[JURIST] Top GOP senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) [official websites] expressed concern [AP report] Sunday about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' [official profile; JURIST news archive] credibility in the wake of Friday document disclosures [JURIST report] indicating his direct involvement in discussions surrounding the firing of eight US Attorneys, contrary to previous testimony to Congress. Democrat Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) meanwhile called for Gonzales' resignation. Specter said he would reserve his judgment on whether Gonzales should resign until his next scheduled testimony on April 17.

President Bush Saturday repeated his own adamant support for Gonzales in his weekly radio address [text]. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) [official website] also voiced his support for Gonzales, saying there was "no clear evidence that the attorney general deliberately lied or misled Congress" and that there was no reason for him to resign. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Libyan court Sunday postponed for the second time the criminal defamation trial of six foreign medics [JURIST news archive] accused of slandering three Libyan police agents and a Libyan doctor. Five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor were sentenced to death [JURIST report] in December for deliberately infecting 426 children with the HIV virus. The medics have maintained that they were tortured [Human Rights Watch report] by Libyan police officers into admitting guilt, and those claims prompted the slander charges. The police officers and Libyan doctor were acquitted of the torture charges in June 2005. Judge Salem Hamrouni delayed the trial until April 22 to give an addition to the Bulgarian defense team adequate time to prepare. A Libyan prosecutor seeks the maximum six-year prison sentence and financial compensation from the accused medics.

The defense team was already granted a two-week postponement [JURIST report] earlier this month. In early March the Secretary of the Libyan Foreign Affairs Committee [official website, in Arabic] Suleiman Shahoumi indicated that the medics will not be executed [JURIST news report]. The medics were imprisoned in Libya in 1999, but say they are innocent and are being scapegoated for unsanitary conditions in the Benghazi hospital where they worked. International medical and human rights groups have vigorously criticized Libya's treatment of the prisoners. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] European Union leaders marked the 50th anniversary [official website] of the Treaty of Rome [text] Sunday by signing a declaration [press release] aimed at revitalizing efforts to pass an European constitution [JURIST news archive; text]. The non-binding Berlin Declaration [PDF] states that the 27 leaders of the EU are "united in [their] aim of placing the European Union on a renewed common basis before the European Parliament elections in 2009." While addressing challenges facing Europe such as terrorism and global warming, the document does not use the word "constitution" [JURIST report], at the request of several nations which are reluctant to sign a treaty. German Chancellor Angela Merkel [BBC profile], whose country currently holds the Presidency of the European Union [German presidency official website] expressed hope that the Declaration would provide momentum for constitutional discussion: "If [the Declaration] meets the criteria, it could be the basis for an inter-governmental conference (ICG)" when Portugal assumes the EU presidency in July. AFP has more.

Prime Ministers Guy Verhofstadt of Belgium and Anders Fogh Rasmussen [BBC profiles] of Denmark said Sunday that the Declaration effectively means that a constitutional accord must be reached by the end of the year in order to be universally ratified by 2009. The constitution has faced great opposition, most notably in referendum defeats in France and the Netherlands [JURIST reports] in 2005, which put consideration of the charter on hold. The Berlin Declaration itself has been criticized for not democratically involving the 27 leaders in its drafting. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Pakistani police have arrested hundreds of opposition activists suspected of planning future demonstrations against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's controversial suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry [official profile; JURIST news archive], according to Pakistan opposition leaders Sunday. The Pakistani government, however, has denied any knowledge of anticipatory arrests ahead of new protests planned to take place across Pakistan Monday. The upcoming rallies have been planned by an coalition organized by the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, a group which includes the support of former civilian prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif [BBC profiles]. Sharif's political party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N party (Nawaz) [official website; Wikipedia backgrounder], says that police have detained hundreds in the past three days.

Chaudhry was removed earlier this month after allegations that he misused his influence to get his son jobs and promotions [JURIST report]. Justice Rana Bhagwandas [Wikipedia profile], the only Hindu judge on the court, has since been named the acting chief justice [JURIST report]. Several judges, as well as one of Pakistan's three deputy attorney generals [JURIST reports] resigned in protest over the suspension last week, claiming that it was politically motivated and an attack on the independence of the judiciary. The suspended chief justice was expected to reject any attempt by Musharraf to retain control of Pakistan's army, which he is supposed to relinquish this year. Musharraf's administration has adamantly maintained the suspension is motivated only by legal concerns. A panel of senior judges is scheduled to determine whether Chaudhry's removal was due to the charges against him on April 3. AP has more.

[JURIST] The UN Security Council [official website] unanimously voted Saturday to impose new sanctions on Iran [JURIST news archive] for continuing to enrich uranium in violation of a December 2006 resolution. Security Council Resolution 1747 [text and background] broadens the sanctions of December's Resolution 1737 [text; JURIST report], freezing assets of investors in Iran and blocking the export of Iranian arms. Council members said they saw the unanimous vote as a strong censure sending a clear message that Iran should "suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency." The Council nonetheless emphasized that the resolution is not intended to punish Iran or its people but rather to prompt renewed negotiations. Iran has 60 days to comply before the sanctions take effect.

The Iranian parliament [official website, in Persian] reviewed [JURIST report] and rejected Resolution 1737 in December. That resolution cited reports submitted by the IAEA which showed that Iran had not "established full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities" as set out in Resolution 1696 [PDF text, JURIST report] or otherwise complied with IAEA instructions. Iran has consistently decried the sanctions and emphasized that its policy will go unchanged. On Saturday Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki said that Resolution 1747

takes an unlawful, unnecessary and unjustifiable action against the peaceful nuclear programme of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which presents no threat to international peace and security and falls, therefore, outside the Council’s Charter-based mandate.