[JURIST] Thailand's Office of the Attorney General (OAG) on Friday filed a petition [Bangkok Post report] to have the country's Constitutional Court [official website, in Thai] dissolve the ruling People's Power Party (PPP) [party website, in Thai] because of election fraud allegedly committed by one of its former top officers. Former PPP deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat was convicted of organizing a vote-buying scheme [Bangkok Post report] by the Constitutional Court in July, and under Thai law the entire party could be banned for association with the crime. The OAG's action follows a September recommendation [Bangkok Post report] by the country's Election Commission [official website, in Thai] to break up the party because of the alleged fraud. If disbanded, a number of high-ranking government officials, including prime minister Somchai Wongsawat [Nation backgrounder], would lose their positions and be barred from political office for five years. Xinhua has more. The Straits Times has additional coverage.

The petition comes as the PPP party faces broad public criticism and protests [AFP report] opposing its rule. In late September, the Election Commission said it would begin an investigation [Bangkok post report; JURIST report] into allegations that Wongsawat illegally holds stocks in companies which operate under government contracts. Earlier that month, then prime minister Samak Sundaravej [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] instituted a controversial state of emergency [JURIST report] to quell the demonstrations, but was later removed from office after receiving illegal compensation for an appearance on a television cooking show. The PPP has also been closely associated with former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], now on trial for corruption.

[JURIST] The Connecticut Supreme Court [official website] on Friday ruled [opinion, PDF] that the Connecticut Constitution [text] requires that same-sex couples [JURIST news archive] be allowed to marry. In a 4-3 decision, the court reversed a lower court's judgment, concluding that state statutes [text] discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, that such a classification is "quasi-suspect" under the equal protection provisions of the state constitution and is therefore subject to heightened judicial scrutiny, and that the state failed to provide sufficient justification for excluding same-sex couples from marriage. In an 85-page opinion, the majority wrote:

Like these once prevalent views, our conventional understanding of marriage must yield to a more contemporary appreciation of the rights entitled to constitutional protection. Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same sex partner of their choice. To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others. The guarantee of equal protection under the law, and our obligation to uphold that command, forbids us from doing so. In accordance with these state constitutional requirements, same sex couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry.

[JURIST] The Seoul High Court Friday affirmed a suspended three-year prison sentence and fine for former Samsung [corporate website] Chairman and CEO Kun-Hee Lee [corporate profile; JURIST news archive], but cleared Lee of a conviction for breach of trust. According to the Korea Times, the High Court took Lee's poor health and contribution to the Korean economy into account when it vacated the breach of trust conviction [Korea Times report]. Lee was convicted of tax fraud and breach of trust earlier this year. The High Court ruling affirmed Lee's July sentencing [JURIST report] by the Seoul Central District Court, which held that Lee should not serve prison time because he did not actively seek to avoid taxes. That decision was criticized by many in a country where wealthy corporate leaders are often seen as above the law. In April, South Korean prosecutors charged Lee with breach of trust and tax evasion [JURIST report], but decided not to indict him based on accusations that Samsung maintained a $200 million slush fund to bribe prosecutors, judges and civil servants. Nine other Samsung executives were indicted on similar charges. Prosecutors questioned Lee [JURIST report] earlier that month. AFP has more.

Samsung, South Korea's largest corporation, has been at the center of numerous legal battles over the past few years. In May 2007, a South Korean appellate court upheld the conviction of two Samsung executives connected with illegal stock trading [JURIST reports]. In April 2007, another Samsung executive pleaded guilty [US DOJ press release; JURIST report] to US charges of conspiring to artificially inflate the cost of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), affecting the price of personal computers worldwide. In 2005, Samsung reached an agreement [JURIST report] with the US Department of Justice to plead guilty to charges that it conspired with other technology companies to fix prices on DRAM chips.

[JURIST] The Chinese Foreign Ministry [official website, English version] again demanded Thursday that the United States repatriate 17 Uighur detainees [JURIST news archive] that a US district judge has ordered to be released [JURIST report] from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. During a press conference [transcript], Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the Uighurs, who are members of an ethnic Chinese Muslim minority, would be dealt with "according to the law" if returned. Qin told reporters:

We have repeatedly and explicitly stated our position on this issue. We require the US to repatriate these terrorist suspects to China with no delay. This position has stayed unchanged. Any unbiased mind with some knowledge about China would not worry about the so-called torture issue. The Chinese Government runs the country under the rule of law. Besides, China joined the UN Convention Against Torture as early as 1988. Chinese Authorities including those in charge of justice and public security all prohibit torture.

[JURIST] Citigroup Inc. [corporate website] on Thursday announced [press release] that it would not seek to enjoin the acquisition of Wachovia Corp. by Wells Fargo & Co. [corporate websites] but would pursue claims against both financial institutions for alleged breach of contract and tortious interference with contract. Citigroup's decision to abandon negotiations to acquire a substantial portion of Wachovia operations clears the way for the $15.4 billion merger with Wells Fargo, which was proposed [Wachovia press release] last week. Citigroup said in a statement:

We are proud to have been part of an historic transaction that was supported by all of the federal banking agencies and the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the President, and that we carefully designed to avoid systemic stress and to advance the interests of our shareholders....

Without our willingness to engage in this transaction, hundreds of billions of dollars of value would have been seriously threatened. We stood by while others walked away. Now, our shareholders have been unjustly and illegally deprived of the opportunity the transaction created.

