al-Marri sentenced on conspiracy charges

[JURIST] Suspected al Qaeda sleeper agent Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was sentenced Thursday to eight-and-a-half years in prison for conspiracy to help the terrorist organization, including researching potential targets within the US for chemical weapon attacks. The sentence was less than the 15 years sought by federal prosecutors. In handing down the lesser sentence, District [...]

HRW: Xinjian trials deny justice

The trials of 21 defendants accused of participating in the violent July 2009 protests in Urumqi did not meet minimum international standards of due process and fair trials, Human Rights Watch said.

Charkaoui declared a free man

A security certificate against a Montreal man accused by Ottawa of having terrorist ties has officially been declared null and void.
Adil Charkaoui, a married father of three who has steadfastly denied any links to terrorists, said Wednesday he’s elated with the judgment.
Federal Court Justice Daniele Tremblay-Lamer wrote that the certificate has been quashed and that [...]

R (Al-Sweady and others) v Secretary of State for Defence (No 2)

In any judicial review proceedings relating to a case which involved crucial, “hard-edged” questions of fact in light of which it was necessary for the court to allow cross-examination of makers of witness statements on those “hard-edged” questions of fact, it was vital for full disclosure to occur to enable effective and proper cross-examination to [...]

Intelligence community legal reference book

The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence has declassified its Intelligence Community Legal Reference Book from which the US intelligence community ‘draws much of its authority and guidance’. Download the 949 pages here.

Council of Europe Draft Resolution of the Council on a roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected and accused persons in criminal proceedings

Read it here.

Ramzi bin al-Shibh trial developments: military commissions are unconstitutional

After a US military judge ruled that lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainee and accused 9/11 co-conspirator Ramzi bin al-Shibh will not be allowed to tour secret CIA prisons where al-Shibh was detained, his lawyers plead to stop all proceedings in his impending military commission trial. In a new brief they argued that Congress had no [...]

U.S. to expand review of Bagram detainees

The Obama administration soon plans to issue new guidelines aimed at giving 600 detainees at Bagram more ability to challenge their custody. The new Pentagon guidelines would assign a United States military official, not a lawyer, who could for the first time gather witnesses and evidence, including classified material, on behalf of the detainees to [...]

Australia plans overhaul of telecommunications interception rules

The Australian government is planning a radical overhaul of telecommunications interception rules, which has some concerned it may be used to force internet service providers (ISP) to inspect customers’ online activities. The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2009 — Network Protection contains legislation designed to extend interception powers from certain government agencies to any [...]

Federal judge limits use of hearsay evidence in Guantanamo cases

Judge Reggie Walton of the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling Wednesday that severely curtails the federal government’s ability to use hearsay evidence in trials against Guantanamo Bay detainees. The judge refused to follow the government’s plea that all of its hearsay evidence about an individual detainee should have a [...]