Momčilo Perišić Judgement to be rendered on 6 September 2011

Press Advisory
(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document.)

 

Momčilo Perišić Judgement to be rendered on 6 September 2011

 

Momčilo Perišić

The Trial Chamber judgement in the case of Momčilo Perišić, former Chief of General Staff of the Yugoslav Army, will be rendered on Tuesday 6 September 2011 at 11am in Courtroom 3.

Perišić is the most senior officer of the Yugoslav Army to have been indicted by the Tribunal for crimes committed during the wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. He is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, inhumane acts and attacks on civilians committed between 1993 and 1995 in Sarajevo, Srebrenica and Zagreb.

Perišić is charged with aiding and abetting the planning, preparation, or execution of a military campaign of shelling and sniping in civilian areas of Sarajevo between August 1993 and November 1995, which resulted in the killing of hundreds and wounding of thousands of civilians. He is also charged with failing to punish the perpetrators of the shelling of civilian areas in the city of Zagreb in May 1995, resulting in the killing and wounding of a number of civilians.

He is further accused of aiding and abetting the crimes of extermination, murder and persecutions in Srebrenica between July and November 1995. It is alleged that the VJ 30th Personnel Centre members serving in the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), including General Ratko Mladić, captured and executed several thousand Bosnian Muslim men and subsequently engaged in a comprehensive effort to conceal the killings by reburying bodies exhumed from the original mass graves.

Perišić is also charged as a superior officer for failure to prevent or punish the crimes committed by his subordinates who served in the VRS via the 30th Personnel Centre. Several such persons named in the Indictment including Stanislav Galić, Dragomir Milošević and Radislav Krstić have previously been convicted by the Tribunal for crimes committed in Sarajevo and Srebrenica.

The Indictment alleges that Perišić provided significant personnel, material and logistical assistance to the VRS in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Army of Serbian Krajina (SVK) in Croatia. According to the Indictment, the provision and payment of VJ officers serving in the VRS and the SVK was done secretly to hide the involvement of the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia.

 The Indictment against Perišić was confirmed on 24 February 2005 and made public on 7 March 2005, when the accused was transferred into the Tribunal’s custody. His trial began on 2 October 2008 and concluded on 11 January 2011. The closing arguments were heard from 28 until 31 March 2011. The Prosecution has asked for a life sentence whereas the Defence has asked for acquittal.

During the 203 days of hearings, a total of 82 Prosecution witnesses and 22 Defence witnesses were called.

Since its establishment, the Tribunal has indicted 161 persons for serious violations of humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 2001.  Proceedings against 126 have been concluded. Proceedings are currently ongoing for 35 Accused.

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Media representatives wishing to attend the Judgement should contact the Press Office at press [at] icty.org and provide the full name of the journalist and the media outlet.

Further information on the case can be found at the following link.