The Nebraska Supreme Court Wednesday rejected a motion for rehearing filed by state Attorney General Jon Bruning asking the court to reconsider its February ruling that execution by electric chair is "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore prohibited by the Nebraska constitution . Bruning said he would appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court [...]

A four-member Iraqi judiciary committee has dismissed terrorism-related charges against Associated Press (AP) photographer Bilal Hussein and ordered his release. Hussein has been held by the US military since his arrest in April 2006 for allegedly possessing equipment to construct roadside bombs. The panel's ruling comes under a new amnesty law passed by the Iraqi [...]

A judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled Wednesday that an Afghan tribal chief charged with conspiring to violate US narcotics laws must face trial even though US officials lured him into the United States. Drug Enforcement Administration officials arrested Bashir Noorzai in April 2005 after agents told [...]

The Court of Appeal in London Wednesday blocked two separate orders to extradite two terror suspects to Libya and another convicted terrorist to Jordan, citing concerns that they would face torture and be denied a fair trial on arrival. The ruling overturned a February 2007 decision by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission to deport Islamic [...]

A Saudi Arabian Guantanamo Bay detainee said during a pre-trial hearing Wednesday that he plans to boycott his upcoming military commission trial and does not wish to attend or have legal representation. Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi described the proceedings as a "sham" and argued that the US military commissions system constitutes a "crime against [...]

Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia Abdul Hamid Mohamad indicated his support Wednesday for the creation of an independent body to govern the appointment and promotion of judges, reportedly telling a group of judges that it would help "regain the confidence of the public in the judiciary." In March, newly appointed Malaysian Law [...]

Police in China have detained 953 people, of which 403 have been formally arrested, in connection with protests against Chinese rule in Tibet last month, Chairman of the Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region Qiangba Puncog said Wednesday. Last Friday, a top Tibetan official was quoted as saying that Tibetan courts would prosecute more than [...]

Myanmar's 45-member Referendum Holding Commission has scheduled a planned national constitutional referendum for May 10, the military government announced Wednesday. Opposition groups like the National League for Democracy (NLD) have urged citizens to reject the proposed constitution put forth by the military government, labeling the referendum a "sham" to legalize military rule. AP reported last [...]

The US Department of Defense has assigned Navy Captain Prescott Prince to defend confessed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed before a US military commission, the Miami Herald reported Tuesday. In February, the US government said it would seek the death penalty for Mohammed and five other Guantanamo detainees accused of involvement in the Sept. [...]

A 2003 US Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel memorandum demonstrates that the detention of Illinois resident and Qatari native Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri "lacks legal basis" as the detention was based on now-discredited legal opinions, a lawyer for al-Marri argued in a letter submitted to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth [...]