[JURIST] Google goes to federal court on Tuesday - backed by online privacy advocate groups - to fight a Bush administration subpoena [PDF text] that seeks to force the search engine giant to hand over an enormous amount of its user data, including one week's worth of query searches and up to 1 million web addresses. US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales ordered Google to hand over the information as part of a Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] campaign to re-write and constitutionalize the federal Child Online Protection Act (COPA) [text of 1998 law], overturned by the Supreme Court's 2004 ruling in Ashcroft v. ACLU [text] as a violation of First Amendment free speech protections.

Although the DOJ is refusing to comment on the case, in court briefs it asserted [JURIST report] that the information request was not as widespread as suggested by Google. But Google maintains [JURIST report] that the government's request is unnecessary and will provide absolutely no useful information. US District Judge James Ware will hear opening motions in the case on Tuesday in San Jose. The San Jose Mercury News has local coverage.

[JURIST] Serbian President Boris Tadic [personal website in Serbian; Wikipedia profile] Monday blamed the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [JURIST news archive] for the unexpected death of Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST report] on Saturday, telling the Associated Press that the court should have granted the prisoner's requests to be released to Moscow for treatment of heart problems. The court denied the requests [JURIST report] for fear that Milosevic would not return from Russia and stated that his medical care at the Hague was competent.

Tadic nonetheless said that Serbia would continue cooperating with the court in its pursuit of other indictees, including fugitive Ratko Mladic, and emphasized that he would not void an international arrest warrant [JURIST report] for Milosevic's widow by granting her a pardon if she attended his expected funeral in Belgrade. Mirjana Markovic currently faces corruption charges [BBC report] and is believed to be in Russia, but a district court in Belgrade will reconsider her family's demand for a waiver of her arrest warrant so that she can attend the services. According to test results disclosed Monday [BBC report], the ex-president took antibiotics which neutralized his heart medications, which probably resulted in his fatal heart attack [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin [official website; press release] said that despite widespread protests he remains committed to a proposed labor law that will make it easier for companies to fire workers under the age of 26. Villepin said in a national TV interview [TF1 recorded video] Sunday that the new law will create incentives for firms to hire young people by ensuring them that they will be able to layoff new workers if profits unexpectedly wane.

About 200 protesters took part in a student sit-in on Friday that forced riot police to storm [AP report] the historic Sorbonne University in Paris. Altogether, about 400,000 people joined protests over the weekend, most of them peaceful. Youth unemployment in France currently stands at 23%, and runs as high and as high as 50% in some Paris suburbs. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] Monday announced [statement] the creation of a new National Security Division [fact sheet] at the Department of Justice, bringing "under one umbrella the Department's primary national security elements" as authorized by the recent renewal of the Patriot Act [JURIST report]. The division is designed to bridge the gap between the law enforcement and intelligence teams in the government as recommended by the WMD Commission [official website] and will include attorneys from both the Counterterrorism [official website] and Counterespionage [official website] sections of the Criminal Division and the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review [official website] specializing in the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act [text]. The US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) [FJC backgrounder], bypassed by the administration's domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive], will also be included in the new division.

Gonzales Monday urged Congress to quickly approve the appointment of current US Attorney for the District of Columbia Kenneth Wainstein [official profile], President Bush's nominee [press release] to be the first Assistant Attorney General for National Security. AP has more.

[JURIST] A US Vietnam-era deserter is being held at a military prison in California after being arrested late last week while crossing the border from Canada. Allen Abney, 56, deserted the US Marine Corps and fled to Canada in 1968 at the age of 18. He was arrested Thursday after a routine computer check conducted upon his arrival at an Idaho border station showed an outstanding military warrant; he was later transferred to a brig at the Marine base at Camp Pendleton [official website] California. Abney's family says that he has visited the US may times without incident, and speculated that the US government is using Abney as an example [CTV report] for members of the US military currently considering desertion to avoid serving in Iraq [JURIST report]. It's estimated that up to 200 former US military personnel are in Canada avoiding Iraq war service; some 20 have applied for refugee status [JURIST report]. According to the Marine Corps, improved computer listings have improved their ability to locate deserters.

