[JURIST] US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he would not rule out the possibility of prosecuting [transcript] lawyers responsible for authoring memos released last week [JURIST report] outlining CIA interrogation policies. Obama had previously said that he would not pursue prosecutions of CIA interrogators [statement], a pledge which drew sharp international criticism [JURIST report]. Obama confirmed Tuesday that he would not seek the prosecution of agents involved in the interrogations, but said that he was open to holding the memos' authors accountable for the alleged abuse. report] holding lawyers who authored the memos accountable for the interrogation techniques, including waterboarding [JURIST news archive], which many have described as "torture." Obama said that Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] would determine whether they would be prosecuted. In response to Obama's statements, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] called for the resignation [AFP report] of federal judge Jay Bybee, who authored one of the memos while serving as assistant attorney general during the Bush administration. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] executive director Anthony Romero said [press release], "Torture is a crime, and we are hopeful that President Obama's comments today signal a new acknowledgment of the need for criminal investigations of those who authorized, legally justified and carried out these unlawful acts..

The public release of the memos came in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [text] lawsuit [materials] filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] during the George W. Bush administration. The ACLU has also called for an independent investigator [press release] to probe allegations of torture during the Bush administration. Earlier this month, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released a final version of a report [JURIST report] calling on Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to determine whether any criminal laws were violated. In March, Leahy also called for an investigation [JURIST report] into Bush administration policies through the formation of a "truth commission."

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Tuesday heard oral arguments [day call, PDF; briefs] in two cases. In Safford United School District No. 1 v. Redding [oral arguments transcript; JURIST report], the Court will consider whether the Fourth Amendment prohibits public school officials from conducting a strip search of a student suspected of possessing and distributing a prescription drug on campus in violation of school policy. The school district appealed a May 2008 decision [opinion, PDF] by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit finding that the student's Fourth Amendment rights were violated when school officials conducted a search of her undergarments based on the suspicion that she was carrying prescription-strength ibuprofen for recreational use. Relying on the Court's decision in New Jersey v. T.L.O [opinion], the Ninth Circuit found that the search was neither "justified at its inception" nor "reasonably related in scope to the circumstances," and that since the school officials were not entitled to qualified immunity because these principles were were clearly established at the time of the search. The school district, and the US as amicus curiae, argued that:

The search of Savana Redding in this case was constitutional because Mr. Wilson had reason to suspect that she possessed contraband which posed a health and safety risk. Therefore, searching any place where she might be reasonably hiding that contraband was constitutionally permissible

[JURIST] A Spanish judge on Tuesday charged Jurdan Martitegi Lizaso [El Pais backgrounder, in Spanish], the alleged leader of the Basque separatist group ETA [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] with murder for allegedly executing a car bomb in May 2008 that killed a Spanish policeman. Three other ETA members were also charged [AFP report] in connection with the incident. Martitegi and three others were arrested [JURIST report] last Saturday in France. Six other ETA members were also detained in Spain last weekend for their alleged roles in the car bombing.

In February, Spain's Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] unanimously banned [JURIST report] the Basque separatist political groups Democracy 3 Million (D3M) and Askatasuna [orders, PDF, in Spanish] from participation in the coming March elections. In January, a Spanish court dismissed the case against Basque Regional Prime Minister Juan José Ibarretxe [official profile]. He and the two leaders of the Basque socialist party were charged [JURIST report] with illegally communicating with the banned Batasuna party [BBC backgrounder], the political wing of the ETA. In November, French authorities arrested [JURIST report] alleged former ETA leader Mikel Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina [BBC backgrounder] near the country's border with Spain. In September, the court banned [JURIST report] the Basque Nationalist Action Party (ANV) from taking part in political activities because of its alleged ties to Batasuna.

[JURIST] The lawyer for imprisoned US journalist Roxana Saberi [advocacy website; JURIST news archive] on Tuesday appealed her recent conviction for espionage [JURIST report]. A spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary reportedly said that he hoped her eight-year sentence would be changed [Reuters report]. On Monday, Iran's top judge Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrud urged a fair appellate process [JURIST report]. On Sunday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter to prosecutor general Saeed Mortazavi, which contained implicit criticism [Financial Times report] of the judiciary's handling of the Saberi trial. In response to Ahmadinejad's letter, Iranian Information Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejeie stated that Saberi's trial was held in accordance with Iranain law [IRNA report].

Saberi was originally arrested [NYT report] in March after buying a bottle of wine, as alcohol consumption is illegal under Iranian law. It was believed that the charges against Saberi would be working without Iranian press credentials, but the Iranian government charged her with espionage [JURIST report], accusing her of passing classified information to US intelligence services. Saberi was tried last week behind closed doors.

