[JURIST] Two Tajikistani men have admitted to killing Russian journalist Ilyas Shurpayev [personal blog], Tajikistani Interior Ministry officials said Monday. Shurpayev, a correspondent for Russia's state-run Channel One [media website, in Russian], was found dead [JURIST report] in his Moscow apartment earlier this month with stab wounds and a belt around his neck when firefighters responded to a fire, apparently set after the attack. The two suspects have reportedly said they to killed Shurpayev during a robbery. It was not clear if the two would be extradited to Russia. AP has more.

Hours before his death, Shurpayev reportedly made a blog post complaining that he had been banned from writing columns for a newspaper in the violence-plagued southern Russian territory of Dagestan and saying "I am now a dissident." Over a dozen reporters have been killed in Russia since 2000, many in apparent retaliation for reporting on alleged corruption or human rights violations. Late last week, Russian prosecutors said they were still actively searching [Moscow Times report] for a person said responsible for the October 2006 slaying of Anna Politkovskaja [JURIST news archive], who reported on human rights abuses in the neighboring region of Chechnya.

[JURIST] A US Department of Justice spokesman said Monday that the department would continue to press its bribery case against Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) [official profile; JURIST news archive] despite the US Supreme Court's refusal to review an appeals court ruling [PDF text; JURIST report] that held the FBI's conduct during an 18-hour raid on Jefferson's congressional offices was unconstitutional. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit had ruled that, although the May 2006 raid itself was legal, the "compelled disclosure of privileged material to the Executive during execution of the search warrant" violated the Speech or Debate Clause [text] because the FBI searched through privileged materials without giving Jefferson an opportunity to review the materials.

In June, Jefferson pleaded not guilty to charges [JURIST reports] under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act [DOJ materials], including bribery, racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Jefferson is accused of accepting approximately $500,000 in bribes from numerous companies in the US and Africa and faces a maximum sentence of 235 years in prison if he is convicted on all counts. Last January, former Jefferson aide Brett Pfeffer pleaded guilty [DOJ press release] to bribery charges for his role in the scheme. AP has more.

[JURIST] Negotiations on a new international treaty to combat global warming [EPA materials; NRDC Q&A; JURIST news archive] began Monday in Bangkok. The week-long negotiations, part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) [official website], are intended to establish an agenda [UNFCCC press release, PDF] for the negotiation of a new agreement to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol [text; JURIST news archive].

Pursuant to the Bali Roadmap [PDF text; JURIST report] negotiated in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007, the 187 participating nations pledge to finalize a new agreement at an up-coming meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, by the end of 2009. The new deal is expected to enter into force by 2013, following the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012. The New York Times has more. The UN News Service has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The Greek Ministry of Justice [official website, in Greek] has agreed to establish a working group to analyze the potential impact of recognizing same-sex civil marriages in Greece, according to Monday media reports. The move comes after the Greek National Commission for Human Rights [official website, in Greek] proposed legislation to allow same-sex marriage in the country. RIA Novosti has more.

Currently, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands are the only European countries to recognize same-sex marriage, although a number of others, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Denmark, and Croatia, recognize some form of civil union or registered partnership [ILGA backgrounder].

[JURIST] Three Norwegian men indicted [JURIST report] in September for shooting at an Oslo synagogue and planning attacks against US and Israeli embassies went on trial in Oslo Monday under strengthened anti-terrorism laws. This is the first time that suspects will be tried under the country's new terror laws, which were passed in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks [JURIST news archive] on the United States. The trial is expected to last 40 days and include 80 witnesses

The US ambassador to Norway last year criticized [JURIST report] a circulated draft of Norway's new anti-terrorism law as too lenient; Ambassador Benson K. Whitney [official profile] expressed particular concern about the fact that membership of a terrorist organization was not by itself an offense. AP has more.

