[JURIST] A federal judge on Monday sentenced Samuel Israel, III, co-founder of collapsed hedge fund Bayou Group [JURIST report], to 20 years in prison. US District Judge Colleen McMahon also ordered Israel to make $300 million in restitution and forfeit interests in a $100 million account. In 2005, both Israel and Chief Financial Officer Daniel Marino pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to charges that included mail fraud, wire fraud, investment adviser fraud, and conspiracy to commit investment adviser fraud.

Bayou was only one example of what authorities say is a growing amount of fraudulent activity involving the loosely regulated hedge funds. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox has consistently urged Congress to permit the SEC oversight over hedge funds [JURIST report], saying that regulation is necessary to protect retail investors and prevent fraud. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith [official profile] Monday urged [News of the World interview] the passage of a new anti-terror bill [BBC Q/A] that would increase the number of days a terror suspect can be detained without charge to 42 days, up from the current limit of 28. The Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008 [draft text, PDF; bill materials] also includes provisions creating a registry of convicted terrorists and making terrorism an "aggravating factor" in sentencing for non-terrorism offenses.

Smith first proposed a 42-day detention period [JURIST report] in December 2007. The proposal followed statements made in June 2007 by former UK Home Secretary John Reid calling for longer pre-charge time limits, and a proposal [JURIST reports] floated last July that would have allowed the extension of the 28-day limit after a declared state of emergency and would have allowed judges to authorize weekly extensions for up to 56 days subject to parliamentary notification. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Bruce Selya [official profile], a senior circuit judge for the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has been designated as presiding judge of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review [FJC backgrounder]. The designation was made by US Chief Justice John Roberts [Oyez profile; JURIST news archive], in an order dated March 27. The appointment will be effective May 19. The US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review is the appellate panel of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and reviews rulings of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court at the request of the government. AP has more. The Providence Journal has local coverage.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was established by Congress in 1978 under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [text, JURIST news archive] to review applications for warrants related to national security investigations and surveillance [JURIST news archive]. The court rarely publishes opinions, and due to the sensitive nature of the matters it hears, members are not permitted to discuss the business of the court. In March, US Attorney General Michael Mukasey expressed a willingness to compromise with Congress [JURIST report] on legislation amending FISA.

[JURIST] Serbia plans to officially request that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] resume a probe into allegations that separatist Kosovo Liberation Army leaders were involved in trafficking organs taken from Serb prisoners during the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo [BBC backgrounder], Serbian government officials said Monday. Former ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte [JURIST news archive] has alleged in her new book [JURIST report] that approximately 300 Serb and other non-Albanian prisoners were victims of organ trafficking, but that a 2003 probe by her ICTY team failed to obtain sufficient evidence to prosecute. Kosovo Justice Minister Nekibe Kelmendi dismissed the allegations as "fabrications."

Last month, the Office of Serbia's War Crimes Prosecutor [official website] said that it was investigating "informal statements" [JURIST report] received from ICTY investigators alleging illegal organ harvesting. The ICTY has not commented officially on the alleged organ trafficking. The Turkish Press has more.

[JURIST] The US military said Monday it plans to release [press release] Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein [AP materials; JURIST news archive] from custody Wednesday. Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, the deputy commanding general for detainee operations, Multi-National Force–Iraq [official website], signed the order approving Hussein's release after confirming that Hussein's conduct fell under Iraq's amnesty law [JURIST report], which was passed in February as part of the national reconciliation effort. A four-member Iraqi judiciary panel dismissed the last remaining charge against Hussein [JURIST report] on Sunday and recommended the US release him from custody immediately.

Hussein has been held by the US military since his arrest in April 2006 for allegedly possessing equipment to construct roadside bombs. In November 2007, the US Department of Defense pushed for terrorism charges against Hussein [JURIST report]. AP has repeatedly called for his release and has accused the military of denying Hussein his due process rights. AP President Tom Curley on Monday applauded news of Hussein's scheduled release [press release], saying "we may never see eye to eye with the US military over this case, it is time for all of us to move on." AP has more.