Charges against Abney could range from a one-year jail sentence for desertion to a five-year sentence for desertion to avoid combat, or the case could simply be discharged without a court-martial. His family said Monday that its attempts to contact Abney have been unsuccessful so far, and he remains unaware that his brother passed away Saturday following a long illness. The Los Angeles Times has more.

[JURIST] A military court-martial is set to begin Monday for US Army dog handler Sgt. Michael J. Smith, facing 14 counts of misconduct for using unmuzzled dogs to abuse detainees at Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive] in 2003 and 2004. Military prosecutors contend that Smith was operating outside of protocol when he allowed the unmuzzled animals to bark at and bite detainees during interrogations. Attorneys for Smith are expected to argue that his actions were condoned by his commanders.

The use of dogs at Abu Ghraib prison was started in November 2003 on the recommendation of Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller [Wikipedia profile], then commanding Guantanamo. Miller has said that the dogs there were used to control detainees, but were not approved for use during interrogations. Colonel Thomas Pappas, then the top intelligence officer at the prison, has disputed this [Washington Post report], telling military investigators that Miller told him that dogs had been useful during interrogations, and that they were "effective in setting the atmosphere for which, you know, you could get information." Miller has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and will not be testifying [JURIST report] at the Smith trial. If convicted, Smith faces 29 1/2 years in prison. The trial of fellow dog handler Sgt. Santos A. Cardona is scheduled to begin in May. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Leonie Brinkema stunned courtroom observers Monday by calling a recess in the September 11 hijacking trial of Zacarias Moussaoui [JURIST news archive] Monday after being informed that government lawyers had coached witnesses in the case. The government informed the court and defense over the weekend that a Transportion Security Administration attorney had improperly coached four government FAA witnesses contrary to a sequestration direction [PDF].

Brinkema told lawyers "This is the second significant error by the government affecting the constitutional rights of the defendant and the criminal justice system in this country in the context of a death case", and said she would now consider whether the breach warranted removing the death penalty from the government as a sentencing option. Late last week Brinkema warned prosecutors [JURIST report] against making any indication to jury members that Moussaoui was obligated to tell FBI agents about his terrorist connections after his arrest in August 2001, saying they were on "shaky legal ground". AP has more.

11:15 AM ET - The prosecution also informed Brinkema that the TSA lawyer had shown the witness the government's opening statement, contrary to a pre-trial order. Brinkema called the breaches "the most egregious violation of the court's rules on witnesses" she had seen "in all the years I've been on the bench." The Washington Post has more.

Brinkema has already thrown out the government's death penalty case against Moussaoui once [AP report; memorandum opinion, PDF], doing so in October 2003 after the government defied an order to give Moussaoui access to key witnesses against him. The ruling was reversed on appeal and the case remanded.

1:35 PM ET - The jury in the case has been sent home until Wednesday; Brinkema has scheduled a hearing Tuesday to access to what extent evidence may have been tainted by the witness coaching. AFP has more.

3:35 PM ET - A redacted version [PDF] of the US Attorney's March 13 letter to Judge Brinkema on possible breach of her witness sequestration order with copies of the relevant e-mails to witnesses from the TSA lawyer is now available.

7:50 PM ET - The defense memorandum in support of its motion to dismiss [PDF] the death notice based on the government's sequestration violation, and the government memorandum in opposition [PDF], are now both online. The government argues that despite the violation, "dismissal of the death notice is unwarranted and less draconian remedial measures are available to cure any possible taint to the witnesses." There was, the government noted, "no prosecutorial bad faith."

[JURIST] Nigerian lawyers have begun a two-day boycott of the country's courts in protest at what they say is "failure of the government to comply with court orders and the violation of human rights." Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) [profession website] President Lanke Odogiyon says that disregard for the rule of law in Nigeria [JURIST news archive] is reminiscent of the country's military dictatorship and that the NBA wants to demonstrate the effects of a legal system that ceases to function. As next year's general elections approach, the NBA wants to be sure the government will respect court judgments, as Nigerian political battles often end up in the court system.

