[JURIST] Kenyan Minister of Internal Security George Saitoti [official website] Friday lifted a ban on public assembly in the strife-torn country, saying that "security has generally improved." The ban was imposed after violent protests broke out following December's contested presidential election [JURIST report], killing 1,000 people and displacing some 250,000 more. The announcement came as former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official profile] reported progress in power-sharing talks between Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki [official profile] and opposition candidate Raila Odinga [campaign profile], although no agreement has yet been reached.

Kenya's controversial presidential vote has sparked simmering ethnic tensions, as Kibaki has long been accused of using his position to favor members of the Kikuyu tribe. Fueling accusations of malfeasance, he won the December 27 election despite early opinion polls that placed rival candidate Odinga in the lead. Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets following the poll, which prompted the government to ban public rallies and institute a curfew in Nairobi, the capital city. Odinga's opposition party, the Orange Democratic Movement [party website] filed a formal complaint [JURIST report] on January 22 with the International Criminal Court [official website], alleging that Kibaki's administration has committed crimes against humanity while using force against demonstrators. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Spanish National Court judge Friday blocked [JURIST report] two Basque political parties from fielding candidates in Spain's March general elections, ruling that the parties were connected to ETA [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], the armed Basque separatist movement. Judge Baltasar Garzon found that Batasuna [BBC backgrounder], ETA's banned political arm, had used the Basque Nationalist Action Party (ANV) [party website] and the Communist Party of the Basque Lands (PCTV) [Wikipedia backgrounder] to circumvent the ban and participate in politics. The ruling, which suspends the ANV and PCTV parties for the next three years, allows Spanish authorities to shut down party offices, freeze their bank accounts, and cut off government funding.

The Supreme Court of Spain banned Batasuna itself in 2003 for its refusal to cut ties with ETA. ETA has been blamed for more than 800 deaths in bombings and attacks since the 1960s. AP has more.

[JURIST] UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown [official website] Friday rejected a suggestion by the nation's highest Christian cleric that UK Muslims be given an option to resolve some civil disputes under Sharia law [CFR backgrounder] rather than UK law. Speaking [interview transcript] to the BBC, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams [official profile] appeared to agree that limited application of Sharia law might help to ease social tension between Muslims and other UK residents, but a Brown spokesperson said that the same laws must apply to every citizen. AP has more.

Williams' comments have sparked outrage [BBC report] both from social conservatives, who maintain that UK law should be exclusively based on Christianity, and from liberals, who fear that implementation of Sharia law might hurt the rights of women and homosexuals. The Archbishop's press office said [press release] Friday that the Archbishop "certainly did not call for [Sharia's] introduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law." The Archbishop of Canterbury is the English head of the worldwide Anglican communion that includes the Episcopal Church in the United States.

[JURIST] The Paris appeals court [official website, in French] Friday ordered accused "rogue trader" Jerome Kerviel [BBC profile] held in custody while an investigation continues into $73 billion worth of unauthorized trades [AP timeline] he allegedly made while working for French bank Societe Generale [corporate website]. The court granted a request by prosecutors to hold Kerviel in "provisional detention" to prevent him from fleeing the country or communicating with any possible accomplices. Kerviel has been preliminarily charged [JURIST report] with "breach of trust," "falsifying and using falsified documents," and "breaching IT access codes."

The bank, which lost $7 billion when it was forced to unload the fraudulent positions, described the methods he supposedly used to commit the fraud in an explanatory note [PDF text]. Kerviel has maintained his innocence and says that he is being made a scapegoat [Telegraph report] by the bank, which he alleges was aware of his activities. Additionally, BusinessWeek reports [text] that the Eurex derivatives exchange [exchange website] warned Societe Generale in November about Kerviel's unauthorized transactions. BBC News has more. Le Monde has local coverage.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] Friday ruled [PDF text] that the "cap-and-trade" policy, to be implemented in 2010 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] to regulate electrical power plant mercury emissions, is effectively invalid. The policy would permit power plants whose mercury emissions exceed the regulatory cap to buy "credits" from other power plants whose emissions fall below the cap. The ruling also struck down the EPA's decision to remove coal- and oil-fueled power plants from the list of utilities subject to the strictest emissions controls.

The lawsuit [JURIST report] was brought by a coalition of 16 states that argued that the mercury pollution rules would endanger children living near power plants that buy credits to pollute over the EPA limit. The EPA argued that its Clean Air Mercury Rule [EPA backgrounder; JURIST report] would result in a more than 70 percent reduction in mercury emissions from utilities. AP has more.

