Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia was sentenced Thursday to 3.5 years in prison on charges of inciting subversion of state power . Hu's trial began last month; he was formally charged in February after he made public letters and recordings from Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng alleging that Gao was tortured into confessing to subversion [...]

Liberia struggles with corruption in its criminal justice system, poor detention conditions and sexual and gender-based violence, including rape and forced marriage, according to a UN Mission in Liberia combined quarterly report covering May-October 2007 that was released Wednesday. The report recommended that Liberia, a country still recovering from its civil war, institute legal prohibitions [...]

The Egyptian state prosecutor ordered an investigation Wednesday into accusations that 147 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood caused riots during unauthorized protests on Tuesday against the government for not allowing them to participate in municipal elections set for April 8. Egyptian security forces Tuesday arrested five members of the Brotherhood as they were posting [...]

The US Justice Department advised the Bush administration in October 2001 that the protection against unreasonable searches and seizures enshrined in the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution did not apply to "domestic military operations" conducted in pursuit of terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11 attacks . The October 23, 2001 memo, authored by former [...]

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.