[JURIST] New Jersey US District Judge Robert Kugler Monday sentenced Albanian Kosovar refugee Agron Abdullahu [criminal complaint, PDF], one of the six men arrested [JURIST report] in May for plotting an attack on New Jersey's Fort Dix [official website], to 20 months in prison. In October 2007, Abdullahu pleaded guilty to charges of "conspiring to provide firearms and ammunition" [press release, PDF; JURIST report] to the other five men, all foreign-born Muslims in their 20s, whom he knew to be illegal immigrants and who allegedly plotted to kill soldiers at Fort Dix. Abdullahu, who was granted asylum in the US eight years ago after fleeing Kosovo, will likely face deportation after serving his sentence. He originally faced up to five years in federal prison. AP has more.

The five alleged plotters of the attack pleaded not guilty in January to additional charges filed against them [JURIST reports], including attempted murder. Prosecutors say their trial will probably last four to six weeks, and jury selection is scheduled for September 29. If convicted, the suspects face life sentences.

[JURIST] A gag order precluding former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks [JURIST news archives] from speaking to the media expired on Sunday, but Hicks is reportedly "not interested at the moment" in speaking publicly about his detention. Hicks had agreed not to speak publicly before March 30, 2008 about his detention as a condition of his release [JURIST report] from an Australian prison in December; at the time, he issued a statement [text] asking the media and public to respect his agreement. Australia's ABC News has more. AAP has additional coverage.

Hicks pleaded guilty to a charge of supporting terrorism [JURIST reports] before a US military commission last March after spending more than five years in US custody after his capture in Afghanistan. Hicks was transferred to Australia [JURIST report] in May 2007 to serve the remainder of a nine-month prison sentence at a maximum security prison near his hometown of Adelaide, South Australia.

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense Monday charged [DOD press release; charge sheet, PDF] Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani [BBC profile] with several terrorism-related counts under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [PDF text] stemming from his alleged involvement in the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania [US DOS backgrounder]. The charges include providing material support to terrorism, murder in violation of the Law of War, murder of protected persons, attacking civilians, and conspiracy to commit several of the enumerated offenses. He could face the death penalty. Pakistani authorities arrested Ghailani [JURIST report], allegedly a top al-Qaeda operative, in July 2004.

Ghailani is one of 14 "high-value" detainees [DOD backgrounder, PDF] the US Department of Defense designated as enemy combatants [press release; JURIST report] based on the recommendations of Combatant Status Review Tribunals [DOD materials]. AFP has more. The Miami Herald has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Chadian President Idriss Deby [official website, in French; BBC profile] Monday officially pardoned six French aid workers convicted in Chad in December of attempting to kidnap [JURIST reports] 103 African children. The six were handed over [JURIST report] to French custody in December to serve their sentences. Chad's Higher Judicial Council on Friday recommended [JURIST report] that Deby pardon the French workers. Earlier this month Deby had indicated a willingness to grant the pardons [JURIST report] earlier this month, saying he was waiting for an official request from France. The pardoned workers were released from French detention hours after the pardon was announced.

The aid workers, affiliated with charity Zoe's Ark [advocacy website, in French], said they were attempting to airlift orphaned children from the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur [JURIST news archives], but investigations revealed that most of the children were not Sudanese or orphans. In January, another aid worker was charged in French court [JURIST report] with conspiring to allow illegal residents into the country in connection with the foiled airlift. AP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

[JURIST] EULEX Kosovo [planning website] head Yves de Kermabon said Monday that a 1,800-strong European Union police and justice mission [Reuters report] in Kosovo will go forward even in Serbian-controlled areas, despite reservations from some EU member states. Spain's Foreign Affairs Ministry [official website, in Spanish] said Monday that the country will not send personnel to the mission until the handover from the current UN mandate to the EU is formalized under the terms of the EU Council Joint Action [PDF text]. Spain was among nine EU member states that have declined to recognize [JURIST report] the Assembly of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence [text; JURIST report] from Serbia last month.

