By Nicole Hunt
Though it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of which Silvio Berlusconi trial is currently in court, Monday sees the resumption of the most infamous of his four cases, in which he faces charges for abuse of power and paying for underage sex. The Italian Senate has approved a motion to move the case from Milan’s court to a special minister’s court, but the case remains in Milan while the Constitutional Court mulls the Senate’s request.
The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly opens, with more attention than usual being paid this time around. On Tuesday, the Assembly debates a motion that would recommend taking action against pre-natal sex selection in Europe, particularly in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, where the ratio of girls to boys in the population is dropping. On Thursday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the assembly.
Following a meeting of Eurogroup Finance Ministers on Monday, all EU Finance Ministers convene in Luxembourg on Tuesday, with the focus, as with many things this week, squarely on Greece. Discussions are also expected on an EU financial transaction tax, after the European Commission published proposals last week.
In direct response to the austerity measures being so closely watched by the European Finance Ministers, Greek public sector workers hold a 24-hour strike on Wednesday, calling the cuts ‘barbaric’. A general strike is also planned for 19 October.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the weekly meeting of the European College of Commissioners. At NATO headquarters, NATO Defence Ministers hold a regular meeting to discuss operational issues, with Libya topping the agenda.
Former Bosnian-Serb Army Commander Ratko Mladic is back in court in The Hague on Thursday. Since his last appearance on 25 August, Mladic’s lawyers have requested the names of all 7,000 victims of the Srebrenica massacre as part of their opposition to the indictment.
In Johannesburg, the African National Congress’ disciplinary committee resumes hearing the charges against controversial youth leader Julius Malema, who is accused of interrupting an ANC Officials meeting alongside three other men. Malema faces separate charges of bringing the ANC into disrepute and sowing divisions within ANC ranks, which will be heard separately once this case has concluded. It’s currently scheduled to last two days, but has already been delayed several times.
Friday is, oddly, both the 10 year anniversary of the beginning of the War in Afghanistan and also the date for the announcement of the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Anti-war activists hold mass demonstrations in London and Washington on Saturday, while the Peace Prize will be presented to the winner on 10 December.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu celebrates his 80th birthday and a year since he stepped down from public duties. Three days of celebrations are being held in Cape Town, and a new biography is being released to mark the day.
Spanish ‘indignant’ activists who have marched 1500km from Madrid are scheduled to arrive in Brussels on Saturday to hold a demonstration against unrepresentative politics. The protesters, who are joined by counterparts from across Europe, plan to hold a week of events, culminating in a large rally on 15 October.
Two elections take place on Sunday: voters in Poland elect 460 members to their lower house and 100 members to their upper house of parliament, while in Cameroon voters elect their president for the next seven years. Incumbent Paul Biya is only the second president since independence in 1960, and has held the post since 1982.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is in Zimbabwe on Sunday, making him the first high-profile UK official to visit the country since 2001. The visit is part of a three-country pastoral tour which also includes Malawi and Zambia. Williams is expected to meet with President Robert Mugabe, and is scheduled to hold a special service for members of the Anglican Church who have not joined a splinter movement set up by the former Bishop of Harare.
]]>By Nicole Hunt
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero is scheduled to request the dissolution of Parliament on Monday to make way for early elections on 20 November. Spain was not due to hold elections until March next year, but Zapatero has come under heavy criticism amid debt and budget problems, with persistent rumours that Spain will be the next country to ask for an EU bailout.
In St John’s, Antigua, Kaniel Martin and Avie Howell are set to be sentenced after being found guiltyon 27 July of the murders of Welsh honeymooners Ben and Catherine Mullany exactly two years earlier.
Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s abuse of power trial resumes on Tuesday after a 15-day hiatus. Tymoshenko is accused of misspending some $280m while she was Prime Minister in 2009, charges which her supporters say are politically motivated.
Embattled Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel as his country faces increasing pressure from the IMF, the European Central Bank, domestic trade unions and other European leaders. Papandreou’s government has to come to an agreement with its lending troika to secure the next €8bn tranche of its loan before 10 October, when it’s estimated the country will run out of money to pay its bills.
In Conakry on Wednesday, Guineans mark the two-year anniversary of the 28 September, 2009 stadium massacre in which at least 157 people were killed when security forces opened fire on tens of thousands of people demonstrating against the junta government. The anniversary is the first since President Alpha Condé was elected in November last year, taking power from the leaders of the 2008 coup d’état.
In Manama, 21 Bahraini activists and members of the opposition who were convicted in June of plotting to overthrow the government and collaborating with a terrorist organisation are scheduled to find out whether their appeal against life sentences has been successful.
The verdict is the first of two high-profile decisions the court is expected to make this week; on Thursday, 47 medical staff accused of attempting to topple the monarchy and inciting hatred against the regime learn whether they have been found guilty.
Saudi Arabia holds its second-ever municipal elections on Thursday, which were delayed from 22 September. The polls were finally scheduled earlier this year as an olive branch from the government as fears mounted that the Arab Spring could spread to the country.
