JURIST - World Legal News

[JURIST] Police in Papua New Guinea on Thursday stormed the country's supreme court and arrested the chief justice on charges of sedition. Chief Justice Salamo Injia was arrested after the court ruled for the second time that former prime minister Michael Somare should be reinstated. There has been a struggle for power since last August when Prime Minister Peter O’Neill took office after Somare was ruled ineligible because of an extended absence due to illness. The Supreme Court ruled in...... [full story]

[JURIST] A Tunisian military prosecutor called Wednesday for the death penalty in the trial of former Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Currently exiled to Saudi Arabia, Ben Ali is being tried in absentia in a military court for ordering the shooting deaths of dozens of civilian protesters [CNN report] during last year's Tunisian revolution. It is the first time the death penalty has been sought against the former dictator, who is being tried only...... [full story]

[JURIST] The European General Court [official website], the EU's second highest court on Thursday rejected [judgment] a challenge by MasterCard [corporate website] over its cross-border credit card fees. The court upheld a decision by the European Commission [official website] that the fees violate EU antitrust rules. The commission welcomed the ruling, but MasterCard expressed disappointment [press releases]:MasterCard balances the interests of both consumers and retailers, so that each party pays its fair share of the costs for the benefits it...... [full story]

[JURIST] Both the Syrian government and anti-government groups are killing opponents, torturing children as young as 10 years old and committing other human rights abuses, a UN-appointed group of human rights experts reported [text, PDF] Thursday. The report, issued by the three-member Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, declared that Syrian security forces are predominantly responsible for the violence:Despite the human rights imperative to employ lethal force only as a last resort to protect life, state security forces continued...... [full story]

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] ruled Wednesday that the legal definition of maritime piracy [JURIST news archive] includes an armed attack to hijack a ship, even if the attempt is unsuccessful. In one case, the court upheld [opinion, PDF] the convictions and life sentences [JURIST reports] of five Somali pirates who attacked the USS Nicholas [official website] in April 2010. The appeals court rejected their contention that the definition of piracy as defined...... [full story]

[JURIST] The Tunisian government announced Tuesday that the country would extradite former Libyan prime minister Al Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi [JURIST news archive], after Libya guaranteed that al-Mahmoudi would have a fair trial. The conditions [Tripoli Post report] that Tunisia set for al-Mahmoudi's extradition to Libya is the guarantee that al-Mahmoudi have the right to a defense and that his human rights are respected. Al-Mahmoudi was the head of government under the regime of Muammar Gaddafi [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive],...... [full story]

[JURIST] Bahrain informed the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] on Wednesday that it would seek to address its controversial human rights record. Bahrain stated that it would consider several measures [AP report], including ceasing to torture prisoners, releasing political prisoners and joining the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. In total, Bahrain stated that it would consider 176 recommendations submitted by other countries. Bahrain agreed to consider the recommendations as part of its periodic review [materials] as a...... [full story]

[JURIST] Ten Somali pirates were sentenced to 25 years in prison on Tuesday in the Abu Dhabi Federal Criminal Court of First Instance. The men were convicted of highjacking the MV Arrilah-1, a UAE-owned ship hauling aluminum in the Arabian Sea, in April 2011. The US Fifth Fleet [official website] rescued the ship one day later. In addition to ordering that all arms and ammunition used in the highjacking be confiscated, the court ruled that the 10 pirates would be...... [full story]

[JURIST] A Pakistani doctor was sentenced to 33 years in prison Wednesday for helping the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] locate Osama Bin Laden [JURIST news archive]. After a trial lasting two months during which Shakeel Afridi was not afforded the opportunity to defend himself, a tribal court convicted him of treason and spying [CNN report]. Afridi was part of a CIA attempt to gather DNA samples from residents of Bin Laden's Abbattobad compound in an effort to determine...... [full story]

[JURIST] China's chengguan, a para-police organization charged with enforcing non-criminal administrative regulations, is abusing its power, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] reported [text, PDF; press release] Wednesday. The report indicated that although the chengguan are not authorized to arrest citizens or use excessive force, they frequently do both. In addition, HRW reported citizens have had their property illegally confiscated by the officers and journalists have been subject to violence and illegal arrest for reporting chengguan abuses. HRW called on the...... [full story]

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