[JURIST] A French court Friday sentenced Jean-Marie Le Pen [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], leader of France's far-right National Front party [party website, in French], for making public comments minimizing the World War II Nazi occupation of France. The charges stem from a 2005 interview [BBC report] with the right-wing weekly magazine Rivarol [media website, in French], in which Le Pen said that the occupation was "not particularly inhumane." Le Pen received a suspended three-month jail sentence and was fined 10,000 euros. BBC News has more. Le Monde has local coverage, in French.

Le Pen went on trial [JURIST report] in December for "complicity in contesting crimes against humanity and complicity in justifying war crimes." Under a French anti-racism law [text, in French; Wikipedia backgrounder on the "Loi Gayssot"], it is illegal to deny Nazi war crimes.

[JURIST] Court-martial proceedings began Friday for US Army sniper Sgt. Evan Vela [JURIST news archive], charged in connection with the killings of unarmed Iraqi civilians near Iskandariyah. In opening statements, Vela's lawyer said that he was only following a superior's orders and that Vela was sleep-deprived and unable to think clearly on the morning of one of the killings. He also said that a statement Vela gave last June to military investigators, in which he admitted to killing one of the Iraqis in question, was given under duress.

Vela was charged [press release; JURIST report] last year 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]. Another sniper, US Army Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley, was acquitted of premeditated murder [JURIST report] last year, but convicted of other charges connected to the Iskandariyah incidents and sentenced to time served. US Army Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval was sentenced to five months in prison [JURIST report] for his role in covering up the shootings, but was also acquitted of premeditated murder. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Nebraska Supreme Court [official website] Friday ruled [PDF text] that execution by electric chair is "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore prohibited by the Nebraska constitution [text]. In State v. Mata, an appeal by convicted murderer Raymond Mata Jr. against his 2000 death sentence, the court found that since unconsciousness and death are not instantaneous, many condemned prisoners will consciously suffer when electrocuted. It upheld Mata's death sentence, but stayed his execution. The court's majority wrote that the ruling was based solely on state law, making the decision unlikely to be reviewed by the US Supreme Court.

Last May, Nebraska's high court stayed the execution [JURIST report] of Carey Dean Moore [Amnesty profile] to consider whether death by electrocution is cruel and unusual punishment. The court issued the stay after Nebraska Sen. Ernie Chambers [official profile] requested that the death penalty process be reviewed before anyone else is put to death. Nebraska is the only state to solely rely on the electric chair for capital punishment. AP has more. SCOTUSblog has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Two civil rights organizations filed a complaint [PDF text; press release] Thursday against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [official website] in federal district court in San Francisco, alleging that DHS failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request regarding department policies on questioning and searching travelers returning to the United States from overseas. The Asian Law Caucus and the Electronic Frontier Foundation [advocacy websites] filed the FOIA request after receiving more than 20 complaints in the past year from mostly South Asians and Muslims who say they were detained and questioned at US borders.

The advocacy groups want to know what policies DHS has in place to guide customs officials in choosing which travelers to question, and whether race plays a role in that decision. The groups also want information on DHS policies behind asking travelers questions about their politics or religion, as well as policies allowing searches of electronic devices belonging to the traveler. The San Francisco Chronicle has more.

[JURIST] Thai investigators formally asked state prosecutors Friday to bring new charges against former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and his wife Pojamarn Shinawatra for allegedly concealing assets. Pojamarn returned to Thailand from self-imposed exile [JURIST report] last month to face corruption and fraud charges. She was arrested upon arriving in Thailand, and was released on bail after a brief appearance before the Thai Supreme Court for Political Appointees.

A Thai court issued an arrest warrant for Thaksin and his wife in August and a second warrant in September [JURIST reports]. Thaksin and Pojamarn have been accused of abuse of power for personal gain [JURIST report], conflict of interest violations, and dereliction of duty for personal gain in charges stemming from a 2003 land purchase by Pojaman from the government-directed Financial Institutions Development Fund [official website]. Both have previously refused to return to Thailand to face charges because they do not expect to receive a fair trial [JURIST report]. Thaksin is expected to return to Thailand in May [JURIST report] to face corruption charges. Xinhua has more. The Bangkok Post has local coverage.

[JURIST] Two new judges, Sheikh Hakim Ali of the Lahore High Court and retired judge Mohammad Farrukh Mahmood, were sworn in to the reconstituted Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar Friday, bringing the regular membership of the court up to 16. They follow three other judges appointed to the high court in December, shortly after Pakistani Attorney General Malik Qayyum reversed an earlier decision [JURIST reports] to cut the size of the high court to 12 down from 17, its quorum prior to President Pervez Musharraf's November 3 declaration of emergency.

Musharraf's emergency declaration - now rescinded - effectively dismissed the pre-emergency Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Iftikkhar Chaudhry [JURIST news archive]. The ousted judges have since been formally retired [JURIST report], although they and their supporters insist that they still legally hold office under Pakistan's constitution. PTI has more.

