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 Legal news from Friday, March 21, 2008 |
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Friday, March 21, 2008 |
Bulgaria parliament approves EU reform treaty
Steve Czajkowski at 4:15 PM ET
[JURIST] The National Assembly of Bulgaria [official website] Friday voted 195-15 to approve the new EU reform treaty [JURIST news archive], properly known as the Treaty of Lisbon [official website; PDF text]. Ten members of the nationalist Ataka party [party website] and five independent MPs voted against ratification, calling instead for a nationwide referendum. Bulgaria is the sixth EU member to ratify the treaty, after Romania, Malta, France, Hungary, and Slovenia [JURIST reports].
Leaders from the 27 countries that make up the European Union signed the reform treaty [JURIST report] in December, but all member countries must ratify the document before it can take effect. AP has more. The Sofia Echo has local coverage.
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Dutch court to hear challenge against film criticizing Islam
Steve Czajkowski at 3:02 PM ET
[JURIST] A district court in the Netherlands agreed Friday to hear a lawsuit filed by the Dutch Islamic Federation seeking to ban the release of a film that criticizes the Quran. Dutch right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders [personal website, in Dutch] plans to release a 15-minute movie titled "Fitna," said to depict Islam in a highly negative light. Dutch officials fear that the movie could lead to protests similar to those that took place after a Danish newspaper published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad [JURIST news archive]. The complaint is set to be heard March 28.
It is unclear how the movie will be aired as no television stations have agreed to carry it due to high security costs. Wilders reserved a website for the film, but YouTube [corporate website] and other video-sharing websites have not yet said whether they will carry the movie as Wilders has not released the contents. Last month, Pakistan blocked access to YouTube's website [JURIST report] because it had posted a movie trailer [video] for Wilders' film. AP has more.
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Armenia lifts state of emergency imposed after disputed election
Eric Firkel at 3:01 PM ET
[JURIST] Protests resumed in the Armenian capital city of Yerevan after the government Friday lifted a 20-day state of emergency [JURIST report] imposed earlier this month in the wake of the country's contested presidential election. Armenian President Robert Kocharian [official website] declared the state of emergency after protesters demonstrated against the result of the February 19 presidential election in which Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan [official profile], a Kocharian ally, was declared the winner [BBC report]. Supporters of opposition candidate and former president, Levon Ter-Petrosian [official website], alleged fraud, and held daily rallies [IHT report] to force a new vote.
Earlier this month, the Constitutional Court of Armenia rejected a challenge [JURIST report] brought by Ter-Petrosian against the election results, ruling that although polling discrepancies existed they did not affect the election's outcome. The National Assembly of Armenia [official website] Monday voted in an emergency session to place restrictions on rallies and demonstrations [JURIST report]. Last week, Kocharian issued a decree lifting some media restrictions [JURIST report] put in place during the state of emergency. Many media restrictions remain in place, however, and the government is accused of censoring material deemed to be critical of its policies [RFE/RL report]. AP has more.
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Russia prosecutors open murder investigations after 2 journalists killed
Patrick Porter at 1:45 PM ET
[JURIST] Russian prosecutors have opened separate murder investigations after two journalists were found dead Friday. Ilyas Shurpayev [personal blog], a correspondent for Russia's state-run Channel One [media website, in Russian], was found dead with stab wounds and a belt around his neck when firefighters responded to a fire, apparently set after the attack. Hours before his death, Shurpayev reportedly made a blog post complaining that he had been banned from writing columns for a newspaper in Dagestan and saying "I am now a dissident." AP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.
Also Friday, the head of Dagestan's state TV and radio company Gadzhi Abashilov was killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car. Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika [official website, in Russian] said he would take "personal" charge of the Abashilov investigation. It was not clear whether the two cases were related. RIA Novosti has more. Reuters has additional coverage.
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Federal appeals court dismisses lawsuit over Florida Democratic primary
Patrick Porter at 12:57 PM ET
[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Friday dismissed [opinion, PDF] a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee[party website] for refusing to seat Florida's Democratic delegation at its national convention. Florida Democratic Party activist Victor DiMaio brought the lawsuit in September 2007, arguing that under Article II and the Fourteenth Amendment [texts] of the US Constitution he had a right to have his vote counted in the party's nomination of a presidential candidate. Friday's judgment affirmed a district court ruling [opinion, PDF] that DiMaio lacked standing to bring the lawsuit, because he had not yet voted in the primary and had suffered no injury. The ruling leaves open the possibility for DiMaio to bring a new case now that he has voted in the January primary.
The DNC refused to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan as a penalty for moving their primaries to dates earlier than party rules allowed, a measure the party defends as appropriate. AP has more.
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Cambodia still obtaining criminal confessions through torture: rights group
Brett Murphy at 11:04 AM ET
[JURIST] A quarter of criminal defendants in Cambodian courts are tortured or coerced into giving confessions, a statistic that has not changed since last year, according to an annual report [PDF text] released Thursday by Center for Social Development (CSD) [advocacy website]. The report found that:Although duress is prohibited in Cambodia, CSD found a significant number of cases where defendants alleged of being victim of this inhuman practice to extract confession. At the six courts monitored by CSD, including the Appeals Court and the Supreme Court, 25.3% of defendants whose cases were monitored claimed having been coerced by judicial police officers...
Judges rarely followed up on these allegations. Adequate follow-up would include conducting further inquiry into the allegation or to prosecute perpetrator. At Phnom Penh Court, for example, with only five defendants out of a total of 292 defendants alleging coercion did the trial judges request the prosecution to prove that the confession was given freely and voluntarily. Speaking at a Thursday meeting to mark the report's release, US Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph Mussomeli criticized [speech text] Cambodian courts for not meeting procedural justice standards, saying that "there remains a good deal to be done before the people of the judicial system will earn the trust of the people of Cambodia."
The judicial review annual report is part of the CSD Court Watch Project [CSD backgrounder], which monitors courts to assure compliance with Cambodian and International standards of fair trial. DPA has more.
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China tightens controls on video-sharing websites
Brett Murphy at 10:07 AM ET
[JURIST] Chinese officials have ordered the closure of 25 video-sharing websites in a recent crackdown on Internet content considered pornographic, violent, or a threat to national security, the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film and Television [official website, in Chinese] said Friday. Under rules that went into effect earlier this year, Chinese video-sharing websites must delete and report any content that falls into one of the prohibited categories. Chinese officials also plan to penalize 32 other websites that violated these rules, including the popular Chinese video-sharing website Tudou [corporate website].
On Sunday, China blocked access [JURIST report] to the video-sharing website YouTube [corporate website] after videos of a recent government crackdown [YouTube videos] on Tibetan protesters challenging Chinese rule were posted on the website. AP has more.
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