[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Nicaragua [official website, in Spanish] on Friday overturned the corruption conviction of former president Arnoldo Aleman. Aleman was convicted of money laundering and embezzlement in 2003, after being accused of taking up to $100 million from the Nicaraguan government. He had been sentenced to 20 years in prison, but had served only four years, with much of the time spent under house arrest. The four Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Aleman's conviction have ties to his political party [AP report]. The Supreme Court's decision to overturn the conviction of Aleman, who is still active in Nicaraguan politics, is believed to be a part of the ongoing power struggle [La Prensa report, in Spanish] in Nicaragua between Aleman's right-wing Liberal Constitutional Party and the Sandinista government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega [official website, in Spanish].

In August 2005, the Supreme Court relaxed Aleman's prison sentence [JURIST report], allowing him to leave his home and travel around the Nicaraguan capital of Managua based on his health needs. Aleman's 20-year sentence [BBC report] had been altered once before due to ongoing health concerns. In 2004, Aleman was allowed to leave his jail cell to serve his sentence at his plantation outside the capital city. Then-president Enrique Bolanos, who himself faced election fraud charges, said that the change in Aleman's sentence was engineered by Aleman's allies on the court.

[JURIST] A Zimbabwe court ruled Friday that human rights activist and head of Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) [advocacy materials] Jestina Mukoko [advocacy website, JURIST news archive] can appeal her detention to the country's Supreme Court. Mukoko's claim that her detention violates her constitutional rights was allowed to go forward after Harare Magistrate Archie Wochiunga ruled [Herald report] that the state did not prove that her claim was frivilous and vexatious. Wochiunga held that the case was proper for referral under section 24 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe [text, PDF]. Mukoko is charged with plotting to overthrow the government of President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and has been held in prison since December, despite a court ruling [JURIST report] that her detention is unlawful.

Mukoko, an outspoken critic of Mugabe, was apprehended from her home last month and held in an undisclosed location for several weeks because of her alleged involvement in Mugabe's opposition. While in prison, it was reported that Mukoko was forced to ingest poison [JURIST report], an allegation that has sparked a world wide protest against Zimbabwean police methods. Earlier this month, a judge had ordered that Mukoko's trial be put on hold [JURIST report] in order for her to receive medical care. The case has gathered international attention, and both Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] and Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] have condemned Mukoko's imprisonment and called for her release [HRW press release; AI press release].

[JURIST] Lawyers for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich [official website; JURIST news archive] announced Friday that they will boycott impeachment proceedings against Blagojevich in the Illinois State Senate [official website]. The lawyers, Edward Genson, Sam Adam, and Sam Adam, Jr., will boycott the impeachment proceedings [Chicago Tribune report] as a protest against Senate procedures they believe will rob Blagojevich of his due process rights. Genson called the rules of the impeachment trial unfair [AP report], and characterized the governor's impeachment as a foregone conclusion. The impeachment proceedings are scheduled to begin on January 26 at the Illinois State Senate in Springfield.

Last week, the Illinois House of Representatives [official website] voted 114-1 to impeach Blagojevich, after a House committee voted unanimously to recommend the impeachment [JURIST report]. Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris were arrested [JURIST report] last month by federal agents on charges of corruption. Both Blagojevich and Harris have been charged [DOJ press release, PDF] with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. They are accused of conspiring to sell or trade the senate seat left vacant by Obama and obtaining illegal campaign contributions. They are also accused of threatening to withhold assistance to the Chicago Tribune with the sale of Wrigley Field unless two editorial writers who had been critical of Blagojevich were fired. Harris resigned his position after the arrest, while Blagojevich has continued to report to work. Last month, the Illinois Supreme Court [official website] rejected [JURIST report] a bid by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan [official profile] to have Blagojevich temporarily removed from office [JURIST report].

[JURIST] A military judge Friday rejected a motion [text, PDF] by the Pentagon's chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] to delay the military commission [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] hearing of the five detainees being held as 9/11 conspirators [JURIST news archive], set for Monday. Army Col. Lawrence J. Morris requested the delay in part because of uncertainty over the future [Miami Herald report] of the US military commissions in Guantanamo, saying "[T]he government cannot represent with confidence that there will not be an interruption in all commission proceedings." The hearings are in doubt based on indications that President-elect Barack Obama [transition website] that will move to close Guantanamo soon after taking office. Morris was also denied a request for delay of the pre-trial hearing of Omar Khadr [DOD materials; JURIST news archive], also scheduled to start Monday. Also on Friday, the lead defense council Air Force Col. Peter Masciola sent a letter [text, PDF] to the convening authority of military commissions Susan Crawford [official profile, PDF; JURIST news archive] asking that she withdraw the referrals in all pending military commission cases.

Controversial practices and policies at Guantanamo Bay have kept the military prison in the news throughout the course of the Bush administration. On Wednesday, Crawford said in an interview with the Washington Post that torture tactics were used [article text; JURIST report] in the interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani [JURIST news archive], a suspect held at Guantanamo under allegations of connections to the 9/11 attacks. Crawford made the statement after nearly two years of reviewing Guantanamo Bay practices as well as the strength of legal cases against detainees. On Tuesday, the chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee [official website] published a report [text, PDF] urging Obama to open a criminal investigation [JURIST report] into the alleged abuses that have occurred at Guantanamo Bay throughout the Bush administration.