[JURIST] Myanmar is completely ill-prepared to hold a national constitutional referendum [JURIST report] as part of a democratic political transition, UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro [official profile] told Reuters in an interview Monday. Myanmar's 45-member Referendum Holding Commission announced last week that it had scheduled the planned referendum [JURIST reports] for May 10, but Pinheiro said it was "surreal" to hold a referendum while the military government continues to persecute critics of the proposed charter.

Opposition groups such as the National League for Democracy (NLD) have urged citizens to reject [JURIST report] the proposed constitution put forth by the military government, labeling the referendum a "sham" to legalize military rule. AP reported last month that the draft constitution reserves 25 percent of parliamentary seats for the military [JURIST report] and would also block pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] from seeking office. It is unclear whether the ruling junta will allow international observers of the referendum as requested by the opposition party. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] Monday granted certiorari in two cases [order list, PDF], including Van de Kamp and Livesay v. Goldstein (07-854) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], in which the Court will consider the legal immunity of a prosecutor implicated in a wrongful conviction murder case. Convicted murderer Thomas Goldstein served 24 years in prison before being released in 2004 after the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court ruling that he was wrongfully convicted, in part due to the prosecution team's reliance on testimony from a habitual jailhouse informant who received undisclosed sentence reductions for his cooperation. Goldstein then sued former Los Angeles District Attorney and his former chief deputy under 42 USC 1983 [text]. The Ninth Circuit ruled [PDF text] that the suit could proceed because the challenged conduct was administrative and not prosecutorial in function and therefore did not merit absolute immunity. AP has more.

The Court also agreed to hear the consolidated cases of Entergy Corp. v. EPA (07-588) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], PSEG Fossil LLC v. Riverkeeper, Inc. (07-589) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], and Utility Water Act Group v. Riverkeeper, Inc. (07-597) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], where it will review challenges to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] regulations aimed at protecting aquatic life by retrofitting cooling water intake structures at power plants. Arguments will be limited to the issue of whether Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act [PDF text] authorizes the EPA to use a cost-benefit analysis to determine what is the "best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact" in compliance with the Act. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled [PDF text] that no such balancing test may be used and that companies must adopt the best technology available. Utility industry groups say that decision unlawfully extends EPA authority. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leftist legislators continued demonstrations [AP report] Monday in both houses of the Mexican Congress to protest an energy reform bill sent by Mexican President Felipe Calderon [official websites, in Spanish] to the Mexican Senate [official website] last week. Members of Mexico's Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) [party website, in Spanish] and several smaller parties object to certain provisions of the proposed oil bill, including one that would allow state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos [official website, in Spanish] to work with private companies, a move they say is tantamount to privatization. They reportedly want the Mexican Congress to schedule a national debate on the bill.

The demonstrators in Mexico's lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies [official website, in Spanish], put up barricades around their encampment by the speaker's podium Monday, as their colleagues in the Senate reportedly began a fast. They have refused to retreat from their positions near the House and Senate podiums since protests began last week. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Canadian Department of Justice [official website] has moved to block a Canadian Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC) [official website] public hearing investigating the country's military detainee transfer process in Afghanistan [JURIST news archive], the Globe and Mail reported Monday. The government filed papers in Canada's Federal Court [official website] Friday arguing that the MPCC lacks jurisdiction to conduct investigations into military operational decisions regarding detainee treatment, and that the Commission's reach is limited to military policing issues. MPCC Chairman Peter A. Tinsley said that the Commission is "surprised and disappointed" [MPCC press release] by the move, and questioned why jurisdiction was not challenged when the investigation was first launched last year.

The investigation began in February 2007 as Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association [advocacy websites] filed complaints against the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal [official website], alleging complicity in torture by Canadian personnel serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force [official website]. The MPCC opened its own investigation, and last month announced public hearings [JURIST report] to issue subpoenas and compel disclosure, saying that it was unable to complete its investigation because several departments in the Canadian government were refusing to hand over key information. The rights groups are currently appealing [JURIST report] a Federal Court ruling [PDF text] that the protections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [text] do not extend to Afghan detainees captured by Canadian soldiers. CBC News has more.

