2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 30, 1997 NATION/WORLD Pakistani high court upholds Bhutto s dismissal .~.* .~. ~ .*.* .*.* .~. x*. .-.. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Benazir Bhutto lost a bid to regain office when Pakistan's highest court ruled yesterday that her ousted govern- ment was corrupt. New elections will be held as planned Monday. A lawyer for the former prime minis- ter called the ruling disappointing. Bhutto said it was expected. President Farooq Leghari used his constitutional powers to dismiss Rhutto's government Nov. 5, two years before her term expired. He accused her of driving Pakistan toward economic ruin, stealing billions from the national treasury and using police in the south- ern city of karachi to qiuash a rival There political move- ment. ,B h u t t o denied the of corrup charges and accused the president of dis- Pakist missing her government in an attempt to consolidate power. But Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah told a packed courtroom there was abundant evidence to support them. In a 6-1 ruling, the judges upheld the president's actions and ordered Monday's general elections to go ahead as scheduled. "There is significant proof ofcorrup- tion,' Shah said. "There is enough evi- dence which shows the government was involved in extrajudicial killings" Bhutto's government was accused of sanctioning police hit squads that tar- geted members of the opposition politi- BAKER Continued from Page 1A tI if .s cal group Mohajir Qami Movement. The movement represents Indian Muslims who fled to Pakistan when the country was created in 1947. Hundreds of riot police surround- ed the white marble courthouse, wearing helmets and holding steel shields. About a dozen women pelted police with stones and tried to storm the gate of the courthouse when the decision was announced. Earlier, they lay down on a road and blocked traffic. e In Karachi, Bhutto told reporters she wanted to withdraw her legal challenge two days ago because she did not expect justice, but her lawyers persuaded her to await the deci- sion. Her lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan said the ruling ajjad Ali Shah "was disappoint- ii chief justice ing." A lawyer for the president, Khalid Anwat, said the judgment sent a warning to future governments "not to go beyond the law, not to take dictatorial power." Bhutto is a candidate in Monday's election and has threatened to contest the results if her Pakistan People's Party wins fewer than 90 seats in the 207-seat National Assembly or lawmaking lower house of Parliament. The Supreme Court said the only allegation made by the president that could not be substantiated was that her husband was involved in the fatal shooting of her brother last AP PHOTO A supporter of ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is aided after she fainted upon hearing a court decision upholding Bhutto's dismissal. FAA to post airline safety data on Net WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration announced yesterday it will use the Internet to disseminate voluminous airline safe- ty data that previously had been deemed confidential agency informa- tion. But the FAA will not rank the air- lines' safety records in the same way it already ranks airlines' on-time and lost- luggage performance. Officials said that even an informed reading of the agency data will not offer much help to travelers seeking to determine which airlines are least like- ly to have crashes. The reason is that serious accidents are so infrequent, safety experts said. Airline officials heavily lobbied the FAA and Congress to limit the speci- ficity of the data the agency pumps out. Ultimately, federal aviation safe- ty officials agreed with the airlines and even some consumer groups that certain FAA data was prone to misin- terpretation and should not be released. Judge OKs broadcast of McVeigh trial DENVER - The judge in the Oklahoma City bombing case gave the go-ahead yesterday for broadcasting the trial of Timothy McVeigh on closed-circuit television in the city devastated by the blast - a move seen as a landmark victory for the grow- ing victims' rights movement in the United States. The decision by Richard Matsch represents the first time that use of television ha been approved for a federal criminal case. But Matsch, chief judge of the U.S. Distr Court in Denver, imposed several restrictions on the broadcast, including a ban on attendance by reporters. Instead, the judge ruled that only those injured in the blast, their families and rel- atives of those who died in it would be permitted inside the Oklahoma City auditori- um where the feed of the trial, scheduled to start March 31, will be aired. McVeigh and co-defendant Terry Nichols, who is to be tried separately at an unspecified later date, are charged with planning and carrying out the bombing on April 19, 1995, of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in which 168 people were killed and more than 800 injured. Since the cases were moved to Denver last year because of concerns that the two men could not receive fair trials in Oklahoma City, Matsch has been under sie* by thousands of those directly affected by the explosion. Congress pressured the FAA to release more information about air- lines' safety performances after the May 1996 crash of a ValuJet Airlines jet in the Florida Everglades, which killed all 110 people aboard. AOL grants refund to subscribers WASHINGTON -America Online, the country's largest computer online service, yesterday agreed to give refunds or credits to nearly all of its 8 million subscribers as compensation for weeks of problems in connecting to the overloaded service. The company offered the refund which customers must request, to sett a dispute with attorneys general of about 35 states, many of whom contended that AOL had promised unlimited time online and then failed to deliver. Under the agreement, AOL will give a credit for one month of future service to any subscriber who writes to request one, the company said. That would be worth as much as $19.95, depending on what billing plan the person uses. September. The president said that Asif Ali Zardari may have been involved in the shooting and may have interfered with the police investigation. Zardari was investment minister in his wife's government and was known to his detractors as "Mr. 40 Percent," a reference to the alleged kickbacks he demanded of potential business contacts. The court's ruling has no impact on the charges against him in connection with the shooting. Campaigning for next week's elec- tions has been low-key. The interim government has banned the use of posters and loudspeakers and has out- lawed large rallies. Nawaz Sharif, whose own govern- ment was dismissed on corruption charges in 1993, but reinstituted in a Supreme Court decision, is considered the front-runner. University of Pittsburgh, was reached last night but said he could not com- nent until he talked to his attorney. "He was very pleased and welcomed the decision; Cahill said. "Jake's happy it came to an end.' The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan submitted a friend of the court brief to both the U.S District Court and the Court of Appeals asking that the charges brought against Baker be dismissed. The Michigan Chapter of the ACLU supports the decision, but cannot say whether or not it will be upheld. "It may not all be over. They may ask for a rehearing in the Court ofAppeals or r vfrom the U.S. Supreme Court," said RIio ard Simon, executive director of the " Michigan chapter ACLU. "Ultimately, 'Zhether on the Internet or in writing, if we're going to preserve First Amendment rights, there's got to be a distinction between fantasy and threats." The court dismissed the charges because they did not meet three elements of the law: "a transmission in interstate ... commerce, a communication con- Laurie Burns, director of the University's Information and Technology Division, said Baker did not violate any ITD policies. "He basically followed every policy we had. He posted stories (in areas) set aside for those types of stories and he taining a threat, and the threat must be a threat to injure [or kidnap] warned people' Burns said. C J ake's the person of who fee another," the w Court of Appeals vind1cat ruling stated. The court ruled that Baker's Jake E case met the first clause but did not qualify under the second or third. The court stated Baker's actions met the first of the three clauses because his trans- missions were between Canada and the United States. E Ba Hhe oweyHowever, Baker's actions in "communi- cating a threat" did not qualify because he was - David Cahill not sending the aker's attorney transmissions to his classmate. Baker's actions were disqualified under the third section because he never communicated his ideas to his classmate directly. Experts on the First Amendment said the ruling is not a landmark in constitu- tional law. "I don't think [the decision] will make much of a difference, " said Joan Lowenstein, an Ann Arbor media lawyer. "The effects will be limited to the specifics of the case." Legal experts said that as new media technology evolves, so does an unchart- ed area of law. "The computer technology is going to take us into a realm of First Amendment applications that was not within the contemplation of the consti- tution," said Victoria Roberts, president of the State Bar of Michigan. Cahill said the ruling affects right to privacy issues more than freedom of speech. "The threat which is what those opposing are talking about, you can't overstep the bounds of common ordi- nary speech becuase someone feels threatened," Cahill said. "Jake's the one who feels vindicated." S. African officers seek amnesty JOHANNESBURG, South Africa- Four former security police officers claim they did not intend to kill anti- apartheid leader Steve Biko when they beat him in an interrogation two decades ago, their lawyer said yester- day. The four retired officers, plus a fifth who intends to confess, hope to win political amnesty from South Africa's truth and reconciliation commission in exchange for full confessions of their roles in one of the country's most infa- mous abuses under apartheid. Attorney Francois Jacobus van der Merwe said the officers were seeking immunity for charges of assault and culpable homicide for the death in police custody of the charismatic black activist on Sept. 12, 1977., "I would describe it as an interrogation gone wrong;' van der Merwe said. He added, "You could call it an accident.' But attorney GeorgeBizos, who helped represent the Biko family at a government inquest after the death, dis- .. ;rit ""at"1r puted that version of events. "It's not much different to the very fanciful account they gave at the inquest which was so far fetched that no reasonab man could believe them, except course the magistrate in charge," Bizos said. "I don't know why they bothered:' Mexico's former leader speaks out MEXICO CITY - Former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari portrayed himself as a courageous reformer izt lengthy interview published yesterd and claimed anti-reformers in a "con- spiracy" tried to name their own presi- dential candidate aftet Salinas' hand- picked successor was assassinated. In the first in-depth, on-the-record interview since he fled Mexico land went into self-imposed exile almost two years ago, Salinas apparently sought to rehabilitate his damaged reputation, depicting himself and Mexico as being locked in a power struggle betweo forces favoring and opposing change. - Compiled from Daily wire reports. 41 Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society and The Academic Women's Caucus announce a joint meeting on The New Research Environment: Planning for Change By Vice President for Research Frederick C. Neidhardt at 4 P.M. on Thursday, January 30, 1997 Room 1300, Chemistry Building University of 'Wisconsin-PlattevilleI The Dways looking fovwrters. Call us t 7Deily or stop by the Student The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in-September, via U.S. mail are $85. 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