Serb ally Russia has already condemned EULEX Kosovo [JURIST report], with the Russian foreign ministry calling it "in breach of the highest international law." Russia earlier rejected Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia, warning that such unilateral action without the approval of the United Nations set a dangerous precedent for "frozen conflicts" around the world. Russia and Spain each face ongoing domestic disputes with separatist groups. AP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Turkey [official website, in Turkish] voted 11-0 Monday to hear a bid to disband the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) [party website, in Turkish], days after a warning [JURIST report] by the EU Enlargement Commissioner that an AKP ban could have serious ramifications for Turkey's bid to join the European Union [JURIST news archive]. Earlier this month, Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya petitioned the court to disband the AKP [JURIST report] and bar 71 politicians, including Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish President Abdullah Gul [BBC profiles], from holding political office for five years, citing allegations that the AKP is the "focal point of anti-secular activities." The government now has one month to prepare a defense or seek an extension before oral arguments begin.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn [official website] said Saturday that in a typical European democracy the political issue raised by the case would normally be debated in parliament and decided by a ballot, and that a decision to ban the Islamic-oriented party could create an obstacle in Turkey's bid to become a member of the EU. The Constitutional Court has banned several Islamist parties in the past for violating constitutional obligations to respect Turkey's strict secular principles. AP has more. Hurriyet has local coverage.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] Monday agreed to hear two cases [order list, PDF] involving the First Amendment Monday, including Pleasant Grove City v. Summum (07-665) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], in which the Court will consider whether a private, religious group can donate a monument for display in a public park. Specifically, the Court must decide whether the situation implicates government speech or private speech under the First Amendment [text], and then reconcile whether the local government has the right to select which monuments it displays in the park or whether a public forum exists, thereby nullifying such a right. The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled [opinion, PDF] in 2007 that the Utah park at issue constituted a public forum and that the privately-donated monument embodied the donor's private speech interests. AP has more.

The Court also granted certiorari Monday in Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association (07-869) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], in which it will consider whether certain sections of the Idaho Voluntary Contributions Act [text] unconstitutionally abridge labor unions' free speech rights as related to payroll deductions for political activities. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled [opinion, PDF] in October that the Idaho statute, "as applied to local government employers, violates the First Amendment because it is a content-based law for which the State officials assert no compelling justification." AP has more. SCOTUSblog has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Zimbabwean Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa [JURIST news archive] and Public Affairs Minister Chen Chimutengwende were confirmed ousted Monday as returns came in from Saturday's general elections [JURIST report] in the country, but other election results continue to be delayed, according to media reports. Zimbabwe opposition parties renewed allegations that the government had rigged the local, senate, assembly and presidential elections, with unofficial results so far giving a very slight lead to Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [party website] presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile]. Results for only 52 of 210 parliamentary seats had been announced by Monday, with the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) [party website] party of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] leading opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [party website] by 26 seats to 25.

Mugabe's administration denied any improper delays in the vote count, with Zimbabwe Electoral Commission [official website] officials attributing the lag to the task of tallying all the results together for the first time in the country's history. State newspaper The Herald [media website] said that the MDC was "preempting results" and inciting supporters to violence. Analysts have projected that the election poses the biggest threat to Mugabe's rule [BBC report] since he took office. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. [official profile] unveiled a plan [factsheet, PDF] to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system and merge key federal administrative agencies in remarks at a press conference [transcript] in Washington Monday. The executive summary [text] of the Treasury's Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure [PDF text] described the initiative as presenting