[JURIST] Zimbabwe's High Court rejected a bid Monday by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [party website] to compel the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) to immediately release the results of the country's March 29 presidential election [JURIST reports]. Last week, the High Court ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the lawsuit and agreed to expedite the case [JURIST reports].

On Sunday, the High Court ordered the ZEC to refrain from recounting the results [JURIST report] of the elections until the presidential poll results are announced. The MDC has said that a request by current Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) [party website] for a vote recount [JURIST report] is a tactic to keep Mugabe in power. On Friday, Zimbabwean police banned all political rallies [JURIST report] as tensions continued to mount after the contested elections. Independent observers say that MDC candidate Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile] won more votes than Mugabe but likely not enough to reach the 50 percent plus one needed for outright victory. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Three Indonesian Islamic militants sentenced to death for their roles in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings [BBC backgrounder] told the lead prosecutor in the case that they will not seek a presidential pardon after they exhaust the appeals process, the prosecutor said on Monday. Lawyers for the three militants said the pardon process is distinct from the appeals process, which is ongoing [JURIST report]. The three men - Mukhlas, Amrozi, and Imam Samudra [BBC profiles] - face execution by firing squad if their appeal is not successful.

A first appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court of Indonesia late last year, prompting an unusual second appeal, which was later withdrawn [JURIST reports]. A new appeal was subsequently filed in late March. AFP has more.

[JURIST] International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Jakob Kellenberger on Monday urged the US military to allow the introduction of outside evidence during enemy combatant review hearings at the Bagram Temporary Internment Facility [JURIST news archive]. Kellenberger, who was in Afghanistan for a seven-day mission to meet with senior Afghan leaders and US military officials, praised US officials for establishing the review boards and allowing video conferencing between detainees and family members [JURIST report], but said that many detainees do not know why they are being held. Detainees are reviewed by the review board every six months. AP has more.

The ICRC is formally entrusted under the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials] with visiting prisoners of war and inspecting the conditions of their detention. The ICRC in Iraq [ICRC materials] currently has arrangements with US forces allowing access to some 20,000 detainees and with Kurdish authorities to allow visitation with another 1,500 detainees.

[JURIST] The Philippine government delegation to the United Nations in Geneva said Monday that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo [official website; BBC profile] will soon begin the process of signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment [text]. Philippines' accession to the optional protocol will open the country's detention facilities to regular international inspection and recommendations. The protocol was opened for signature in February 2003 and entered into force on June 22, 2006 after the twenty state parties ratified the protocol. It has 61 signatories, 34 of which have ratified the convention.

In March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged the United Nations to scrutinize the Philippine government's response [JURIST report] to accusations that the Filipino military has engaged in extrajudicial killings of left-wing activists since 2001. The UN Human Rights Council [official website] is currently conducting its Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines [UN backgrounder, PDF]. Human rights advocates say almost 900 people have been killed since Arroyo assumed power in 2001, while more than 180 have disappeared and believed to have been killed. The United States, Australia, China, Russia, Iran, and Israel are among those countries that have not signed the optional protocol. AP has more.

[JURIST] A four-member Iraqi judiciary panel dismissed the last remaining charge against Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein [AP materials; JURIST news archive] on Sunday and recommended the US release him from custody immediately. The US said this weekend that it will continue to hold Hussein [JURIST report] despite an earlier decision by the Iraqi panel to dismiss terrorism-related charges [JURIST report] against the photographer. The military said it was permitted to keep Hussein in custody under a UN mandate, which expires later this year, that authorizes the US to hold any detainee deemed a security risk. On both occasions, the panel determined that Hussein's conduct fell under Iraq's amnesty law [JURIST report], which was passed in February as part of the national reconciliation effort.

In November 2007, the US Department of Defense pushed for terrorism charges against Hussein [JURIST report]. AP has repeatedly called for his release and has accused the military of denying Hussein his due process rights. In December 2006, the Committee to Protect Journalists released a report [text; JURIST report] noting that the US was at the time detaining three journalists, including Hussein and Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj [CPJ report]. AP has more.