[JURIST] US Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) [official website] said [press release] Tuesday that the Obama administration doesn't have a plan to deal with detainees at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] once the facility closes. McConnell, speaking before the Senate, called the facilities at the military prison "safe and secure" and said that the administration "doesn't know what to do with" the 240 detainees currently being held there. He called on US President Barack Obama to prove that closing the prison made America safer and cited a Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] report [text, PDF] that many former detainees had committed terrorism after being released. He said:

The administration needs to tell the American people what it plans to do with these men if they close Guantanamo. Two years ago the Senate voted 94-3 against sending these killers to the United States. Foreign countries have thus far been unwilling to take them in any significant numbers. And even if countries were willing to take them, there’s an increasing probability that some of these murderers would return to the battlefield.

[JURIST] Russian oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky [defense website; JURIST news archive] and his former business partner Platon Lebedev pleaded not guilty [RIA Novosti report] Monday to charges of money laundering and embezzlement. Khodorkovsky made two statements to the court, one reflecting his opinion on the charges, and the other specifically refuting [defense documents, PDF] each charge. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office [official website, in Russian] filed these new charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev in February, alleging that the pair embezzled over $100 million [JURIST report] from Khodorkovsky's former company, Yukos [JURIST news archive]. If convicted, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev could face 22 years in prison.

Khodorkovsky is currently serving an eight-year prison term for six counts of fraud [JURIST report], for which he was convicted in 2005. Khodorkovsky applied for early release last July, but his application was rejected [JURIST reports] by a Russian judge in August because he disobeyed guards at the Krasnokamensk penal colony and refused to participate in a training program. Khodorkovsky appealed [JURIST report] that decision in September.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] issued three opinions Tuesday. The Court ruled [opinion, PDF] in Ministry of Defense and Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran v. Elahi [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that the brother of dissident Cyrus Elahi, assassinated in Paris in 1990, cannot collect on a default judgment he holds against Iran by attaching a $2.8 million judgment obtained by the Iranian Ministry of Defense against California-based Cubic Defense Systems [corporate website]. Dariush Elahi was awarded $11.7 million in compensatory and $300 million in punitive damages after Iran refused to respond to his 2000 lawsuit brought in a Washington federal court, alleging that the Iranian government was responsible for his brother's death. Iran originally won the $2.8 million judgment against Cubic before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) [official website] for Cubic's contract breach following the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 [BBC backgrounder]. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled [opinion, PDF] that the attachment was valid under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA) [text, PDF]. In reversing the lower court's ruling, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote:

We ultimately hold that the Cubic Judgment was not a "blocked asset" at the time the Court of Appeals handed down its decision in this case. We recognize that since that time new Executive Branch action may have "blocked" that asset; but, in light of the posture of the case, we do not decide whether it has done so. Rather, we determine that Elahi cannot attach the Cubic Judgment regardless, for the Judgment is "at issue" in a claim against the United States before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal. The Judgment consequently falls within the terms of Elahi’s waiver.

In our view, the Federal Circuit’s "harmless-error" framework is too complex and rigid, its presumptions impose unreasonable evidentiary burdens upon the VA, and it is too likely too often to require the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Veterans Court) to treat as harmful errors that in fact are harmless. We conclude that the framework conflicts with established law.

Police may search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant's arrest only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search or it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest. When these justifications are absent, a search of an arrestee's vehicle will be unreasonable unless police obtain a warrant or show that another exception to the warrant requirement applies. The Arizona Supreme Court correctly held that this case involved an unreasonable search.

[JURIST] Turkey's Eleventh Criminal Court in Ankara on Monday granted permission for a case involving the 2006 killing of a senior judge by lawyer Alparslan Aslan to be merged with a larger case against alleged Ergenekon [BBC backgrounder] coup leaders. Ergenekon is accused of planning to destabilize the country's Justice and Development Party (AKP) [official website, in Turkish] led government in an effort to incite a military coup. The court found that the judge's killing could have been part [UPI report] of the group's efforts [Hurriyet Daily News report], which also included the creation of a supposed "hit list" of prominent Turkish figures, bombings at the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet [media website, in Turkish], and the assassination of the journalist Hrant Dink. In order for the cases to be merged, the Thirteenth Criminal Court, which is hearing the Ergenekon case, must also approve the move. The Supreme Court had previously permitted the two cases to be joined, and if they are, they will be tried in Istanbul.

