[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday heard oral arguments in United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez [Duke case backgrounder; merit briefs], where the court will decide whether a defendant is guaranteed a new trial under the Sixth Amendment right to counsel if a trial court improperly denies a person their choice of counsel. In the case, Gonzalez-Lopez wanted to bring in his own out-of-state attorney to represent him on federal drug trafficking charges, but was denied by the trial court in Missouri. On appeal, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the conviction [ruling, PDF] and remanded the case for a new trial, ruling that the district court should have provided a reason for denying the defendant his choice of counsel.

While Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg appeared ready to give deference to a defendant's right to counsel of their choosing, other justices expressed concern with the consequences of allowing a mistrial due to such a defect, an outcome which the attorney representing the United States said would decrease judicial efficiency and would waste taxpayer resources. AP has more.

[JURIST] Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak [official profile; JURIST news archive] suggested Tuesday that the country's emergency laws will be extended before they expire in June. Mubarak said that a nearly two-year gap between the expiration of the emergency provisions and new anti-terror legislation that could result from delays in the legislature would be a "serious danger." The emergency laws [EOHR backgrounder] have been renewed every three years since their 1981 adoption in response to the assassination of former President Anwar Sadat [CNN profile]. The laws permit the government to arrest and detain anyone deemed a threat to state security, with detentions renewable every 45 days. The laws also ban public demonstrations and allow military courts to try civilians.

The Muslim Brotherhood [backgrounder] made a campaign issue [JURIST report] out of the laws during last November's elections, in which they claimed one-fifth of Egypt's parliamentary seats. While the Egyptian government claims the law is only used to combat Islamic terrorists, members of the Brotherhood claim that dozens of members were arrested in connection with campaign activities. More than 100 Brotherhood members were arrested [JURIST report] earlier this week for planned protests of the laws. Human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] have said the laws indicate intolerance [HRW press release] of political dissenters. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The attorneys general of New Jersey and California [JURIST news archives] said Tuesday that they will file a lawsuit against tobacco manufacturers over payments they allege are due to them under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) [text]. New Jersey Attorney General Zulima Farber [official profile] said the state's lawsuit [NJ AG news release] against R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard [corporate websites] requests a court order recognizing that the state has diligently enforced its tobacco litigation statute [text], which requires that any disputed payments be paid into an escrow account until the issue is resolved. New Jersey is seeking payments that R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard have placed into a disputed-payment account and that the companies say they do not owe due to lost business. AP has more.

In California, Attorney General Bill Lockyer [official profile] has asked a federal court [complaint, PDF; news release] to reject attempts by the top three tobacco companies to take back $154.3 million paid to the state. In both cases, the tobacco companies are arguing that they owe reduced sums because they lost market-share to discounters who did not sign the agreement. The states have countered that they have recovered payments from discounters who did not sign the MSA, making the settlement enforceable. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) [official website] said Tuesday that the panel has submitted a lengthy interrogatory to the US seeking information on the treatment of prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and in Afghanistan [JURIST news archives]. The CAT also demanded information about secret detention centers [JURIST news archive] allegedly operated by the US in Europe, and asked if the US will assume responsibility for any acts of torture committed there.

The US is expected to defend itself at the 36th session of the CAT, scheduled to begin May 1 in Geneva, at which the panel will discuss US rendition [JURIST news archive] and detention practices on May 5 and 8. The forum will focus on a report [text] that the US filed with the CAT [JURIST report] last year that stressed US compliance with the Convention against Torture [text]. The Convention strictly prohibits broadly defined acts of torture. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on Tuesday threatened harsh punishments for any groups that oppose his government in an Independence Day speech. He said, "Anyone who dares go against the law ... dares lead any group of persons to embark on a campaign of violence or terrorist activities will be inviting the full wrath of the law to descend mercilessly on him or on those who follow him." Mugabe's comments come just days after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called for street protests to end Mugabe's presidency, and a month after the Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive] government dropped charges [JURIST report] against alleged Mugabe assassination plotters. The government has proposed new anti-terrorism laws [JURIST report] in response to the plot.

Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since its independence from the UK 26 years ago, also used his speech to blame droughts and "unjustified" sanctions by Western nations as the cause of the declining economy. The leader also said government plans to increase its control over the country's mining industry would move forward. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The speaker of the Russian Duma [official website], Russia's lower house of parliament, said Tuesday that parliament would not hold another vote on whether to modify the constitution to allow the president to run for a third term. The Russian Constitution [English translation], adopted in 1993, limits presidents to two consecutive four-year terms. Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website] currently has strong public support, and with pro-government legislatures controlling the parliament it is likely that a constitutional change, if pursued, could be approved.

