[JURIST] The Illinois Supreme Court [official website] Wednesday rejected a bid by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan [official profile] to have Governor Rod Blagojevich [official website] temporarily removed from office [JURIST report] in the wake of corruption charges [complaint, PDF] laid against him last week in connection with his naming of a replacement to fill President-elect Barack Obama's now-vacant Senate seat. The order rejecting Madigan's motion to file a complaint [text, PDF] with the court was made without comment. In a statement [text] afterwards, Madigan said:

Because of Governor Blagojevich’s refusal to resign, the State of Illinois is in an unsustainable situation. The serious criminal charges against Governor Blagojevich strike directly at the heart of his decision-making process and seriously impede his ability to legitimately exercise the powers of his office. Thus, while the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the impeachment process move forward, the State is left with a Governor who cannot make effective decisions on critical and time-sensitive issues.

The Illinois Constitution expressly gives the Supreme Court the authority to determine whether the Governor has the ability to serve. Given this constitutional provision, on behalf of the People of the State of Illinois, I sought relief in the Illinois Supreme Court to temporarily remove Governor Blagojevich so that the State could continue to function while the U.S. Attorney and the General Assembly proceed. The Constitution does not require the Illinois Supreme Court to act.

I am hopeful that the General Assembly will act with deliberate speed. It is imperative that we begin to restore the People’s confidence in their government.

[JURIST] A Muslim woman in the US state of Georgia was arrested Tuesday and ordered to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court after she refused to remove her headscarf [JURIST news archive], or hijab, upon entering a security checkpoint in an Atlanta courtroom. Douglasville Municipal Court [official website] Judge Keith Rollins found Lisa Valentine in contempt [Atlanta Journal-constitution report] for violating a court policy that prohibits wearing headgear in court. Valentine, who also goes by her Islamic name Miedah, was released from jail later in the day after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) [official website] called on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] to investigate the incident [press release], although jail officials European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] unanimously ruled [press release; JURIST report] that there was no human rights violation when a French school expelled two students for refusing to remove their headscarves [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. In May, a US federal judge dismissed a federal lawsuit [JURIST reports] filed by a Muslim woman against a judge who asked her to remove her niqab in court. In September 2007, Canadian chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand resisted calls by Canadian lawmakers [JURIST report] to invoke his discretionary powers to require women to remove traditional Muslim niqabs or burqas when voting in elections in the province of Quebec.

[JURIST] Russian civil rights activists Wednesday issued a statement warning that a proposed law that would change the definition of treason would allow the government to arrest any government critic [statement text, in Russian]. The proposed legislation extends the definition of treason [Moscow Times report] to include damage to Russia's constitutional order, sovereignty, or territorial integrity. Rights activists including Moscow Helsinki Group [advocacy website, in Russian] leader Lyudmila Alexeyeva and Civic Assistance leader Svetlana Gannushkina, called the move a "terrible blow" and a repetition of the Stalin regime. They called on members of parliament to reject the bill and for President Dmitry Medvedev [official website] not to sign the bill, should it be passed.

There has recently been a trend of increased government power in Russia. Last week, the Russian Duma [official website, in Russian] approved a bill that would end jury trials on charges of terrorism and treason [JURIST report]. In July 2007, then-President Vladimir Putin approved amendments to Russia's law against extremism [JURIST report]. An international panel of jurists reported earlier that year that expanded Russian anti-terrorism laws were leading to human rights abuses [JURIST report]. In 2006, Putin signed a bill giving Russian police and military broad authority [JURIST report] to tap telephone conversations and control electronic communications in the vicinity of counter-terror operations, shoot down hijacked planes threatening public places or strategic facilities, and deal with the aftermath of terrorist attacks.

[JURIST] Two prominent Kosovar Albanians were found guilty of contempt [press release; judgment summary, PDF] Wednesday in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website]. Former Kosovo minister for Culture, Youth and Sport Astrit Haraqija was sentenced to five months in prison, and Bajrush Morina, former political advisor to the Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport and a part-time journalist was sentenced to three months for interfering with a witness during the trial of former Kosovo Albanian military leader Ramush Haradinaj [ICTY materials, PDF; JURIST news archive]. The trial chamber found that Haraqija exercised influence over Morina and that Morina told a witness that other witnesses who had testified against Haradinaj had been killed. The court found:

[I]t was clear that Bajrush Morina's words were intended and could only be understood as a strong and unequivocal call on Witness 2 to refrain from testifying in the Haradinaj et al. case. In the Trial Chamber's view, such behaviour constituted intimidation.