The Nigerian government has also been reticent in following international legal directives. Thusfar it has rejected UN demands [JURIST report, Reuters article] for the extradition of former Liberian president Charles Taylor [PBS profile] whom the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone [official website] has indicted for war crimes. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Turkey has urged European countries to reexamine their religious defamation laws and ensure that they protect Muslims in the wake of the Muhammad cartoons controversy [JURIST news archive]. At a weekend conference of EU foreign ministers in Austria, Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul [official website] echoed Muslim claims that European laws reflect a double standard insofar as they protect Christianity and prosecute anti-semitism but leave Muslims vulnerable, noting in a speech [official text]:

there are legal restraints against such defamation. However, these restraints sometimes only apply to the established religions of the concerned countries. I would like to call on you here to start a process of re-examination of your legislations to ensure that these restraints apply to all religions equally, including to Islam.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Indonesia has denied the appeal [Metro TV report, in Bahasa Indonesian] of pro-Indonesia militia leader Eurico Guterres [Wikipedia profile] for charges stemming from his involvement in massacres that occurred during the 1999 violence in East Timor [PBS backgrounder], according to Jakarta's Metro TV [media website] Monday. Guterres, who was free while his appeal was heard, will now be sent to prison to serve a 10-year sentence. The country's high court meets in private and does not publicize its verdicts, so it is unknown when the appeal was actually rejected.

Guterres' conviction marks only the second time that a court in Indonesia has punished someone over the East Timor [JURIST news archive; HRW backgrounder] violence that left more than 1,400 people dead and the capital, Dili, largely demolished after citizens voted against continuing under Indonesian rule. In January, East Timor President Xanana Gusmao [BBC profile] presented a report [JURIST report] to the UN alleging widespread atrocities committed by the Indonesian government while it ruled the country. AP has more.

[JURIST] Russian Foreign Ministry officials confirmed Monday that they had received a letter written by Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive] on March 8 complaining about his medical care while in prison at The Hague and pressed for Russian medical experts to participate in his post mortem. A Ministry spokesman said in a statement:

In this handwritten letter Slobodan Milosevic speaks of the inadequate treatment administered by doctors of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [sic] and again asks for the Russian Federation's support in obtaining permission to undergo a therapeutic course in a medical establishment in Moscow.

To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

With my acknowledgment for the solidarity and understanding which you expressed by accepting to receive me to come for medical treatment and by giving guarantees, I would like to inform you about the following:

I think that the persistence, with which the medical treatment in Russia was denied, in the first place is motivated by the fear that through careful examination it would be discovered, that there were active, willful steps taken, to destroy my health, throughout the proceedings of the trial, which could not be hidden from Russian specialists.

In order to verify my allegations, I'm presenting you a simple example which you can find in the attachment. This document, which I received on March 7, shows that on January 12th (i.e. two months ago), an extremely strong drug was found in my blood, which is used, as they themselves say, for the treatment of tuberculosis and leprosy, although I never used any kind of antibiotic during this 5 years that I'm in their prison.

Throughout this whole period, neither have I had any kind of infectious illness (apart from flu).

Also the fact that doctors needed 2 months (to report to me), can't have any other explanation than we are facing manipulation. In any case, those who foist on me a drug against leprosy surely can't treat my illness; likewise those from which I defended my country in times of war and who have an interest to silence me.

Dear Sirs, it is known to you that Russian physicians, who rank among the most respected physicians in the world, came to the conclusion that the examination and treatment of the vascular problems in my head are inevitable and urgent. I know very well that this is true, as I feel very bad.

I'm addressing you in expectation that you help me defend my health from the criminal activities in this institution, working under the sign of the U.N., and that I be enabled as soon as possible to get adequate treatment in your hospital, in whose physicians, as well as in Russia, I have absolute confidence.

Yours sincerely,

Slobodan Milosevic

[JURIST] Eight people have been charged in Zimbabwe with plotting the assassination of President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile] following the arrests of 15 suspects [JURIST report] on Friday. Several members of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [party website] were among those charged, including MP Giles Mutsekwa, although the MDC itself has denied any knowledge or involvement. In a Saturday hearing before a magistrate, defense lawyers alleged that four of the detainees were taken to a military camp where they were beaten and tortured by secret service agents [ZWNews report] attempting to force a confession. The magistrate declined to investigate the allegations, although the Zimbabwe secret service has routinely been accused of torture [BBC report] by opposition members and human rights groups.