[JURIST] The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] on Thursday refused [press release] to grant Rwanda's request to have genocide suspect Yussuf Munyakazi [case materials] transferred to the country to face trial. The chamber upheld an earlier decision [text, PDF; official press release] by an ICTR panel denying the request based on concerns that punishments imposed in place of the now-abolished death penalty might not conform with international human rights standards, and that the Rwandan judiciary might not be fully independent and immune from outside pressure. Rwandan Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga in May criticized the earlier decision [JURIST report] and insisted that Rwanda's judicial system was fully independent and capable of guaranteeing a fair trial. Rwandan Justice Mminister Tharcisse Karugarama said that the country had been dealing with genocide issues since 1995 and that suggesting unfairness in the court system was itself unfair [BBC report]. Hirondelle News has more.

Officials in Congo captured [press release] Munyakazi in 2004. He was charged [indictment, PDF] with genocide or complicity in genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity for his suspected role in the killings of thousand of Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder].

[JURIST] Fiji's High Court on Thursday dismissed [decision, PDF] a legal challenge to the country's 2006 coup, holding that Fijian President Ratu Josefa Iloilo [official profile] had the authority to name new leaders after former prime minister Laisenia Qarase [BBC profile] was ousted by the Fijian military. Qarase originally brought suit [JURIST report] against the government in October 2007, saying that the military coup [JURIST report] was illegal because it had supplanted his democratically elected government. Rejecting Qarase's argument, the court held that Iloilo had acted within the country's constitution [text], characterizing his naming of a new prime minister as an allowable retention of authority until a new prime minister could be elected. Qarase expressed disappointment [Fiji Times report] in the ruling, saying it would encourage future coups as a legitimate means of gaining power. He is considering appealing the case to the country's Supreme Court. AP has more. FBCL has local coverage.

In September, Qarase made additional charges that current prime minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama [BBC profile] and others who participated in the December 2006 military coup [JURIST news archive] had committed treason [Fiji Daily Post report] by ousting Qarase's democratically elected government. Later that month, Qarase tried to make a statement [JURIST report] to police regarding the allegations, but they said they would not investigate the charges. Less than two days after December's coup, a previous interim prime minister installed by the military characterized the coup as "illegal" [JURIST report], but defended it as necessary. Qarase's case was heard by a three-judge panel led by Acting Chief Justice Anthony Gates, who was appointed [press release] after Bainimarama suspended former Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] issued two decisions Thursday finding Russia in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights [text] in cases concerning the deaths or abductions [press releases] of Russian nationals in Chechnya in 2000. The court ruled in Albekov v. Russia [judgment text] that Russia violated Article 2 of the Convention by failing to carry out effective criminal investigations into the deaths of or injuries sustained by three Russians caused by several land mine explosions. The court also ruled in Zaurbekov v. Russia [judgment text] that Russia violated several articles of the Convention in connection with the October 2000 disappearance of Abdulkasim Zaurbekov, and Russia's subsequent failure to investigate. The court directed Russia to pay a total of more than €88,000 ($121,000) to the families. RIA Novosti has more.

The ECHR has consistently ruled against Russia in similar cases involving Chechnya rights violations. In May, the court ruled [JURIST report] that Russia was responsible for the disappearance of a dozen people during Russian armed raids in Chechnya in 2002 and 2003. In July 2007, the court ruled that Russian authorities were responsible for the shooting deaths of 11 unarmed Chechen civilians, and in June 2007 it held that Russian authorities were liable for the 2003 deaths of four Chechen family members [JURIST reports].

[JURIST] Italy's Constitutional Court [official website, in Italian] has rejected [decision text, in Italian] a parliamentary challenge to a Milan appeals court decision holding that doctors can remove the feeding tube of Eluana Englaro [materials, in Italian], a young woman who has been in a vegetative state for 16 years. In a decision issued Wednesday the court specified the interruption of treatment can only be used where "the condition of vegetative state is irreversible and there is no medical basis, according to internationally recognized standards, to suggest the person has the slightest chance of recovery." AFP has more. La Repubblica has local coverage.

Eluana Englaro, had been in a coma since an automobile accident in 1992. Her father, Beppino Englaro, has been trying to get her feeding tube removed since 1999. In 2005, the Constitutional Court upheld a lower court's ruling to keep her feeding tube in place [Reuters report], because they could find no specific evidence on Englaro's view of life and death.

[JURIST] US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch said Thursday that Libya has made an initial deposit [briefing transcript] into a US government account as part of a deal to settle claims involving Libyan-linked terrorism in the 1980s. Under the agreement, Libya will pay $1.5 billion to settle claims for victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] over Lockerbie, Scotland and the 1986 bombing of the La Belle disco [BBC backgrounder] in Berlin, Germany. An additional $300 million will be provided by the United States to compensate Libyan victims of retaliatory air strikes that followed the disco bombing. Funding for the US portion is unclear; Bush Administration officials indicated that no US tax dollars would be used to pay for the settlement. Welch said: "we deem [the deposit] to be evidence of [Libya]'s commitment to fully implementing the whole agreement, and a substantial indication of their commitment". AP has more.

This March, the US and Libya began working to find a way to speed compensation for families of Americans who were killed by acts of terrorism authorized by the Libyan government. An agreement was signed [JURIST report] in August. The settlement is seen as a way to normalize relations between the US and Libya and to allow Libya to accelerate development of its oil resources.