[JURIST] The Turkish Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday overturned the conviction of a lawyer accused of killing a judge and merged the case with the trial of a right-wing group accused of plotting a coup. Alparslan Arslan was sentenced to life in prison in February for the May 2006 killing of Judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin in protest of a February 2006 ruling [JURIST reports] by the court permitting a school to deny promotion to a teacher because she wore a religious headscarf. Arslan's case will be merged with the trial of 86 defendants accused of attempting to destabilize and overthrow the country's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) [party website]. The accused are said to belong to the secular Ergenekon [BBC backgrounder] group, believed responsible for bombing the headquarters of the newspaper Cumhuriyet [newspaper website, in Turkish], assassinating Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive], and planning other attacks to provoke a military coup to topple the AKP. The court found that the killing of the judge and the coup plot are related [Hurriyet report] and consolidated the cases. The issue will now be whether the case should be heard in Ankara [Today's Zaman report], where Arslan was originally convicted, or in Istanbul, where the coup trial is taking place.

The alleged members of Ergenekon were indicted [JURIST report] in July. Among them are journalists, intellectuals, and Turkish Workers' Party [party website, in Turkish] leader Dogu Perincek [personal website, in Turkish; JURIST report]. Two former generals were also arrested [JURIST report] in connection with the alleged plot. The trial began in October and resumed [JURIST reports] after being adjourned because of "chaos" in the courtroom.

[JURIST] The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) [official website] on Tuesday called for greater judicial cooperation to combat piracy [press release] off the coast of Somalia. UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa [official profile] said that while pirates should ideally be tried in their home country or in the country that owns the seized ship, this is not always feasible because, "the Somali criminal justice system has collapsed, and countries like Liberia, Panama, and the Marshall Islands - where many of the ships are registered - do not want to deal with crimes committed thousands of miles away." Costa proposed strengthening regional justice systems by helping countries implement the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime [text, PDF] and combating piracy on the land by dismantling pirates' bases and support networks. Costa concluded that, "Piracy is organized crime, and should be confronted as such." Also on Tuesday, the UN Security Council [official website] passed a resolution authorizing states to use land-based operations [press release and text] to combat piracy in Somalia. The measure, pushed by the US [IHT report] won unanimous support.

Last month, eight suspected Somali pirates were charged [JURIST report] in a Kenyan court [Kenya judiciary website] after being turned over to Kenyan officials by the British Royal Navy. In October, the UN Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1838 [text, PDF; press release], condemning all acts of piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia, and calling on states to "deploy naval vessels and military aircraft to actively fight piracy on the high seas off the coast of Somalia." Although maritime piracy is increasingly widespread, Somalia's coast has been ranked as the most dangerous in the world [BBC report] due to a surge in attacks on ships carrying traded goods or humanitarian aid [NPR report]. Somalia has not had an effective government for 17 years. It was recently ranked as one of the world's most corrupt countries [JURIST report] and its transitional government has only a tenuous hold over the country's capital. In October 2007 the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) [advocacy website], which tracks incidents of maritime piracy worldwide [IMP materials], reported [press release] that incidents of piracy and armed attacks against ships off the Somalian and Nigerian coasts have risen 14% from 2006.

[JURIST] The legislature in the Papua [official website, in Indonesian] province of Indonesia [JURIST news archive] announced Tuesday that it will postpone a decision on whether to implant certain individuals infected with HIV/AIDS [JURIST news archive] with microchips to monitor their movements. A vote scheduled for next week will be put off in response to human rights concerns [Jakarta Post report]. The bill would have attempted to monitor the activities of individuals who are infected with HIV/AIDS whom the government has deemed "sexually aggressive" or more likely to spread the virus. Local officials acknowledged that the policy is extreme but are concerned with the rapid spread of HIV throughout the Papua region, which has the highest number of HIV/AIDS patients in Indonesia. AIDS activists have sharply criticized the policy, which they see as demeaning to people who are living with HIV/AIDS. The legislature is expected to rule on less controversial HIV/AIDS control measures in the coming week.