State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov [official website, in Russian], leader of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, made the announcement and noted that Putin has opposed major constitutional changes [JURIST report]. Last year a proposed amendment fell far short of approval by the State Duma [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] A military judge Tuesday said that US Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller [Wikipedia profile], the former commander of military intelligence at the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] prison facility, can be called to testify at the upcoming trial of a sergeant accused of using dogs to abuse detainees at the Abu Ghraib [JURIST news archive] detention center in Iraq. Miller will testify at the court-martial of Sgt. Santos Cardona, who worked with Sgt. Michael Smith, another Army dog handler who was convicted [JURIST report] and sentenced to six months in jail [JURIST report] for similar abuse charges. Miller refused to testify at Smith's court-martial, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but Cardona's defense lawyer told the court Tuesday that Miller is now willing to testify.

Miller will be the highest-ranking military officer to testify in the Abu Ghraib scandal and his testimony is expected to conflict directly with reports by Col. Thomas Pappas [Wikipedia profile], the former top-ranking intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib, who informed investigators in Smith's trial that Miller told him the use of dogs in interrogations was successful in Guantanamo Bay. Miller claims, however, that he recommended that dogs be utilized for controlling prisoners but not in questioning them. Cardona's lawyers also sought to call Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as a witness, but the judge denied that request. Cardona's court-martial [JURIST report] is scheduled to begin next month. AP has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: Courts-Martial In Lieu of Leadership: Not Enough Military Justice

[JURIST] Prosecutors in Yemen [JURIST news archive] are seeking the death penalty against Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal [BBC report], the alleged number two in the Yemen sect of al-Qaeda, who is being tried for plotting terrorist attacks [JURIST report] as part of an armed group. Ahdal is on trial with four other alleged members of the group and was previously charged with receiving $50,000 from Osama bin Laden. Prosecutors called for the death penalty during the trial's final hearing Monday, saying Ahdal had contact with al-Qaeda leaders in neighboring countries to plan his bomb attacks and also raised money for the terrorist network.

Ahdal claims he is innocent and that his trial is being politically motivated by Saudi Arabian officials and US President George Bush. He is also accused of being involved in attacks on a French oil tanker and a helicopter owned by a US oil-firm in 2002, and was allegedly involved in the deaths of 19 security officials while he tried to evade being captured in 2000-2003. AFP has more.

[JURIST] An opposition leader in Belarus [JURIST news archive] said Tuesday that groups opposing the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko [official website; BBC profile] are proposing an international public trial to prosecute the regime's violations of Belarusian laws and the country's constitution [text]. Anatoly Lebedko [Wikipedia profile] said the court would review Lukashenko's 1996 dismissal of the parliament that planned to impeach him and the widely criticized March 19 elections [JURIST report] which have been marred with allegations of fraud.

Lebedko said that 10-15 people who are well known internationally should make up the court's trial judges and indicated that there are hundreds of cases against Lukashenko's regime to prosecute. He suggested that the issue of the court be brought up at the Council of Europe [official website], of which Belarus is not a member, and said a first session by the court could be held as soon as September. RIA Novosti has more.

[JURIST] Pro-democracy protests continued in Nepal [JURIST news archive] on Tuesday, with government employees being arrested for the first time and international pressure from India and several human rights groups being put on King Gyanendra [official website; BBC profile] to resolve the situation. An estimated 20,000 protesters filled the streets of the small western town of Nepalgunj, shouting slogans against King Gyanendra and overwhelming police in the area. In Kathmandu, 25 employees from the Ministry of Home Affairs [official website] were arrested for protesting Gyanendra, while opposition leaders vowed to push forward with a major demonstration on Thursday despite a government ban on protests.

