Five prominent members of the Hindu Rights Action Force who are being detained in Malaysia "have been deprived of their personal liberty in defiance of the law," a defense lawyer argued at a Wednesday Federal Court hearing. The five activists are accused of being involved in orchestrating a November 2007 street demonstration in Kuala Lumpur [...]

The US House Energy and Commerce Committee Wednesday voted 38-12 to approve the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act , a bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory power over tobacco products. Supporters say the bill will help to better inform the public of the risks of smoking and make [...]

US Attorney General Michael Mukasey told Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in a letter Monday that the State Secrets Protection Act currently before Congress, introduced by committee leaders to enact a "safe, fair, and responsible" state secrets privilege , would needlessly and improperly interfere with the appropriate constitutional role of both the Judicial [...]

Jury selection began Wednesday for the UK trial of eight men accused of plotting to blow up US-bound jetliners over the Atlantic. In August 2006, prosecutors charged the eight with conspiracy to commit murder and endangering aircraft bound for the United States and Canada. The trial, which will begin Thursday , is expected to last [...]

An Egyptian prosecutor Wednesday appealed the six-month prison sentence handed down last week against a former editor of the weekly al-Dustour newspaper, insisting it was too lenient. Ibrahim Eissa was convicted on charges of spreading "rumors" about the health of Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak in an August 2007 newspaper report. Eissa originally faced a maximum [...]

Re; Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States, Memorandum for William Haynes II, US Department of Justice, March 14, 2003 . Read the full text of the memo . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

One of two alleged leaders of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) Wednesday denied involvement in a series of 2002 Bali night club bombings and other attacks allegedly committed by JI. At trial, Abu Dujana blamed the media for spreading rumors that he was connected with the terror attacks. He and fellow alleged [...]

The US Department of Defense (DOD) plans to file unspecified terrorism-related charges against one of two UK residents still remaining at Guantanamo Bay, US and British officials told the New York Times Wednesday. UK officials have reportedly objected to plans to try Ethiopian detainee Binyam Mohamed before a US military commission . Mohamed has previously [...]

Seventeen states Wednesday filed a petition in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit seeking to compel the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to comply with last year's Supreme Court ruling that the EPA has the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate the emission of "greenhouse gases" by automobiles. The plaintiffs [...]

Human rights groups Tuesday filed an appeal of a March Federal Court of Canada ruling that the protections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms do not extend to Afghan detainees captured by Canadian soldiers. Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association argued unsuccessfully that the Charter and international law obligate [...]