The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday reversed two bribery charges against former Alabama governor Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy and remanded the case for re-sentencing. The court upheld counts for federal funds bribery, depriving others of honest services, Scrushy’s bribery of Siegelman and obstruction of justice. However, [...]

The government of Bahrain should suspend prosecution of civilians in military courts and set up an impartial commission to investigate torture allegations , Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tuesday. A Bahraini military court was set to try 14 prominent government opposition activists Thursday, along with several more activists who are in hiding or exile and [...]

The Supreme Court of India on Monday expressed its support for death penalties for “honor killing” convictions in a ruling upholding the life sentence for a man convicted of an honor killing. The court affirmed Bhagwan Dass’s conviction on the charges of killing his daughter who had walked out of her marriage and began an [...]

A UN rights official expressed concern Tuesday regarding humanitarian aid access to Syrian cities where armed forces have been trying to put down anti-government protests. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos issued a statement after the proposed relief mission to Deraa, the city where protests have been most extensive, failed [...]

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday dismissed a government petition to impose harsher sentences on those convicted for their role in the 1984 Bhopal chemical spill disaster . Seven former employees of US chemical producer Union Carbide were convicted in June on charges of “death by negligence” and sentenced to two years in prison [...]

A federal jury on Wednesday convicted Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam on all 14 counts of insider trading. The jury in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York found that Rajaratnam orchestrated the largest hedge fund insider trading case in US history, finding him guilty of five counts of [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Utah on Tuesday blocked the state’s controversial immigration law , less than 24 hours after it took effect. Judge Clark Waddoups issued a temporary restraining order at the request of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and other [...]

A Georgia state court judge on Monday reversed his earlier decision blocking a Muslim man from entering his courtroom on three separate occasions on account of the man’s religious headwear. Troy “Tariq” Montgomery wears a tight-fitting cap called a kufi—a traditional Muslim symbol of humility. Henry County State Court Judge James Chafin originally requested Montgomery [...]

The appeals court in Niger’s capital Niamey ordered the release of former president Mamadou Tandja Tuesday after dropping all charges against the ousted leader. Tandja has been in custody for 14 months following a military coup in February 2010. The military junta charged Tandja with corruption following his removal, based on a junta investigation that [...]

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of the health care reform law in two cases challenging the law. Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius was filed by the state’s attorney general Kenneth Cuccinelli in March 2010 and challenges the law on [...]