The court's decision comes after the arrest of eight professors and former university officials [NYT report] allegedly connected to Ergenekon on Friday. In March, 56 people were arrested in connection with the group [JURIST report], including two former generals. Earlier that month, a Turkish court ordered the arrest [JURIST report] of Cumhuriyet journalist Mustafa Balbay and internet publisher Neriman Aydin for their alleged involvement the coup plot. There are currently more than 100 suspects in custody, with 40 arrested January 7, another 12 arrested January 12, and 30 arrested January 19 [JURIST reports]. The suspects include journalists, academics, army officers, policemen, and Turkish Workers' Party [party website, in Turkish] leader Dogu Perincek [JURIST report]. In October the High Criminal Court in Istanbul began the trial [JURIST report] of 86 defendants allegedly involved in the coup plot.

[JURIST] Delegates to the UN Durban Review Conference on Racism [official website] walked out of a speech [text, PDF] on Monday by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [official profile; JURIST news archive] after he described Israel as "totally racist." Additionally, a protester dressed as a clown threw his rubber nose at the Iranian president. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile] released a statement [text] in response to Ahmadinejad's speech saying:

I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian President to accuse, divide and even incite. This is the opposite of what this Conference seeks to achieve. This makes it significantly more difficult to build constructive solutions to the very real problem of racism.

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama on Monday defended [speech transcript] his recent decision to release [DOJ press release, JURIST report] memos describing interrogation methods employed by CIA [official website] officials in questioning Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees. He made the remarks to CIA officials who had expressed concern that their release would compromise the agency's ability to conduct effective interrogations. Obama said that due to widespread speculation about the memos, it was in the best interest of the US to acknowledge publicly their existence. Obama also said that while information on the techniques was released, he would continue to protect the identities of CIA agents:

I have fought to protect the integrity of classified information in the past, and I will do so in the future. And there is nothing more important than protecting the identities of CIA officers. So I need everybody to be clear: we will protect your identities and your security as you vigorously pursue your missions. I will be as vigorous in protecting you as you are vigorous in protecting the American people.

[JURIST] A Rwandan court rejected a lawsuit brought by captured Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rebel leader Laurent Nkunda [BBC profile] seeking his release from Rwandan custody. Nkunda was apprehended by Rwandan authorities in January near the DRC border after a joint DRC-Rwandan military operation to capture him and root out Rwandan Hutu rebels operating in the DRC. He is the leader of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) [group website], a rebel group operating in the eastern DRC province of Nord-Kivu. According to Nkunda's lawyer, he is being held illegally [Retuers report] without charges or access to counsel. Nkunda faces an uncertain legal future [JURIST report], with the DRC government having called on Rwanda to extradite Nkunda to DRC [BBC report] where he would face charges for atrocities allegedly committed by forces under his command. Another possibility for Nkunda is extradition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] in The Hague. While there is no arrest warrant or case outstanding against Nkunda, the ICC has issued an arrest warrant [JURIST report] and prepared a case against his deputy in the CNDP, Bosco Ntaganda [ICC materials], for war crimes committed in the DRC, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers [JURIST news archive]. Nkunda has repeatedly denied allegations of war crimes [JURIST report] against him and the CNDP.

In November, head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (MUNOC) [official website] Alan Doss condemned the killing of civilians in Nord-Kivu by militia groups as war crimes [JURIST report]. Prior to Doss' statement, MUNOC announced that it had received "credible reports" that civilians had been targeted by militia groups including Nkunda's CNDP. Earlier in November, ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] reasserted [JURIST report] that the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed in Nord-Kivu, and that his office intends to punish those responsible.

[JURIST] Judge Denny Chin of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] issued a restraining order Monday that protects from bankruptcy more than $100 million in assets of financier Bernard Madoff [JURIST news archive]. Chin signed the order to protect assets that will likely be forfeited [AP report] by Madoff to the US government as a result of his guilty plea to securities fraud charges [complaint, PDF; JURIST report] stemming from his alleged multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. The order comes on the same day that a federal bankruptcy judge appointed an interim trustee [Bloomberg report] to oversee Madoff's assets ahead of attempts by injured investors to recoup losses suffered in the scheme. Madoff remains in custody following his plea.

Last month, Madoff pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to security fraud charges for his alleged involvement in a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. In February, Madoff consented [JURIST report] to a partial judgment [SEC press release] with the SEC over civil charges brought by the SEC to obtain a preliminary injunction and asset freeze against him. The same day, then-SEC Division of Enforcement Director Linda Thomsen announced she was stepping down from her post [SEC press release]. In the week following Madoff's charges, then-SEC Chairman Christopher Cox [official profile] said that he would launch an immediate investigation [press release; JURIST report] into how the fraud allegedly perpetrated by Madoff went undetected for so long.