India, Nepal's biggest trading partner, has stepped up pressure ahead of scheduled talks between Indian envoy Karan Singh and the Nepalese government on Thursday. Singh said the government had to engage opposition leaders in talks. Also Tuesday, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists [advocacy websites] urged countries to apply sanctions [press release] against Nepal by barring entry of top Nepalese officials and freezing their assets. King Gyanendra has faced a wave of unrest after seizing power [JURIST report] last year, despite promising to hold democratic elections [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge on Monday ruled that North Carolina [JURIST news archive] officials could use a brain-wave monitor rather than have a doctor present to ensure a prisoner was not conscious during an execution by lethal injection. Lawyers for the inmate, Willie Brown Jr. [NCADP profile], said they would appeal the ruling, which they said could allow a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. US District Judge Malcolm J. Howard had previously ruled [order, PDF; News Observer report] that a doctor must be present to ensure that Brown feels no pain during his scheduled execution. Howard said Monday that prison medical team could use the monitor to make sure the Brown was unconscious when the final injection was administered.

Similar events in California in February resulted in the state being forced to delay [JURIST report] the execution of Michael Morales after doctors who were supposed to observe withdrew due to ethical concerns. The American Medical Association [group website] ethical code prohibits doctors from participating directly in executions. The result has been a virtual moratorium [JURIST report] on executions in California. The New York Times has more [registration required].

[JURIST] The Alabama Legislature [official website] on Monday approved a bill that would pardon Rosa Parks [TIME profile], the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. [King Center profile] and other civil rights activists convicted of violating Jim Crow laws in the state. Under an amendment to the bill, the arrest records of Parks and others would remain at museums where they are on display. The state House of Representatives first approved the bill [JURIST report] last month, and the State Senate approved the bill with changes, which were approved by the House late Monday. The bill now goes to Gov. Bob Riley [official website] for signature.

Rosa Parks helped trigger the civil rights movement across the country after she was arrested in Montgomery, AL, in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. Parks died last year [JURIST report] at the age of 92. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Indiana Democratic Party [party website] on Monday said it would appeal a federal judge's ruling [JURIST report] that a state law requiring voters to show photo identification is valid. Party Chairman Daniel Parker said the ruling "glossed over" details and questioned whether Public Law 109-2005 [PDF text], passed last year by a Republican-controlled legislature, would prevent some voters from casting ballots in future elections. The Indiana Democratic Party has a news release on the appeal. Party officials said the appeal would not impact voting in the May 2 primary.

District Judge Sara Evans Barker [official profile] ruled [opinion, PDF] last week that the law was valid. Five other states require voters to show photo ID to cast ballots, and Georgia may soon add such a requirement over a challenge by several groups [JURIST report]. From Louisville, the Courier-Journal has more.

[JURIST] A New York judge on Monday ordered Transport Union Workers Local 100 [official website] to pay $2.5 million in fines for illegally going on strike in December, bringing New York City's public transport system to a halt. Judge Theodore Jones also suspended automatic dues collection by the union. Jones imposed [JURIST report] a $1 million-per-day fine on the union while it was on strike, which lasted for 60 hours. Union President Roger Toussaint [profile] said the union would appeal the fine. Jones also ordered smaller fines against two other unions.

Toussaint is expected to begin serving a 10-day jail sentence [JURIST report] this week, which Jones ordered earlier this month. New York's Public Employees Fair Employment Act [text; backgrounder] prohibits state employees from going on strike. The union still has not agreed to contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority [official website]. The New York Times has local coverage [registration required]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's international brief, last minute opposition from the UN representatives of both Russia and China has blocked the imposition of proposed UN sanctions [JURIST report] against four Sudanese officials accused of intentionally delaying the peace process in the war-torn Darfur region [JURIST news archive]. Russian Ambassador to the UN Andrey Denisov [official profile] told reporters that Russia felt that the current peace negotiations hosted by the African Union (AU) [official website] would be threatened by the imposition of sanctions, while China expressed its continued position that sanctions were an unsuccessful means of enforcing changes in government action. The US and UK missions to the UN are proposing introduction of the sanctions as a formal resolution, which would require the use of an official veto by Russia or China, instead of them being able to derail the sanctions by simply raising objections to the Sudan Sanctions Committee's actions. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of the United Nations [JURIST news archive]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage. AP has more.

In other international legal news...

• Indonesia's Supreme Court has agreed to hold a second case review of the three Christian men sentenced to death for masterminding violent attacks on the local Muslim populace in Poso in 2001. The three men have been convicted and sentenced to death and already had their case reviewed by the Supreme Court once before, the maximum allowed by Indonesian criminal procedure law. The Indonesian attorney general's office has issued a stay on the execution while they prepare for the process, but has agreed to keep the stay in place until the second case review has been completed. The attorney general's office told reporters however that because the law only allowed one case review, nothing the Supreme Court did would change the executive branch's decision to carry out the sentence. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono [BBC profile] has already rejected a plea for clemency from the convicted men. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Indonesia [JURIST news archive]. The Jakarta Post has local coverage.
  
