US federal authorities are prosecuting significantly more illegal immigrants than in past years, at least partly because of a 2005 zero-tolerance initiative allowing agents to charge almost all illegal immigrants with minor crimes, according to a report released May 22 by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse . Monthly immigration prosecutions based on February 2008 [...]

The US Supreme Court handed down three decisions Monday, including United States v. Santos , where the Court held 7-2 that the term "proceeds" in a federal money laundering statute means "profits" and not "receipts." Santos had successfully collaterally attacked his conviction under the statute because the government did not prove that he used profits [...]

The US has held terror detainees on roving prison ships in an effort to hide them from media scrutiny and legal watchdogs, UK prison rights group Reprieve alleged Monday. According to Reprieve, it is suspected that the USS Bataan, the USS Peleliu and at least 15 other ships have housed detainees, though it is not [...]

An Iranian court has sentenced a man to one year in prison after police arrested him last year for collecting signatures in a Tehran park in support of women's rights, his lawyer said Sunday. Amir Yaghoub-Ali , a twenty-two year-old student, was found guilty on May 25 of endangering national security and spreading propaganda. Yaghoub-Ali's [...]

Swiss voters Sunday rejected by roughly 64-36 percent a referendum initiative that would have allowed municipalities control over granting Swiss passports without the possibility of appeal for applicants. The Swiss Supreme Court found in 2003 that a similar policy was unconstitutional for being discriminatory, but the nationalistic Swiss People's Party had urged the referendum to [...]

Hakan Gecim : "The organization I am working for, Kaos GL, based in Ankara, Turkey, faced a demand for closure from Ankara's deputy governor, Selahattin Ekmenoglu, in 2005. The closure petition was dismissed by prosecutors. Homosexuality has never been a crime in Turkey, and some clubs, cinemas and LGBTT organizations in big cities openly cater [...]

Bangladesh police have arrested dozens of politicians since Friday in a renewed anti-corruption drive. The drive comes amid an even wider crackdown in which authorities have arrested more than 1,600 political activists and suspected criminals. On Sunday, a judge issued arrest warrants for electricity supply leaders on charges of corruption, extending the drive through the [...]

The Election Commission of Pakistan Sunday cleared former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother to run in the June 26 by-elections. Sharif was barred from running in the February 18 national parliamentary elections because of criminal convictions arising out of circumstances surrounding the 1999 coup against him led by then-General and now-Pakistan [...]

Former attorney general for England and Wales Lord Peter Goldsmith said Sunday in a Telegraph op-ed that extending the time for which terror suspects can be detained by British police without charge from 28 to 42 days would be an abandonment of the Britain's fundamental principles . Prime Minister Gordon Brown has continued his support [...]

US military prosecutors Saturday charged the last British resident detained at Guantanamo Bay with conspiring to commit terrorism, according to British prisoners rights group Reprieve . Binyam Mohamed , an Ethiopian who sought refuge in Britain, has denied the charge. Mohamed was originally arrested in Pakistan and turned over to US officials; he claims that [...]