Prior to his death, Dink was tried and then put on retrial [JURIST report] for "insulting Turkishness" by writing about the killing of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire. Dink's son Arat was convicted [JURIST report] of insulting Turkishness in October 2007 after he attempted to republish remarks made by his father before his murder. The prohibition against insulting Turkish identity is found in Article 301 [AI backgrounder; JURIST news archive] of Turkey's penal code [text, in Turkish]. The trial of suspects allegedly involved in Dink's murder began [JURIST reports] in July 2007.

Legislation banning the use of Islamic burqas has been a point of contention recently in many countries. Last month, Austria's conservative Freedom Party [official website, in German] called for a special vote [JURIST report] on whether to ban face veils and the construction of minarets, two of the most visible symbols of the Islamic faith. In July, Spain's lower house of parliament rejected a proposal [JURIST report] to ban the burqa and other full face veils by a vote of 183 to 162 with 2 abstaining. Also in July, UK Immigration Minister Damian Green [official profile] indicated in an interview that Britain's coalition government would not seek or support a British law banning the wearing of the Islamic burqa or other face coverings in public. Green stated that banning the burqa would not be consistent with British society, where mutual respect for differences among cultures is important.

In June, a federal judge denied a request [JURIST report] to delay the Blagojevich trial in order for his defense lawyers to review a decision by the US Supreme Court [official website] limiting the scope of the federal honest services fraud statute [18 USC § 1346 text]. Zagel held that the trial delay was unnecessary because the Supreme Court's decision in Skilling v. United States [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] was unlikely to affect Blagojevich's case. In April, the prosecution was ordered [JURIST report] to release a 91-page government proffer outlining evidence in its case against Blagojevich. In March, Blagojevich pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to eight amended corruption charges. In January 2009, the Illinois State Senate voted unanimously [JURIST report] to convict Blagojevich of abuse of power and remove him from office. Blagojevich and his former chief of staff John Harris were initially arrested [JURIST report] in December 2008.

Muluzi was arrested [JURIST report] in 2006 and originally charged with 42 counts of corruption, fraud and theft by the Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) [official website]. In May 2009, a court barred [JURIST report] Muluzi from participating in the upcoming presidential election. The court held that the Malawi Constitution [text] prohibits Muluzi from running for office after serving two consecutive five-year terms. In January 2009, the Supreme Court of Appeal struck down [JURIST report] an injunction that had stalled the investigation into the alleged theft. Mutharika has demonstrated his desire to see Muluzi punished for the alleged corruption. In August 2006, Mutharika called for the resignation of the Director of Public Prosecutions after he dropped [JURIST reports] the corruption charges against Muluzi on the eve of his original trial.

In the last few years, and largely in reaction to incidents involving PMSCs, the Government of the United States and Congress adopted various measures increasing the Government oversight over PMSCs and expanding and clarifying jurisdiction over offences committed by private militaries and security personnel operating abroad. The Working Group welcomes the adoption of these measures, which have improved the situation, but notes that much remains to be done to ensure effective oversight, accountability and legal remedy when human rights violations occur.

The US has begun to place tighter restrictions on PMSCs employed in international conflicts. Last month, a judge for the US District Court for the District of Maryland [official website] denied a motion to dismiss [JURIST report] a lawsuit filed by a group of former Iraqi detainees against US military contractors. The lawsuit, Al-Quraishi v. Nakhla [case materials], filed in June 2008 [JURIST report], alleges that PMSC L-3 Services, Inc. [corporate website] violated US and international law by directing and participating in abuses at Abu Ghraib [JURIST news archive] and other Iraqi prisons. The defendants in the case had moved for dismissal in November 2008, claiming immunity under the laws of war and sovereign immunity, but Judge Peter Messitte rejected their claims and allowed the case to continue to discovery. In April, a federal grand jury indicted [press release] five former Blackwater [JURIST news archive] executives on charges [JURIST report] of weapons violations and lying to criminal investigators. In February, the New York Times reported that the Department of Justice [official website] is investigating [JURIST report] Blackwater, now known as Xe, to determine whether the company bribed the Iraqi government to allow it to continue operating in Iraq following 2007 shootings that killed 17 innocent Iraqi civilians [JURIST report].

In September 2008, the Polish government launched an investigation [JURIST report] into the allegations of a CIA-operated secret prison in the country. Allegations against Poland came in a June 2007 report [text; JURIST report] to the Council of Europe [official website] by Swiss Senator Dick Marty. The report concluded that numerous European governments had cooperated with the CIA program. In February 2007, the European Parliament condemned more than a dozen European states [JURIST report] for their roles in the program. Several nations have been accused of obstructing European probes into the secret prison allegations, including Poland [JURIST report], which allegedly housed the largest CIA detention facility in Europe [JURIST report].

I can only express my deepest regrets that the political assurances given by two French ministers officially mandated to discuss this matter with the European Commission are now openly contradicted by an administrative circular issued by the same government. Let me be very clear: Discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin or race has no place in Europe. It is incompatible with the values on which the European Union is founded. National authorities who discriminate ethnic groups in the application of EU law are also violating the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which all Member States, including France, have signed up to.

France has defended its handling of the Roma [Telegraph report], saying only few cases result in forced deportation and that France was helping those displaced reintegrate into their countries of origin. In August, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) [official website] concluded its 77th session by expressing concern [JURIST report] with the discrimination faced by Roma migrants in numerous European countries, focusing on France's recent expulsion policy. Also in August, the EU Parliamentary Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats accused France of violating EU law [JURIST report] with its expulsion policy. In July, French President Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French] ordered measures against illegal Roma communities in France and announced legislation [JURIST report] that would make deportation easier. At the time, the French government aimed to dismantle half of illegal Roma camps within three months and to immediately deport all those found to have broken the law.

Abdulmutallab faces multiply charges relating to the attempted bombing. In January, he pleaded not guilty after being indicted [JURIST reports] on six counts for allegedly attempting to set off an explosive device on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 bound from Amsterdam to Detroit. The charges [JURIST report], filed in December, include attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the US, willful attempt to destroy or wreck an aircraft, willfully placing a destructive device on an aircraft, use of a firearm/destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence, and possession of a firearm/destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Last month, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) [official website] concluded its 77th session by expressing concern [text; JURIST report] with the discrimination faced by Roma migrants, specifically the French exclusion policy. Also last month, the EU Parliamentary Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats accused France of violating EU law [JURIST report] with its expulsion policy. In July, French President Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French] ordered measures against illegal Roma communities in France and announced legislation [JURIST report] that would make deportation easier. At the time, the French government aimed to dismantle half of illegal Roma camps within three months and to immediately deport all those found to have broken the law.