Following a Constitutional Court decision earlier this month ruling that Germany’s commitment to the EU bailout fund is legal, the German Parliament votes on a bill approving new powers for the European Financial Stability Facility which will increase its lending capacity and authorise it to buy government bonds.
On Friday, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania delivers the long-awaited judgement in its ‘Government II’ trial, in which four former cabinet ministers are accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The trial began in September 2003, and the defendants were acquitted of several charges in October 2005.
It’s a relatively quiet weekend: China celebrates Chinese National Day on Saturday, and the seven Italian scientists charged with manslaughter for failing to warn L’Aquila residents about the April 2009 earthquake return to court.
The next session of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change talks open in Panama City on Sunday.
Closer to home, the Conservative Party autumn conference opens in Manchester, with unions and anti-cuts activists planning a march to protest government policies.
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By Nicole Hunt
Anders Behring Breivik, the man who admitted to setting off the 22 July bomb in Oslo, killing eight people, before killing 69 people on the island of Utoya, makes his first public appearance at Oslo City Court on Monday. On 12 September, the court rejected a police request for another closed door hearing, meaning media and victims’ families will be able to attend.
In Geneva, the UN Global Fund releases the findings of a four-month independent review into its financial safeguards, following accusations of mismanagement of funds in recipient countries.
Monday is also the six month anniversary of the beginning of military action in Libya. Forces from the US, the UK, France, Canada, UAE and Qatar began enforcing the no-fly zone authorised by UN Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973 on 19 March.
The trial of seven Italian scientists charged with manslaughter for failing to predict the April 2009 earthquake that killed over 300 people kicks off in L’Aquila on Tuesday. The scientists, who made up the city’s Great Risks Commission, are accused of failing to warn people of the potential risk of an earthquake and convincing people not to leave town a week before the earthquake struck.
In a Paris court, former News of the World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and representatives for News Group Newspapers appear charged with breaching France’s privacy and defamation laws in relation to a 2008 story about former FIA president Max Mosley. Mosley was awarded £60,000 in damages by the UK High Court in 2008, but the European Court of Human Rights rejected an application by Mosley in May that would have required media to inform a person before publishing a story containing their private information.
Amid concerns of potential post-election violence, Zambians go to the polls to elect their president and members of the National Assembly. Levy Mwanawasa won the 2006 election, but died in August 2008 and was replaced by Rupiah Banda, who is seeking his first full term.
The UN General Assembly general debate opens in New York on Wednesday, with all eyes on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who, barring last-minute diplomatic developments, is expected to seek a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.
On Thursday, a verdict is expected in the first case brought in under France’s ‘burka ban’ laws. Two women in the town of Meaux were arrested for wearing the niqab veil in May, with one of them banned from attending the last hearing because her face was still covered.
At the UN General Assembly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe are both scheduled to speak. Ahmadinejad’s past speeches have prompted walkouts from some delegations, while Mugabe’s have typically been anti-western. British Prime Minister David Cameron, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ivorian President Alassane Ouatarra are also on the bill.
The week draws to a close with some high-profile court hearings and elections. Closing arguments are set to begin in Amanda Knox’s murder appeal in Perugia on Friday, while Egyptian courts are busy with the testimony of ruling military council member Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi at former President Hosni Mubarak’s trial on Saturday in Cairo, as well as the verdict in the Khaled Said murder trial in Alexandria. Two policemen are on trial for Said’s June 2010 death, which prompted widespread protests in Egypt at a time when police were rarely prosecuted.
In Bahrain, by-elections are held to replace 11 opposition lawmakers who resigned in March over government crackdowns on anti-regime protesters.
French Senate elections take place on Sunday, with half of the 346 seats up for grabs. Party performances will be closely watched ahead of next year’s presidential elections.
In Freiburg, Pope Benedict XVI wraps up a four-day visit to Germany to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his ordination as a priest
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Bakhtiyar Muhtarov of Andijan – Justice and Rebirth is one of them. He has interviewed 220 witnesses of the massacre and the subsequent arrests, torture and extrajudicial executions. Nadejda Atayeva, Association of Human Rights in Central Asia, has collected evidence from Andijan morgue employees. Shamsuddin Atamatov is one of the 23 businessmen whose trial led to the protests, and was a witness to the massacre. Monica Whitlock recently produced a documentary film chronicling the tragedy. She gained interviews with eyewitnesses.
With Bahtiyar Muhtarov, deputy director, Andijan – Justice and Rebirth
Shamsuddin Atamatov, former businessman in Andijan
Nadejda Atayeva, president, Association for Human Rights in Central Asia
Monica Whitlock, producer, Through the Looking Glass: The Andijan Massacre, and former BBC correspondent in Central Asia.
For further information please contact Luis Montero at Luis.Montero@osf-eu.org, telephone 07798737516
Please RVSP to Daniela White, Daniela.White@osf-eu.org
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