[JURIST] A UK jury found three men guilty of conspiracy to murder [Metropolitan Police press release] after plotting to blow up transatlantic flights using liquid explosives [JURIST news archive]. The three men, Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar, and Tanvid Hussain, were part of a larger plot allegedly organized by British national Rashid Rauf, arrested in Pakistan. Four other suspects were not convicted and two more must be retried after the juries could not decide upon their guilt. Scotland Yard said the case involved the most evidence that has ever been brought against a suspect at a terrorism trial. All three are expected to receive their sentences [Guardian report] on September 14.

The suspected plot, which British authorities announced they had foiled [JURIST report] in August 2006, allegedly involved using liquid explosives disguised as beverages to blow up jets bound for North America from Heathrow Airport. Shortly after those arrests, UK Home Secretary John Reid told journalists that the threat of terrorism required balancing individuals' civil liberties [JURIST report] against the "collective right to security."

[JURIST] Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen [official profile] announced Monday that while he hoped no further potential war criminals would be tried in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia [ECCC] [official site], he would continue to support the court financially should international backers drop out. Sen, who has led the country for the past twenty years, said he fears further trials of those accused of war crimes during the period Khmer Rouge rule in the 1970s could tear the country apart and possibly even plunge it back into violence [AP report]. Sen's comments came in response to an announcement from investigators last week that more tribunal suspects may be arrested [CTV report].

The ECCC is in the midst of its first trial of a former Khmer Rouge leader - Kaing Guek Eav [TrialWatch backgrounder, JURIST news archive], also known as "Duch." A verdict in that case is expected [JURIST report] in early 2010. Kaing is the first of eight ex-Khmer Rouge officials expected to be tried before the ECCC, which recently announced the establishment of an independent counselor to oversee anti-corruption efforts [JURIST reports]. Last month Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] asked the ECCC to determine the scope of its prosecutions [JURIST report] "to thwart growing perceptions that court decisions are directed by the government." In February, HRW warned that ECCC trials were in danger of being tainted for their failure to follow fair trial standards, and in January a Cambodian court agreed to hear a corruption case [JURIST reports] involving two ECCC judges.

[JURIST] The UK Home Office [official website] has released a top terrorism suspect from a control order [ Guardian backgrounder; JURIST news archive] subjecting him to virtual house arrest because it did not want to reveal secret evidence, according to media reports Monday. Home Secretary Alan Johnson [official profile] sent a letter [Times report] to the man of Libyan and British nationality, know only as AF, at the end of last month freeing him from the three-year-old control order, but the letter did not give a reason why. The decision to free the suspect followed a June ruling [judgment, PDF; JURIST report] by a panel of nine UK Law Lords [official website] which required the government to let detainees and subjects of control orders know generally what charges they face so that they can mount a defense. It is believed that the decision to free AF will lead to at least 20 others subject to control orders to challenge the cases [AFP report] against them.

Control orders allow the British government to conduct surveillance and impose house arrest on suspects where there does not exist enough evidence to prosecute. The orders can also be used to forbid the use of mobile phones and the Internet. In August, a control order against a suspected terrorist known as AN was overturned [judgment text; JURIST report] by the UK High Court. At that time Johnson had announced plans [BBC report] to draft a new control order against AN. The UK Law Lords ruled [JURIST report] in a series of decisions in October that the government can continue to impose control orders on terror suspects in lieu of detention, but said that some elements of the orders issued under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 [text] violate human rights.

[JURIST] Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia [UN profile; JURIST news archive] and her son, Tarique Rahman [BBC profile], will face court proceedings [Reuters report] on corruption charges starting in October, officials from the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court said Monday. Zia, the head of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party [party website], her son, and four others are accused [Xinhua report] of embezzling over 21 million taka (US $305,000) in the Zia Orphanage Trust which is said to be nonexistent. The case was originally filed [Daily Star report] in August by the country's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) [governing statute], which had previously sought to lay other corruption charges [JURIST report] against Zia. The latest charges are the first to be filed against a high-profile Bangladeshi politician since current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina [AP profile] and many members of her Bangladesh Awami League [party website] were elected [JURIST report] in December, displacing a military-backed regime.

In May, Morshed Khan, who served as Zia's foreign minister, began serving [JURIST report] a 13-year sentence for illegally amassing nearly $250,000. Khan initially fled the country following the January 2007 state of emergency declaration [JURIST report] that suspended democratic rights in Bangladesh. Three other Zia officials were jailed [JURIST report] in November. Zia herself was taken into custody [JURIST report] on suspicion of corruption in September 2007.