[JURIST] A Texas oil baron pleaded guilty Friday to charges that he paid millions in bribes to Iraqi officials in connection with the UN oil-for-food scandal. David Chalmers, owner of Bayoil USA Inc and Bayoil Supply and Trading Ltd, pleaded guilty in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] to conspiracy to commit wire fraud [indictment, PDF]. Ludmil Dionissiev, a Bulgarian oil trader who helped Chalmers buy Iraqi oil, meanwhile pleaded guilty to smuggling.

The now-defunct UN Oil-for-Food program [official website; JURIST news archive] allowed the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein, under UN sanctions in the wake of the first Gulf War, to sell limited stocks of oil in return for foodstuffs and other humanitarian supplies. Hussein's regime nonetheless bribed foreign officials and commercial interests so it could sell oil on the black market, embezzling over $1 billion in program funds and perhaps as much another $10 billion from other sources. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The government of the Netherlands reached an agreement with the United Nations Friday to host the ad hoc tribunal that will investigate and try suspects involved in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive]. A UN delegation will travel to the Netherlands in the coming weeks to work out the details of the tribunal, according to UN officials.

In July, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon formally asked the Netherlands to host the tribunal [JURIST report], saying that The Hague had valuable experience in hosting international tribunals as it is the site of the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official websites]. The UN International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) [authorizing resolution; UN materials] is set to turn its investigation over to the tribunal after the IIIC's mandate expires in December. The tribunal, which was unilaterally established [JURIST report] by the UN Security Council in May, will be known as the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. It will also investigate [JURIST report] and possibly try suspects in 17 other attempted and successful political assassinations in Lebanon. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] Friday revoked a previous order transferring the case against 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder] suspect Michel Bagaragaza [TrialWatch profile; ICTR materials] to a local court in the Netherlands. In addition to canceling the transfer, the ICTR issued a new warrant for Bagaragaza requesting that the Netherlands "arrest and transfer the accused to the tribunal." The transfer was canceled upon the request of ICTR prosecutors after the Netherlands expressed doubt that its national court system could handle the trial.

Before transferring Bagaragaza to the Netherlands, the ICTR in 2006 rejected a prosecution attempt to transfer Bagaragaza to Norway [JURIST report], ruling that Norway didn't have a specific law against genocide. After his subsequent transfer to the Netherlands, Bagaragaza was the first defendant to be transferred from the ICTR to a national court. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Interpol [official website] issued a red notice [official backgrounder] Friday seeking the arrest of Raghad Saddam Hussein [Wikipedia profile], daughter of the former Iraqi dictator, on charges of terrorism. Interpol circulated the notice to member countries, saying Iraq accuses Raghad of supporting insurgencies in Iraq.

Last year, Iraq placed [JURIST report] Raghad and her mother, Saddam Hussein's first wife Sajida, on its most-wanted list, accusing the two of using secretly-looted money to fund Baathist insurgents. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] An Iranian court has issued a summons for five Argentinean officials, accusing them of fabricating a case against Iran in the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish Community Center [Wikipedia backgrounder], Iranian media reported Thursday. The Argentineans were involved in an investigation that implicated Iran as partly responsible for the bombing, which killed 85 and wounded hundreds more. Iran has repeatedly denied involvement and has issued the summons through diplomatic channels.

In March, Interpol [official website] agreed to issue arrest notices [JURIST report] for six men thought to be connected with the bombing. Argentina [JURIST news archive] had initially sought to have a number of high ranking Iranian officials arrested, including former Iran President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani [official website, in Farsi; JURIST report], but Interpol's Executive Committee [official website] approved notices for only five Iranians, including one for former Intelligence Chief Ali Fallahian, and an additional notice for a Lebanese militant. VOA News has more.

[JURIST] The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) [official website] filed an appeal with the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Friday contesting a DC District Court decision [order, PDF] allowing organic food company Whole Foods Market to buy rival grocer Wild Oats Markets [corporate websites]. US District Judge Paul L. Friedman refused to issue an injunction blocking the acquisition [Bloomberg report] on Thursday, saying it did not violate US antitrust laws. The FTC argues that the merger will limit competition in the organic food market, thereby hurting consumers. Whole Foods, however, maintains that it must still compete with traditional food markets that are beginning to offer more organic varieties.

Whole Foods has agreed to not complete the acquisition prior to August 20 [press release], but may continue with the buyout afterwards if no injunction is granted. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Army Corps of Engineers [official website] argued Thursday that it cannot be sued for negligence over the collapse of a flood wall and levee caused by Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] because the Flood Control Act of 1928 [text] grants it immunity. New Orleans residents have filed a class action suit against the Corps, alleging that the levee was damaged prior to Katrina and that the Corps was negligent in maintaining it. US District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. told plaintiffs' lawyers that the law may grant immunity, which would preclude suit against the government for negligence, but has not yet ruled on whether the suit can go forward.

In a separate canal breach case [LAED case materials], Duval ruled in February that those plaintiffs can proceed with claims [JURIST report] that the Corps ignored warnings that the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet contained defects that exacerbated flooding during Katrina. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Pakistani court ruled Friday that government prosecutors may reopen their investigation into alleged corruption committed by exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [BBC profile], dealing a blow to Sharif's bid to return to Pakistan. Sharif, exiled for 10 years to Saudi Arabia in exchange for the government dropping its investigation in 2000, petitioned the Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] for the right to return earlier this year. Legal observers say the government's bid to reopen the case against Sharif, who was overthrown by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf [BBC profile] in a 1999 military coup, is a preemptive measure in case the Supreme Court issues a ruling favorable to Sharif. If Sharif returns to Pakistan while the corruption case is pending, he could face detention.

