Facing a trial at The Hague that could send him to prison for life, former Serbian intelligence chief Jovica Stanisic has called in a favor from his CIA allies. In an exceedingly rare move, the CIA has submitted a classified document to the court that lists Stanisic's collaboration with the US spy agency's intelligence activities in the ex-Yugoslavia. Stanisic's former CIA handler William Lofgren, now retired, said the agency drafted the document to show "that this allegedly evil person did a whole lot of good." Lofgren doesn't claim to disprove the charges against Stanisic. "But setting the indictment aside, there are things this man did that helped bring hostilities to an end and establish peace in Bosnia."

Leon Panetta, in his first press interview as CIA director, told reporters at Langley Feb. 25 that President Barack Obama will continue the global war on terrorism. "We are going to continue to pursue, we are going to continue to bring pressure, we are going to continue a very aggressive effort to go after terrorists, to go after [Osama] bin Laden, until we bring them to justice," Panetta said. "That is a fundamental mission that we are committed to here." (Reuters, Feb. 25)

The CIA has destroyed 92 tapes of interrogations of "terror" suspects, far more than previously acknowledged, government lawyers said March 2 in a letter filed as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "The large number of videotapes destroyed confirms that the agency engaged in a systematic attempt to hide evidence of its illegal interrogations," said the ACLU's Amrit Singh.

Chairman of the US Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy (D-VT) called for the creation of a truth commission to investigate the national security policies of the George W. Bush administration at a hearing March 4. Leahy said a nonpartisan inquiry "could focus on the issues of national security and executive power in the government's counter-terrorism efforts, including the issues of cruel interrogation, extraordinary rendition, and executive override of laws.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) March 4 issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, charging him with seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but declining to charge him with genocide. The warrant had been sought by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who in July filed preliminary charges against al-Bashir alleging genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed in the Darfur region in violation of Articles 6, 7, and 8 of the Rome Statute. This is the first time the ICC has issued an arrest warrant against a sitting head of state.

A court under the European Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) reached its first verdict March 3, sentencing Kosovar Albanian Gani Gashi to 17 years in jail for murder, attempted murder, and grievous bodily harm. A three-judge panel, composed of two EULEX judges and a judge from Kosova, found Gashi guilty of crimes committed during the Kosova-Serbian conflict in 1998-1999. The EULEX court is charged with aiding the restoration of the rule of law in Kosova. EULEX prosecutor Theo Jacobssaid: "This trial shows that EULEX is serious about investigating and prosecuting war crimes cases whenever they took place, as long as we have enough evidence for a successful prosecution to proceed."

Former Bosnian Serb leader and war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic refused to enter pleas March 3 to 11 amended charges including genocide and crimes against humanity in a hearing before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Last month, the ICTY granted in part the prosecution's motion to amend the indictment against Karadzic. When asked by Judge Iain Bonhomy whether he pleaded guilty or not guilty on the first charge of genocide, Karadzic responded that he would not enter pleas because he believes the court has no right to try him. Bonhomy then entered on Karadzic's behalf not guilty pleas for all 11 charges.

Arguments began March 3 in the new trial of former Russian oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a Moscow courtroom. Khodorkovsky and his former business partner Platon Lebedev are facing new charges of embezzling and laundering nearly $20 billion during their tenures at the Russian energy firm OAO Yukos Oil Co. During the proceedings, the Moscow court rejected a request by Khodorkovsky's lawyers to remove two Russian state prosecutors who were involved in his 2005 trial for fraud and tax evasion. The court also rejected a defense request to move Khodorkovsky from the glass and steel enclosure where defendants are normally kept, which many Russian lawyers believe violates international law. Khodorkovsky's lawyers have said that they believe his trial will last for more than six months.