for violating canons of the Code of Judicial Conduct [text], that the pornography sites provided a diversion for 9 months while he was stretched thin between work and church obligations. Governor Kathleen Sebelius [official website] will appoint someone to complete Robertson's term which ends in January 2009. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

• Using the "frequency, regularity and proximity test", the Mississippi Supreme Court dismissed [text] Monsanto Company as a defendant in an asbestos litigation brought by employees at International Paper Company in Natchez. Justice George C. Carlson wrote that "the proper test to be used is the frequency, regularity, and proximity standard to show product identification of the defendant's actual produce, exposure of the plaintiffs to those products, and proximate causation," and in applying the test the court found that the plaintiffs failed to provide evidence of exposure to Monsanto's products. Monsanto Co. [company website] was among 270 defendants. AP has more.
  
  
• Florida Circuit Judge Joseph Will has ruled that a state Department of Corrections [official website] policy allowing for the re-arresting of sex offenders who have not secured a suitable address before their release from prison is unconstitutional. Will found it to be "fundamentally unfair" to prevent an offender's release when the offender has served his sentence. The sex-offender will be free on probation which will include daily reports to his probation officer and wearing a location-tracking monitor. AP has more.

[JURIST] Although the New Orleans Police Department may be fully operational again as early as next month, acting Police Superintendent Warren Riley said Thursday that National Guard troops may be needed in the city through March. Riley wants the Guard to patrol three large areas of the city still uninhabitable after Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] while the police help settle the rest of the city. National Guard troops engaged in law enforcement will remain under the control of the Louisiana state governor in order to avoid infringmenet of the federal Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 [text; NORTHCOM factsheet]. New Orleans police still face such obstacles as determining if their headquarters building can be reclaimed, and investigations into looting by police officers [JURIST report] and desertion of posts [JURIST report] during the storm are continuing. USA Today has more.

[JURIST] The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq [official website] is wrapping up preparations for the October 15 vote [IECI fact sheet, PDF; Q/A, PDF] on Iraq's draft constitution [JURIST news archive]. The IECI, with support from the UN, has hired over 100,000 poll workers and has distributed ballots, ballot boxes, and voter screens [AKI report]. The Iraqi government has also launched a TV ad campaign [AFP report] encouraging the 15.7 million Iraqi registered voters to have their say. Meanwhile, the US military has warned of an increase in insurgent violence leading up to the vote, but Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters Thursday that US casualties were actually down between May and August, and promised "a safe and secure environment for the people of Iraq during the referendum." AP has more.

[JURIST] Although he was expected to stay on until September 2006 [JURIST report], former Disney Chairman Michael Eisner [BBC profile] has cut all ties with Walt Disney Co. [corporate website; JURIST news archive] according to a document filed Thursday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission [official website]. Eisner stepped down as chief executive last week, but the filing says he also resigned his seat on the company's board of directors on his last day as CEO. Under his employment contract, Eisner was entitled to stay on as a consultant but will not do so. Disney President and Chief Operating Officer Robert Iger [corporate profile] took over the company on October 1. USA Today has more.

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] filed a motion on Thursday seeking to gain access to the New Orleans city jail in response to allegations of mistreatment [ACLU press release] during Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive]. The motion for a temporary restraining order [PDF text] to preserve evidence is supported by declarations from two prisoners who described being abandoned at the jail with no food, water, or electricity. Sheriff Marlin Gusman admitted that electricity was down and toilets stopped working, but says prisoners had food from the prison and MREs supplied by the Army. He also denied allegations that dead bodies were floating through the prison. Democrats in Congress have also written to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales voicing concerns about prisoner treatment [text of letter] and possible misconduct by law enforcement officers, and calling for an investigation into reports that correctional officers abandoned inmates. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Lawyers request DOJ supervision over temporary Louisiana prison facility
• New Orleans prisoners left in locked cells during Katrina, rights group says
• Violence, chaos at New Orleans jail after guards fled from Katrina, survivor says

[JURIST] AP is reporting that the US Senate has passed a bill [summary] that gives President Bush $50 billion for military spending, but also puts restrictions on the treatment of detainees. Earlier this week, the Senate approved an amendment [JURIST document; JURIST report] to the military spending bill that sets restrictions on the detention, interrogation and prosecution of terror suspects. The White House has repeatedly threatened to veto [IHT report] the measure. The version of the spending bill passed by the US House does not contain language banning the "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" of anyone in US custody, and the White House says that the provision is unlikely to survive conference negotiations. AP has more.

[JURIST] The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [official website] has confirmed that detainees are on hunger strike at the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] facility in Cuba. The humanitarian agency, which made a 10-day visit to the US base in late September, was allowed to visit the infirmary, see the detainees and speak with them. ICRC representative Antonella Notari said the situation is serious and needs to be followed with concern. Human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, acting on behalf of some 40 detainees, has said that 21 prisoners were kept alive by force-feeding [Nation comment; JURIST report]; the ICRC refused to comment on that statement. According to the 1975 Tokyo declaration [text] from the World Medical Association [official website], doctors should not participate in forced nourishment, but explain to the prisoners consequences of hunger strike. Reuters has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• British PM asked to intervene as Gitmo hunger strike continues
• Lawyers request federal judge to oversee Gitmo hunger strike
• Gitmo hunger strike unsettling senior US commanders
• Three more detainees hospitalized as Gitmo hunger strike continues

[JURIST] Two former British law lords have condemned recent UK anti-terror proposals [JURIST report] as "intolerable" and in violation of human rights laws. Referring to provisions in the proposed bill [PDF text] which would amend current UK anti-terrorism legislation [Home Office backgrounder], Lord Steyn and Lord Lloyd said that if the government is given authority to hold terror suspects for up to three months without charge this could violate the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text]. UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke announced yesterday that the government has reconsidered [JURIST report] the definition of activities that could lead to charges of glorifying terrorism, but Clarke also said the government was standing firm on the proposal to extend the time suspected terrorists can be detained from 14 days to three months. Clarke has also come under fire for releasing details [Independent report] about high-profile terrorist prosecutions currently underway. As part of his efforts to win support for the extended detention period, Clarke distributed a document that contains evidence against several defendants. The Home Office defended their actions, saying that the material would not prejudice pending legal proceedings. The Independent has more.

[JURIST] British lawyers representing Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks [BBC profile; advocacy website] have threatened legal action to compel the UK Home Office [official website] to grant him citizenship. Hicks applied for British citizenship [JURIST report] on the grounds that he is of British ancestry. If he Hicks is recognized as a Briton, his lawyers say they will turn to Britain for aid and ask the British government to intervene on his behalf to seek Hicks' release from Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], as the UK has done for nine British Guantanamo detainees. Hicks' Australian lawyer, David McLeod, said the British government has no discretionary powers to refuse Hicks citizenship. Hicks faces charges [charge sheet, PDF] of conspiracy, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy. The Advertiser has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Pentagon sets date of military commission trial for Australian Gitmo detainee
• Trial of Australian Gitmo detainee to start in October
• US wants military trial for Australian Gitmo detainee
• Australia rejects advice proposing domestic trial for Gitmo prisoner Hicks
• Australia wants speedy military trial for Gitmo detainee, but lawyers balk

[JURIST] The International Atomic Energy Agency [official website; JURIST news archive] and Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei have been awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize [official website], the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced this morning. The Committee cited the IAEA and its sometimes-embattled chief "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way". Read the official press release on the award.