The legislation was introduced [JURIST report] last month. Other countries have also been examining or changing strict policies concerning HIV/AIDS. Indian officials are investigating the legality [JURIST report] of a ban that prohibits individuals who are HIV positive from serving in the military. China has recently relaxed [JURIST report] a ban against entering the country for any person who is HIV-positive.

[JURIST] The Iraqi cabinet on Wednesday approved draft legislation that would require most non-US foreign troops to leave Iraq by mid-2009. The legislation must now be submitted to the Iraqi parliament [official website] for approval. A government spokesperson said that Iraq would retain the right to ask some countries to stay [DPA report]. Also on Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown [official website] announced that British troops will withdraw [press release] from Iraq by July 2009.

US troops may remain in Iraq until 2011 under the recently approved [JURIST report] Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) [text, PDF; CFR backgrounder]. The SOFA, which takes effect at the end of the year, also gives Iraqi courts limited jurisdiction [JURIST report] over American military personnel and eliminates immunity [JURIST report] for US defense contractors working within Iraq.

[JURIST] The Council of the District of Columbia [official website] passed legislation [introduction, PDF] Tuesday increasing the requirements of gun owners in Washington, DC. The legislation contains a number of provisions that the city council hopes will make it more difficult for criminals obtain weapons [NYT report] and make it easier for law enforcement officers to track them down. The requirements include owners registering their weapon every three years, receiving five hours of training from a qualified instructor, and undergoing a background check every six years. In addition, the legislation provides that by 2011 certain weapons will be marked to facilitate law enforcement officers in finding violent offenders. The National Rifle Association (NRA) [advocacy website] believes that the legislation is another example [AP report] of the Council trying to make it harder for law-abiding citizens to own guns.

In June, the US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] prohibited [JURIST report] the District of Columbia from banning private handgun ownership in the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller [opinion, PDF]. The Court found that the Second Amendment bestows upon citizens an individual right to own firearms for lawful purposes. The ruling has not stopped the Council from trying to control gun ownership. Since June, the Council has passed measures to limit the types of weapons that citizens can own, as well as the circumstances under which they are allowed to own them, including a resolution [text, PDF] passed in September to restrict the use of guns in the home to self defense purposes.

[JURIST] The US military reported on Tuesday the transfer of 39 high-value detainees [press release] from the custody of US-led multinational force to an Iraqi controlled prison. The detainees were all former members of the regime of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive], and have already been convicted or are scheduled to stand trial at the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) [JURST news archive]. According the US military, the transfer was facilitated by the improvements made in the Iraqi prison system and courts. More than 15,000 detainees remain in the custody of the coalition.

The recent transfer of detainees to the Iraqi government is part of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) [text, PDF; CFR backgrounder] passed last month [JURIST report]. Under the SOFA, the coalition must transfer the remaining detainees into the custody of the Iraqi government. Detainees who have not been charged with a crime will be released. A recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] report criticized the CCCI [JURIST report], stating that detainees often wait months or even years before standing trial. The report also alleged that trials in the CCCI often do not meet international fair trial standards.

[JURIST] US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] Chairman Christopher Cox [official profile] on Tuesday said that he would launch an immediate investigation [press release] into how the fraud allegedly perpetrated by Bernard Madoff went undetected for so long. The SEC filed charges [complaint, PDF; JURIST report] last week in New York against Madoff and his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC [archived website] for an alleged $50 billion fraud scheme. Cox said:

Since Commissioners were first informed of the Madoff investigation last week, the Commission has met multiple times on an emergency basis to seek answers to the question of how Mr. Madoff's vast scheme remained undetected by regulators and law enforcement for so long. Our initial findings have been deeply troubling. The Commission has learned that credible and specific allegations regarding Mr. Madoff’s financial wrongdoing, going back to at least 1999, were repeatedly brought to the attention of SEC staff, but were never recommended to the Commission for action. I am gravely concerned by the apparent multiple failures over at least a decade to thoroughly investigate these allegations or at any point to seek formal authority to pursue them.