[JURIST] A Cambodian genocide survivor Friday testified against former Khmer Rouge official Nuon Chea [PBS backgrounder] at a pre-trial hearing before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive], marking the first time that a victim has ever taken the stand against a former Khmer Rouge official. Cambodian-American human rights activist and author Theary Seng [personal website] testified that her parents were killed by Khmer Rouge actions, but Nuon Chea denied responsibility and refused to acknowledge that any genocide had occurred. On Thursday, Nuon Chea asked the ECCC's Pre-Trial Chamber to release him from provisional detention [JURIST report]. A ruling on the appeal is expected next week.

The Khmer Rouge is generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians [PPU backgrounder] who died between 1975 and 1979. Nuon Chea was known as Brother Number Two in the Khmer Rouge, indicative of his high position in the communist movement led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998 having never been prosecuted for alleged war crimes. He was arrested and charged [JURIST report] in September 2007 and said that he was never in the position to order the deaths attributed to him, but that he will cooperate with the ECCC [JURIST report]. The ECCC was established by a 2001 law [text as amended 2005, PDF] to investigate and try surviving Khmer Rouge officials, but to date, no top officials have faced trials. The first trials are expected to begin this year. AP has more.

[JURIST] French authorities questioned a second "rogue trader" Friday in their investigation into the massive financial losses of French Bank Societe Generale [bank website], Le Monde reported Friday. The French newspaper reported that French authorities questioned the undisclosed trader about `his relationship with Jerome Kerviel [BBC profile], who stands accused of "breach of trust," "falsifying and using falsified documents," and "breaching IT access codes" relating to $73 billion worth of unauthorized trades [AP timeline] he made while working for Societe Generale. Kerviel was released on bail [JURIST report] last week, after he voluntarily turned himself over [JURIST report] to French police. Le Monde also reported that the second trader questioned by authorities worked for Societe Generale affiliate, Fimat [bank website].

The bank, which lost $7 billion when it was forced to unload the fraudulent positions, has filed a criminal complaint against Kerviel, and described the methods he supposedly used to commit the fraud in an explanatory note [PDF text]. Kerviel has maintained his innocence and says that he is being made a scapegoat [Telegraph report] by the bank, which he alleges was aware of his activities. Additionally, BusinessWeek reports [text] that the Eurex derivatives exchange [exchange website] warned Societe Generale in November about Kerviel's unauthorized transactions. AP has more.

11:57 AM ET - AP is reporting that a court in Paris has ordered Kerviel to remain in jail while the police investigation into the alleged fraud continues.

[JURIST] A federal judge on Thursday dismissed [PDF text] a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] filed by business groups challenging the Legal Arizona Workers Act [AZHB 2779 text, PDF; Arizona Republic backgrounder], saying that the law does not overstep the federal government's authority to regulate immigration. Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed [JURIST report] the lawsuit in December. Last month, prosecutors agreed to delay prosecutions [JURIST report] under the law until US District Court Judge Neil V. Wake was able to consider the case.

The Legal Arizona Workers Act, which went into effect on January 1, allows the Superior Courts of Arizona to suspend or revoke the business licenses of businesses that intentionally or knowingly employ illegal immigrants. Under the law, employers will be required to check the legal status of new hires using E-Verify [DHS backgrounder], a free online federal program that checks names and identification documents to determine employment eligibility. Wake dismissed [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] an earlier lawsuit [complaint, PDF] against the new law filed by the ACLU and other civil rights groups, holding that that suit was premature because the law had not gone into effect and no one had been harmed. When Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano signed the legislation [JURIST report] in July, she called the law "the most aggressive action in the country against employers who knowingly or intentionally hire undocumented workers." AP has more. The Arizona Republic has local coverage.

[JURIST] New Jersey pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck [corporate website] has agreed to pay $671 million to settle claims [press release, PDF] that it defrauded Medicaid and improperly marketed three of its drugs to doctors, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The settlement [PDF text] stems from two separate lawsuits filed in Philadelphia and New Orleans. The Philadelphia case alleged that Merck overcharged the federal Medicaid program by failing to disclose that it was offering drugs to hospitals at deep discounts. The New Orleans suit alleged that Merck offered deep discounts on the drug Pepcid [product website] if hospitals agreed to use their product instead of those manufactured by competitors. The settlement also required Merck to enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement [PDF text] with the Office of the Inspector General and the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure company-wide compliance with federal rules and regulations concerning the production, marketing, and sale of pharmaceutical drugs.

US Attorney General Michael Mukasey applauded the settlement [press release], saying that it reflects the government's continued efforts to hold drug companies responsible for the sale and marketing of their products. Merck stressed [press release] that the settlement was not an admission of guilt or liability, and that the company was confident that it had complied with federal regulations. AP has more.