  
• The Supreme Court of India [official website] has refused a request to issue a stop-work order for government construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam [official website] on the Narmanda River, but has given the Indian government until May 1 to prepare documents demonstrating that it has undertaken sufficient reimbursement and relocation procedures for individuals, villages and communities ousted by the dam's construction. If the court finds that the government has not met the burden of adequately compensating those forced to move, it has indicated that it will issue a work-stoppage order until the government complies. The dam is a key interior project that is designed to help bring significant amounts of hydro-electric power to the already power-starved sub-continent. The Calcutta Telegraph has local coverage. BBC News has more.
  
  
• In a move remarkably similar to last year's violent confrontation between Zimbabwean police and illegal street vendors [JURIST report], the south African nation of Malawi [government website, CIA backgrounder] has notified its own street vendors that it will not hesitate to use police and military troops to enforce a recent executive order requiring all street business to be conducted only within certain authorized areas of the capital city of Lilongwe. Early attempts to secure a court ruling to place a hold on the order have failed and police broke up a street vendor protest yesterday with tear gas as the vendors congregated to pray for the right to continue their trading on the main thoroughfares of Lilongwe. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The UK government said Monday that it plans to intervene in a case brought by a group of British citizens against Saudi Arabian officials who allegedly tortured them to argue that foreign officials who torture British citizens abroad should not be subject to civil lawsuits in British courts. The government is joining a Saudi Arabian appeal of a 2004 ruling [opinion; JURIST report] by Britain's Court of Appeal [official website] that while foreign governments are immune from prosecution, individuals who actually carry out the torture could be subject to lawsuits. The case involves four British men who claim they were tortured until they confessed to a series of terrorist bombings [BBC backgrounder] in the capital of Saudi Arabia in 2000 and 2001. The men claim that they are innocent but were forced to confess.

The British government has been criticized for its decision to intervene in the case by a lawyer representing three of the tortured men who said that the UK government is blocking these men from seeking retribution for the torture inflicted upon them. However, a spokesperson for the UK Department for Constitutional Affairs [official website] said that the case is not about the government's attitude toward torture but is purely a jurisdictional issue. The case is scheduled to be heard on April 26. AP has more; from the UK, the Guardian has local coverage.

[JURIST] A city court in Siberia where former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky [MosNews profile; JURIST news archive] is currently in prison ruled Tuesday that his 5-day transfer to solitary confinement earlier this year was unlawful. Khodorkovsky [defense website] was temporarily held in an isolated cell after prison officials found Justice Ministry documents on prisoners' rights in his cell. The court in Krasnokamensk ruled that these were not confidential documents since they had already been published in the media, so he was entitled to have them.

Khodorkovsky is serving an eight-year prison term for fraud and tax evasion convictions [JURIST report] and was hospitalized [JURIST report] last week after another inmate stabbed him in the face while he slept. A lawyer representing the former Yukos [corporate website] oil company executive said he plans to file a complaint against another solitary confinement punishment issued when Khodorkovsky drank tea in an unauthorized place. His lawyers claim that the punishments are being handed out in an attempt to prevent Khodorkovsky from obtaining parole in the future. AP has more. MosNews has local coverage.

[JURIST] Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue [official website] signed into law [press release] Monday a bill cracking down on illegal immigration that will prevent illegal aliens from receiving many of the state's services paid for by taxpayers. The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act [text] implements new requirements for contractors doing work for the state who will now have to verify the legal status of their workers. Under the new law, police must also inform immigration officials if those charged with crimes are in the US illegally. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has local coverage.

Meanwhile, however, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano [official website] on Monday vetoed [veto letter page one, PDF; page two, PDF] a bill that would have allowed the prosecution of illegal aliens, showing the great divide on the immigration [JURIST news archive] issue as members of Congress try to reach a compromise on immigration reform at the federal level. The Arizona bill [PDF text] would have made it possible to prosecute illegal workers as trespassers, but Napolitano said the law would impose additional burdens on police and prosecutors without the available funds to meet these extra costs. The bill would have allowed first-time offenders to be charged with a misdemeanor and face up to six months in jail, while a second violation would result in a felony charge with a possible one-year jail sentence. The Arizona Republic has local coverage. Reuters has more.