US District Judge Stefan Underhill of the District of Connecticut has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of certain portions of Connecticut's campaign finance law could proceed. Connecticut's Green Party, Libertarian Party, and American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in July 2006, arguing that the law made it impossible for minor party candidates [...]

Theary Seng : "A criminal proceeding in any environment – be it in a developed state or here in developing Cambodia – is a serious matter because an individual's liberty and rights are at stake. Before any rights or freedom of a person is to be limited by the State (e.g. imprisonment), extreme due care [...]

The Tibetan government-in-exile said Monday that 130 people have been confirmed dead after skirmishes between pro-Tibet protesters and Chinese authorities, 31 more than an earlier estimate of 99. China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported the official death toll at 22 on Saturday. China has continued its crackdown against pro-independence demonstrators; on Saturday, it urged people [...]

Newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said Monday that he will ask President Pervez Musharraf to immediately lift house arrest orders against former Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and other judges. Gilani, addressing the parliament shortly after his election, added that he will also support a parliamentary resolution requesting a UN investigation [...]

Turkish authorities Monday charged Turkish Workers' Party leader Dogu Perincek for his alleged involvement with a secular extremist group suspected of plotting to overthrow the ruling government headed by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) . Percincek, a staunch Turkish nationalist who was convicted last March by a Swiss court for denying that the mass [...]

A Chinese court sentenced land rights activist Yang Chunlin to five years in prison Monday on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" for circulating a petition declaring "we want human rights, not the Olympics," which was signed by over 10,000 people before Yang was arrested in July 2007. The Beijing Olympics are scheduled to [...]

Three Indonesian Islamic militants sentenced to death for their roles in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings withdrew their second appeal Monday, after the Cilacap district court refused to grant a change of venue and transport the militants to a district court in Bali. The Indonesian Attorney General's Office said that the militants, Mukhlas, Amrozi, and [...]

A Pakistani court has cleared Asif Ali Zardari of charges related to his alleged involvement in the 1996 assassination of a retired judge and his son due to lack of evidence, a government prosecutor said Monday. Zardari, the new leader of the Pakistan People's Party and widower of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto , [...]

The National Parliament of East Timor voted Sunday in favor of a further extension of the national state of emergency imposed after assassination attempts against President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao . Horta was critically wounded and rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed during the attacks, but Gusmao escaped unharmed. Acting President [...]

Former US Army Pfc. Steven D. Green should be prosecuted in civilian court under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act , and not under the military system of justice as urged by the defense, federal prosecutors argued in a motion filed late Friday night. Green faces capital charges for his role in the rape and murder [...]