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Haradin Bala Granted Temporary Provisional Release

APPEALS CHAMBER
HARADIN BALA GRANTED TEMPORARY PROVISIONAL RELEASE Press Release
(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document)

The Hague, 21 April 2006

CT/MOW/1070e


The Appeals Chamber granted Haradin Bala's motion for temporary provisional release to attend his daughter's memorial service on 26 April 2006 in Kosovo. Haradin Bala is provisionally released from 23 to 27 April 2006, to allow him to spend the traditional mourning period with his family and community preceding the memorial service.


The provisional release is subject to specific terms and conditions laid out in the decision. They include UNMIK's responsibility to take custody of the accused at Pristina airport and ensure his 24-hour protection and supervision, as well as compliance with conditions of the provisional release while he is in Kosovo. These conditions also include the following instructions for
Haradin Bala:



Not to have any contact whatsoever nor in any way interfere with victims or witnesses or otherwise interfere in any way with the proceedings or the administration of justice;Not to discuss his case with anyone, other than counsel, including not to have any contact with the media;Not to seek access to documents or archives;To comply strictly with any instructions given to him by anyone
acting under the authority of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (UNMIK);To comply strictly with any order of the Appeals Chamber varying the terms of, or terminating, his provisional release;

On 30 November 2005, the Trial Chamber sentenced Haradin Bala, former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) prison guard of the Llapushnik/Lapušnik prison camp, to 13 years' imprisonment. Bala was found guilty of participating in the mistreatment of three prisoners at the Llapushnik/Lapušnik prison camp, his personal role in the "maintenance and enforcement of the inhumane
conditions
" of the camp, aiding the torture of one prisoner, and of participating in the murder of nine prisoners from the camp who were marched to the Berishe/Beriša Mountains on 25 or 26 July 1998 and killed. Bala appealed the sentence and the appeal is still pending.Haradin Bala was indicted with Fatmir Limaj and Isak Musliu, former members of the KLA. Both Limaj and Musliu
were acquitted of all charges and released. The Prosecution has filed an appeal in the case.Since its inception in 1993, the Tribunal has charged 161 persons for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia. To date, proceedings against 90 persons have concluded. Six indicted persons remain at large.


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The full text of the Decision is available on the Tribunal's website


http://www.un.org/icty/limaj/appeal/decision-e/060420.pdf


Courtroom proceedings can be followed on the Tribunal's website