[JURIST] A US military judge postponed an Article 32 hearing [JAG backgrounder] on US Army sniper Sgt. Evan Vela Sunday, following a fellow Army sniper's acquittal on premeditated murder charges [JURIST report]. Vela, who has argued that he was simply following orders to "bait" and kill suspected Iraqi insurgents with materials that could be used to aid the insurgency, is charged [press release; JURIST report] with premeditated murder, obstruction of justice, wrongfully placing weapons with the remains of deceased Iraqis, and making a false official statement in connection with the killing of three unarmed Iraqis in three separate incidents between April and June 2007 in the vicinity of Iskandariyah [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. Vela's preliminary hearing is expected to resume on November 10.

On Saturday, US Army Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval was sentenced to five months in prison [JURIST report] for his role in covering the shootings of three unarmed Iraqis. At Sandoval's trial Vela testified that he (Vela) had actually killed one of the Iraqis Sandoval was originally alleged to have killed. Another defendant, Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley, has refused to accept a plea agreement [JURIST report] and will go on trial on October 22. AP has more.

[JURIST] Myanmar opposition leader and democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi [JURIST news archive] was briefly released from house arrest Sunday to met with visiting UN Special Envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari, but Gambari was not allowed to meet with top junta leaders Senior General Than Shwe [BBC profile] or Deputy Senior General Maung Aye in his efforts to halt rising political violence and repression in the military-led country. Observers say that the temporary release of Suu Kyi was unexpected. The leader of the National League for Democracy has spent 11 of the past 17 years in prison or under house arrest for alleged violations of an anti-subversion law [text].

Last Wednesday, the Myanmar government began a crackdown against protesters [JURIST report], arresting hundreds of Buddhist monks demonstrating against human rights abuses by the military government. On Thursday, Myanmar authorities raided several Buddhist monasteries, detaining monks [JURIST report] the junta believed to be leading the demonstrations. At least 10 people have been killed by government soldiers shooting into crowds; protests subsided over the weekend as troops effectively locked down Myanmar's major cities. AP has more. AP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Pakistani riot police clashed with lawyers demonstrating outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) [official websites] Saturday, as hundreds protested a high court ruling [JURIST report] allowing Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf [BBC profile] to run for another term as president while still serving as chief of the Pakistani army. A former vice-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association said twenty lawyers were injured. The demonstration was the first large-scale public action by lawyers since July, when the Supreme Court of Pakistan reinstated suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry [JURIST news archive], holding that President Pervez Musharraf's March 9 suspension of Chaudhry was illegal. The ECP, which formally accepted Musharraf's nomination as a presidential candidate Sunday, recently implemented rule changes [press release] allowing Musharraf to remain as army chief while he campaigns for a third-term.

Last Thursday, Pakistani police sealed off Islamabad [JURIST report] to prevent opposition members from rallying against Musharraf. Earlier this month, Musharraf announced that he will only step down as army chief [JURIST report] if he is re-elected in the October 6 election. The International Herald Tribune has more.

[JURIST] Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader [official website] has criticized the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] for its judgments [JURIST report] on Serb suspects allegedly involved in the 1991 Vukovar massacre [BBC backgrounder], saying in a letter sent Friday to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the ICTY failed to act in a "balanced and impartial way" and calling for a review of the court's judgments. The ICTY convicted Mile Mrksic on three counts of war crimes last Thursday, sentencing him to 20 years in prison for his involvement in the killing of approximately 200 Croatians. Another defendant received a five-year sentence on aiding and abetting charges, while a third defendant was acquitted on all counts. Croatian President Stipe Mesic, known to be a supporter of the ICTY, said that his own confidence in the ICTY has been eroded.

In December, the Serbian Supreme Court ordered a retrial [JURIST report] in the case of 14 former members of Serb militias who were originally convicted [JURIST report] of war crimes for their roles in the Vukovar massacre. The Serbian judicial proceedings, which opened in March 2004 [JURIST report], have been seen as a test of Serbia's domestic war crimes process. AP has more.