Police believe those charged are allied with the Zimbabwe Freedom Movement [manifesto], a clandestine group seeking Mugabe's removal. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A former Iraqi judge on trial with Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] testified Monday in Baghdad that he sentenced 148 Shiites to death after a 1982 assassination attempt on the former dictator in the town of Dujail, but asserted that they were given a proper trial beforehand. Awad al-Bandar [Wikipedia backgrounder] led the Revolutionary Court when the 148 were sentenced. Chief judge Ra'uf Abdel-Rahman [BBC profile] appeared to wonder whether the 148 could actually have been tried, asking al-Bandar how the testimony of so many individuals could have been taken in an alleged two-week time period and how they all fit in the courtroom. Al-Bandar responded that all 148 had confessed to the assassination attempt despite prosecution accusations that the death sentences were really a crackdown on the Dujail villagers [JURIST report] in retribution for the assassination attempt. Saddam has admitted to ordering the death sentences [JURIST report] but denies his actions were criminal because he was acting as head of state.

Al-Bandar's testimony followed the direct testimony of three other defendants [JURIST report] on Sunday who denied informing Iraqi security forces and the country's intelligence agency about other families in Dujail who were later arrested. After the direct testimony of all eight defendants - including Saddam - is taken the Iraqi High Criminal Court, formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website], will recess to detail the specific charges against them. Both sides will then be able to respond to those charges. The trial has now been adjourned until Wednesday. AP has more.

[JURIST] The annual six-week meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights [official website] in Geneva was suspended [press release] after just four minutes on Monday to give the 191 member governments of the UN General Assembly more time to debate and discuss [JURIST report] a replacement body. The 53-member commission, supposed to be meeting for the last time, agreed Friday to table its yearly meeting [UN backgrounder] for one week after UN General Assembly President Jan Eliasson [official profile] postponed [JURIST report] until this week the General Assembly's approval meeting for the new UN Human Rights Council [JURIST news archive]. Eliasson's decision was prompted by disagreements with the US over the make-up of the Council.

The proposed draft resolution [JURIST document; Eliasson briefing video] for the Council discusses having 47 member nations elected through a secret ballot by an absolute majority of the UN General Assembly's 191 members. But the US has called for a smaller body to be elected by a two-thirds majority and has not agreed to approve the current proposal. The General Assembly is expected to meet in New York this week to try and reach a consensus. AFP has more.

[JURIST Europe] A member of the elite Special Air Service [Wikipedia profile] special forces of the British Army [official website] who refused to return to Iraq and later left British military service said in an interview published in the UK Sunday that he resigned because he objected to the illegality of the war and its tactics, especially as conducted by US forces. Ben Griffin admitted that he did not think that the British government made a good case for the Iraqi war but that he went to Iraq because he felt that he had to follow orders. Afterwards, however, he decided that he "didn't join the British army to conduct American foreign policy."

Griffin questioned the legality of many actions he saw undertaken by US troops in Iraq, such as taking into custody men who were clearly civilians and uninvolved with insurgents. He told the Daily Telegraph:

The Americans had this catch-all approach to lifting suspects. The tactics were draconian and completely ineffective. The Americans were doing things like chucking farmers into Abu Ghraib or handing them over to the Iraqi authorities, knowing full well they were going to be tortured....

As far as the Americans were concerned, the Iraqi people were sub-human, untermenschen. You could almost split the Americans into two groups: ones who were complete crusaders, intent on killing Iraqis, and the others who were in Iraq because the Army was going to pay their college fees. They had no understanding or interest in the Arab culture. The Americans would talk to the Iraqis as if they were stupid and these weren't isolated cases, this was from the top down. There might be one or two enlightened officers who understood the situation a bit better but on the whole that was their general attitude. Their attitude fuelled the insurgency. I think the Iraqis detested them.

[JURIST Europe] Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi [official profile; BBC profile] called Italy's judiciary “the disease of our democracy” in a weekend TV interview, promising changes to the judicial system as he himself faces the possibility of a new trial before upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for April 9-10. The combative conservative politician has long blamed supposedly left-leaning magistrates for his many legal problems. Last week Milan prosecutors asked a judge to indict him on corruption charges [JURIST report]. Under Italian law, the judge has 20 days to consider the prosecutor’s request.

During his five years in office, Berlusconi has made reforming the judiciary a priority, prompting criticism that he was using his position to shape the system in order to avoid his own troubles with the law. AP has more.

Tatyana Margolin is an Associate Editor for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. She is based in the UK.