International brief ~ Nepal army kills protester during municipal elections News
International brief ~ Nepal army kills protester during municipal elections

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's international brief, soldiers of the Royal Nepalese Army [official website] fired indiscriminately into a crowd of protesters who were urging citizens to boycott the municipal elections held throughout Nepal, the first elections in seven years. The weapons-fire killed one man and injured another, causing the crowd to scatter as more troops were brought out. The shooting is just one of many incidents of violence as police and soldiers broke up dozens of protests across the country and arrested several hundred individuals [eKantipur report]. The seven major opposition parties and the Maoist party have called a week-long strike of the government and the elections as an attempt to force the monarchy into reinstating the democratic government of Nepal. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. AP has more. eKantipur.com has local coverage.

In other international legal news …

  • Khaled Batch, leader of one of the factions within the radical Islamic Jihad (IJ) [MIPT backgrounder], has rejected calls by Hamas leaders to agree to a long-term truce with Israel. Hamas had urged IJ to join its unofficial truce during the past year, but IJ refused and carried out six suicide bombing attacks against Israel. IJ also renewed its refusal to participate in the Palestinian government, despite Hamas' recent electoral victory [JURIST report], and reiterated that it would continue to use violence until the destruction of Israel as a nation was achieved. IJ is believed to receive a large portion of its funding from Iran. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of the Palestinian Authority [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.
  • Former Romanian Prime Minister and current President of the Chamber of Deputies Adrian Nastase [official profile] has been charged with corruption relating to actions during his tenure as prime minister from 2000-2004. Nastase, who has said that the charges are politically motivated, has been involved in allegations of corruption before and had to step aside for a month as a member of parliament until he was cleared of wrongdoing. The specifics of the charges have not yet been released. Romania [government website] has been under increasing pressure from the European Union [official website] to crack down on corruption in preparation for its planned accession to the EU next year. BBC News has more.