War crimes trial postponed for former Afghan intelligence chief News
War crimes trial postponed for former Afghan intelligence chief

[JURIST] Afghan Judge Abul Basit Bakhitari has postponed the trial of Assadullah Sarwari [TrialWatch profile] for twenty days so that he may hire a lawyer. Sarwari, the former director of Afghanistan's intelligence service, faces charges stemming from his operation under the country's Soviet-supported communist regime [Wikipedia backgrounder] in 1979, where he allegedly killed and tortured regime opponents. Sarwari claims that he has no money to hire a lawyer, and Bakhitari called upon international organizations to provide a lawyer for Sarwari so that the war crimes trial [JURIST report], the first of its kind in Afghanistan, may continue. Xinhuanet has more.

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On April 18, 1949, the Republic of Ireland Act went into force, creating a republic in the state of Ireland. The Act repealed the Executive Authority Act, which had given governing authority in Ireland to the King of England.

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