[JURIST] The Moscow Prosecutor General's Office [official website, in Russian] filed a motion Monday to ban the US animated series South Park [entertainment website], alleging it violates children's rights under international law. In a press release [text, in Russian], the office said it was taking "measures to remove violations and prevent abuse of freedom of mass media" by Telekanal 2x2 [media website, in Russian], which broadcasts South Park and other US shows in Moscow and St. Petersburg. According to the press release, a study commissioned by prosecutors found that "information products of low moral and ethical content have had a devastating impact on children, distorts their values, and poses the risk of panic states and neurotic disorders." The press release continued:

The broadcast violates the prohibition on abuse of freedom of mass media, in particular, on the distribution of media materials that promote pornography, violence and cruelty. Broadcasting cartoons in the time available for children contradicts the universally recognized principles and norms of international law aimed at protecting the rights and legitimate interests of children, protecting them from information and material harmful to their welfare, health, and moral and spiritual development.

[JURIST] Attorneys representing the Georgian Republic appeared before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website; JURIST news archive] Monday seeking emergency orders to stop the alleged killing and mass displacement of citizens in the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia [JURIST news archive]. Georgia argued in opening statements that Russia [JURIST news archives] is engaged in ethnic cleansing, while Russia countered that its military actions have saved lives. The 15-judge court will consider whether it has jurisdiction over the case, which Georgia instituted [JURIST report; ICJ press release, PDF] last month, and whether emergency measures are warranted. Georgia accuses Russia of violating the 1965 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination [text] by removing ethnic Georgians from the territories. The former Soviet republic is seeking an ICJ order that Russia pay compensation, withdraw its troops and allow displaced ethnic Georgians to return home. The ICJ hearings [press release, PDF] continue through Wednesday. AFP has more. AP has additional coverage.

Russia last month instituted its own action [JURIST report] against Georgia in the International Criminal Court (ICC), alleging that Georgia committed war crimes against ethnic Russians in South Ossetia. ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is reviewing those allegations [JURIST report]. Russia drew international criticism [JURIST report] last month after recognizing the rebel territories' independence, which Western leaders said violated international law. International human rights groups warned of potential war crimes [JURIST report] after Russia sent troops into South Ossetia on August 9 in response to a Georgian military offensive aimed at restoring constitutional order. Violence has been ongoing in the region since it seceded from Georgia in a 1991-92 war.

[JURIST] French politicians are criticizing a court's decision to postpone a Muslim suspect's trial on armed-robbery charges during the holy month of Ramadan [Beliefnet.com backgrounder], arguing that it violates France's constitutional separation of church and state. The Court of Assizes at Ille-et-Vilaine on Friday rescheduled the trial "in the interest of a proper administration of justice" after a defense attorney requested the delay because his client would not be fully capable of defending himself after having fasted for 14 days. The attorney general of the Court of Appeal [official website, in French] at Rennes, where the trial is to take place, said the court's decision was based on several factors and added that the judiciary would not "stop judging people of Muslim faith who follow the Ramadan." In an interview [text, in French] with the newspaper Liberation, Urban Affairs Minister Fadela Amara [Time profile], a Muslim herself, called the postponement a "knife wound" to secularism. Right-wing leader Jean-Marie le Pen [JURIST news archive; BBC profile] also denounced the decision. The trial is now scheduled for January 19. BBC News has more. Le Monde has local coverage, in French.

Article I of the French Constitution [text, in French] "ensures equality before the law for all citizens without regard to origin, race or religion." Since 2004, France [JURIST news archive] has banned religious clothing and symbols in public schools [JURIST report] as a measure to protect separation of church and state. Muslim women have opposed the law as discriminatory because it prohibits them from wearing headscarves. A German court upheld a similar ban in March, and the Danish government announced plans [JURIST reports] in May to prohibit judges from wearing religious headscarves. In Turkey, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) last month dropped its opposition to a prohibition on wearing headscarves at public universities after the Turkish Constitutional Court struck down a constitutional amendment [JURIST reports] seeking to relax the ban.

[JURIST] US blogger and attorney Gopalan Nair [personal blog; law firm profile] appeared in the Singaporean Supreme Court [official website] Monday and pleaded not guilty to insulting a public servant. Nair is on trial for accusing a judge of "prostituting herself" [blog entry] in a defamation case brought by former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew [official profile] against the Singapore Democratic Party. Under a provision of the Singaporean Penal Code [text], insulting a public servant conducting a judicial proceeding is punishable by up to one year in prison, a $5,000 fine or both. After Nair entered his plea, the trial was adjourned until later this week. AFP has more.

Nair faces another trial on a charge of insulting a second judge. He is also appealing his conviction [Straits Times report] last week on charges of disorderly conduct and using abusive words toward police officers. Before becoming a US citizen, Nair was a Singaporean opposition politician, having run for office in 1991 as a member of the Workers' Party [party website]. In July, a report by the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) concluded [JURIST report] that Singapore [JURIST news archive] lacks an independent judiciary and fails to meet international standards of human rights by heavily regulating international and domestic press and enforcing extreme defamation laws. Singapore's Ministry of Law responded that the group was biased in its assessment and that the country had already responded to such concerns.

[JURIST] A French judge on Monday ordered the Spiritual Association of the Church of Scientology (ASES - Celebrity Centre) [church website, in French] to appear before the Paris Magistrates Court [official website, in French] to face criminal charges. ASES has been unsuccessfully prosecuted in French courts before, and it along with an affiliated bookstore and seven church members must now defend against charges of organized fraud and the illegal practice of pharmacy. Prosecutors had asked the judge to drop the case, which originated in 1998 with a complaint from a woman who had spent about 200,000 francs ($42,600 US) on classes, books, medication and an electrometer [church backgrounder] after Scientologists stopped her on a Paris street and offered her a free personality test. Another individual and a French pharmacists' association later became involved in the case. AFP has more. Le Monde has local coverage, in French.

In 2002, a French court ordered the Church of Scientology [church website; JURIST news archive] to pay a fine [AP report] for failing to protect members' personal information, but acquitted the organization of attempted fraud and false advertising. The court refused to dissolve the Paris branch of the church, as prosecutors had requested [BBC report], but France's judicial system has not yet recognized Scientology as a religion. That trial followed a report released by a French government committee in 2000 recommending that Scientology be banned [BBC report] as a "totalitarian" sect that disrupts public order. Scientology, founded by American science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard in 1954, has come under increasing scrutiny in other European countries as well. Last year, the German interior minister suggested a ban on Scientology [JURIST report] as "an organization that is not compatible with the constitution." Also last year, a Belgian prosecutor who completed a 10-year investigation of the church's activities said Scientology should be classified as a criminal organization [JURIST report].