Last Friday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the government to produce complete voter registration records [JURIST report], a move that may hinder Musharraf's bid to extend his eight-year rule by another five years. Government lawyers had sought 140 days to produce the records, which would have extended beyond the November elections, but the Court ordered them due within 30 days of the ruling. The high court has also ordered the release on bail [JURIST report] of opposition leader Javed Hashmi. The rulings were issued after the reinstatement [order] of suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry [JURIST news archive]. Many lawyers and opposition leaders have alleged that Chaudhry's suspension [JURIST report] was an indirect bid to forestall any legal challenges ahead of Musharraf's bid for re-election. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A German court announced the parole of former Red Army Faction [BBC backgrounder] member Eva Haule on Friday, saying that the court believed that Haule no longer viewed violence as an appropriate method of furthering political agendas and thus "no longer poses any danger to the public." Haule, initially sentenced in 1988 to 15 years in prison for her role in a failed 1984 bomb attack, was issued a life sentence in 1994 after new evidence proved her involvement in a 1985 bomb plot that killed three people.

In May, German President Horst Koehler denied a plea for clemency [JURIST report] from former Red Army Faction members Christian Klar and Birgit Hogefeld [Wikipedia profiles]. The Red Army Faction, a radical leftist group also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang, is responsible for the death of 34 people before disbanding itself in 1998. In February, a German state court granted parole [JURIST report] to another former Baader-Meinhof member Brigitte Mohnhaupt [Wikipedia profile], after she had served 24 years in prison. AP has more.

[JURIST] Indonesia reduced the sentences of 10 Islamic militants on Friday for their roles in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and the 2005 Bali bombings [BBC reports]. Originally serving between eight to 18 years, six of the militants received a sentence reduction of five months, while the other four received a reduction of two months. Victims and survivors of the attacks criticized the reduction, but Indonesian Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Matalatta defended the reduction as a constitutional right afforded to all criminals regardless of their crimes, adding that 64,000 others inmates received sentence reductions and 6,600 others were freed as part of Indonesia's prisoner remission program conducted annually on August 17 to mark the country's independence from Dutch colonial rule. Prisoners in good standing typically receive a remission, unless they are death row inmates or serving life sentences.

In June, Indonesian police confirmed the arrest [JURIST report] of leading terrorist suspect Abu Dujana [BBC profile] and seven other terrorist suspects who composed the main body of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) [MIPT backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. JI, which was responsible for both Bali bombings, is also blamed for the 2004 bombings of the US embassy in Jakarta [Wikipedia backgrounder]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Two former South African officials pleaded guilty to attempted murder [plea and sentencing agreement, PDF] Friday for their role in a 1989 plot to assassinate then-opposition member and current Director-General in the President's Office Frank Chikane. As part of the plea agreement with prosecutors, former Minister of Law and Order Adriaan Vlok and former police chief Johannes Van der Merwe were sentenced to 10-year prison terms, suspended so long as neither commits any crimes over the next five years. Three other former apartheid police officials were sentenced to five years, suspended for four years, for their involvement in the assassination plot. There had been speculation that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) [official website] would try to reach a plea bargain [SABCnews report] with Vlok to obtain more evidence against former South Africa President F.W. de Klerk [official profile], who has refused to apply for amnesty with South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) [official website].

In July, De Clerk denied [press release, DOC; JURIST report] having knowledge of or participating in crimes against opposition members, adding that South Africa should "look at the future" and refrain from engaging in "persecution and retribution." De Klerk also reiterated that amnesty for apartheid-era atrocities was a precondition for negotiations [statement, DOC] for the ruling white-minority, saying that the apartheid government "enjoyed overwhelming military superiority" and that there "would have been no settlement without a sure expectation that members of the old order would not be victimized by any new government." De Klerk also said that the anti-apartheid opposition was responsible for more than 500 "necklacing" murders [Wikipedia backgrounder], and accused the government of paying little attention to the atrocities committed by anti-apartheid groups. AP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Venezuelan opposition party members on Thursday criticized proposed constitutional reforms [JURIST report] introduced this week by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], calling Chavez's proposal a blatant attempt to further consolidate his control over Venezuela. The proposals, which will extend the presidential term from six to seven years and will eliminate presidential term limits, will likely be approved by the National Assembly, and will have to be approved by a popular referendum. Julio Borges, leader of opposition party Justice First [party website, in Spanish], criticized the proposals as intended to further Chavez's "continuous re-election, re-election for life, [and] permanent re-election."

The proposed constitutional changes also seek to bring the independent Central Bank under the control of the government, and give the government greater authority to expropriate private property without judicial approval. In July, Chavez sought to reassure Venezuelans that the reforms will protect private property rights [JURIST report], and threatened to expel [AP report; Union Radio report, in Spanish] any foreign nationals who publicly criticized Chavez or his government. Chavez won re-election last December and was granted the power to enact laws by presidential decree [JURIST report] until mid-2008. He has pushed for "revolutionary laws" to nationalize sectors of the economy including mining, telecommunications, utilities, and the petroleum industry. The new proposed constitutional reforms must be approved by the National Assembly and then receive popular backing in a national referendum. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Prosecutors presented opening statements in the trial of nursing home owners Salvador and Mabel Mangano Thursday, saying that the operators of St. Rita's Nursing Home were criminally negligent for their failure to comply with the mandatory evacuation order during Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive]. Lawyers representing the Manganos, who pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to 35 charges of negligent homicide and 64 charges of cruelty last October, argued that the owners did what they thought would keep the residents safe by keeping the residents at the home with food, water, and generators. Thirty-five residents drowned in the flood water [NYT report; victim list, PDF] that overtook the one-story nursing home in less than 20 minutes. The trial is expected to last three to four weeks.

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti [official website] charged the Manganos in September 2005, but the couple was not indicted [JURIST report] until last September due to the extensive damage in the area. Reuters has more.