a series of "short-term" and "intermediate-term" recommendations that could immediately improve and reform the U.S. regulatory structure. The short-term recommendations focus on taking action now to improve regulatory coordination and oversight in the wake of recent events in the credit and mortgage markets. The intermediate recommendations focus on eliminating some of the duplication of the U.S. regulatory system, but more importantly try to modernize the regulatory structure applicable to certain sectors in the financial services industry (banking, insurance, securities, and futures) within the current framework.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] ruled Monday that New Jersey and Delaware have "overlapping authority" to control "extraordinary" construction projects along the Delaware River. The Court's decision came in New Jersey v. Delaware [Medill case backgrounder; JURIST report], where the Court revisited the century-old water boundary dispute between the two states. New Jersey filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against Delaware in 2005 over British Petroleum's plans to build a liquefied natural gas plant on New Jersey's side of the Delaware River. Delaware refused to approve construction of a 2,000-foot pier that would serve the facility. Under boundary determinations settled by the Supreme Court in 1934 in New Jersey v. Delaware, Delaware controls the river up to the mean low-tide mark on the New Jersey shore, but New Jersey asked the Court to declare that a 1905 interstate compact gives it the right to control riparian access and structures on its side of the river, even if they extend across the border. A Court-appointed Special Master found [report, PDF] in 2007 that Delaware has the authority to block the pier.

The Court agreed with the Special Master's report, writing:

We accept the Special Master's recommendation in principal part. Article VII of the 1905 Compact, we hold, did not secure to New Jersey exclusive jurisdiction over all riparian improvements commencing on its shores. The parties' own conduct, since the time Delaware has endeavored to regulate coastal development, supports the conclusion to which other relevant factors point: New Jersey and Delaware have overlapping authority to regulate riparian structures and operations of extraordinary character extending outshore of New Jersey's domain into territory over which Delaware is sovereign.

Given the authority over riparian rights that the 1905 Compact preserves for New Jersey, Delaware may not impede ordinary and usual exercises of the right of riparian owners to wharf out from New Jersey's shore. The Crown Landing project, however, goes well beyond the ordinary or usual.... Consistent with the scope of its retained police power to regulate certain riparian uses, it was within Delaware's authority to prohibit construction of the facility within its domain.

[JURIST] The draft constitution [JURIST news archive] of Myanmar [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], slated to be put before the country's citizens in a May referendum, contains a provision reserving 25 percent of parliamentary seats for the military, and another provision that will effectively prevent pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] from seeking the presidency or a seat in parliament due to her foreign husband, according to AP, which reported Monday that it had obtained a copy of the secret document. The draft constitution also provides a mechanism by which the president may cede legislative, executive, and judicial functions to the military for up to one year in the event of a state of emergency. It further requires that any constitutional amendments must receive support from at least 75 percent of parliament, which effectively guarantees that the military will have veto power over any unwelcome amendments.

The Myanmar constitution-drafting process has come under fire [JURIST report] from critics who have urged citizens to reject the proposed referendum, saying it is a "sham" to legalize military rule. Other opponents, including supporters of Suu Kyi, have stopped just short of calling for a boycott. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been governed without a constitution since the military regime took power in 1988 and talks on a new national charter [JURIST report] have been underway for 14 years. AP has more.

[JURIST] Ousted Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry [JURIST news archive], who was released from virtual house arrest [JURIST report] last week on the orders of recently-elected Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani [official profile], returned to his hometown of Quetta on Monday for the first of a series of trips and speeches to build support for the reinstatement of superior court judges purged by President Pervez Musharraf [official profile; JURIST news archive] last fall. The newly-elected coalition government formed by the Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League(N) has vowed to establish a fully independent judiciary, saying it will work to reinstate the ousted judges, a pledge renewed [JURIST reports] by Gilani in an address to parliament Saturday.

Chaudhry and the other judges were effectively dismissed on November 3 [JURIST report] after Musharraf suspended the country's constitution and declared emergency rule [proclamation, PDF]. Chaudhry was effectively put under house arrest November 5 [JURIST report], when an Army major locked him in his residence and took the keys. Chaudhry was ousted as the country anticipated a Supreme Court ruling [JURIST report] on whether Musharraf had been eligible to run for re-election as Pakistan's president while still army chief. AP has more.