Case No. IT-02-60-T

IN TRIAL CHAMBER I, SECTION A

Before:
Judge Liu Daqun, Presiding
Judge Volodymyr Vassylenko
Judge Carmen Maria Argibay

Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis

Decision of:
27 May 2004

PROSECUTOR

v.

VIDOJE BLAGOJEVIC
DRAGAN JOKIC

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DECISION ON VIDOJE BLAGOJEVIC’S REQUEST FOR THE ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENAS AD TESTIFICANDUM AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION, AND SUBSEQUENT REQUEST TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NETHERLANDS

_____________________________________

The Office of the Prosecutor:

Mr. Peter McCloskey

Counsel for the Accused:

Mr. Michael G. Karnavas and Ms. Suzana Tomanovic for Mr. Vidoje Blagojevic
Mr. Miodrag Stojanovic and Mr. Branko Lukic for Dragan Jokic for Mr. Dragan Jokic

The Kingdom of The Netherlands

TRIAL CHAMBER I, SECTION A, ("Trial Chamber") of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 ("Tribunal"),

BEING SEISED OF Vidoje Blagojevic’s Request for the Issuance of Subpoenas Ad Testificandum, an Order for Safe Conduct and an Order for the Service and Execution of the Subpoena and Order for Safe Conduct, filed on an ex parte and confidential basis on 11 May 2004 ("Request"), as further clarified by the Defence of Vidoje Blagojevic (“Defence”) on 19 May 2004¹ in response to the Trial Chamber’s 14 May 2004 confidential Order for Clarification Regarding the Request for Issuance of a Subpoena, an Order for Safe Conduct, and an Order for the Service and Execution of the Subpoena and Order for Safe Conduct Concerning Ton Karremans,

NOTING that the present matter has been discussed in open session² and therefore that there does not exist any reason for this decision to be filed confidentially,

NOTING that the Defence has made substantial efforts to contact Mr. Ton Karremans, Colonel (Ret.) and Commander of the Dutch UNPROFOR Battalion III in 1995, including by contacting on 26 April 2004 the Dutch Ministry of Defence, the Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs, and on 28 April 2004 the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

NOTING that the Defence on 6 May 2004 was informed that a response would be given later that day by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs after internal consultations within its Legal Department and that to this date the Defence has not received a response,

NOTING that the videotaped testimony of Mr. Karremans at a Rule 61 hearing in the cases Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadzic and Prosecutor v. Ratko Mladic³ was admitted by the Trial Chamber in Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic⁴ but that Mr. Karremans has not testified in a case strictly concerning the events in Srebrenica in July 1995 and that his testimony has not been subject to cross-examination,

NOTING that both the Prosecution and the Defence agree that Mr. Karremans’ testimony could be of assistance to the Trial Chamber,⁵

FINDING that Mr. Karremans’ testimony is directly relevant for the case and that the Defence has a right to call him as a witness,

NOTING that while the Request concerns a subpoena and supporting documentation, Mr. Karremans, as a consequence of the Defence being unable to contact him, may not know that he has been requested by the Defence to appear as a witness in the present case, and,

THEREFORE CONSIDERING that Mr. Karremans has not been given an opportunity to express whether he will appear as a witness for the Defence on his own volition,

NOTING that under Rule 54 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence ("Rules"), the Trial Chamber may issue such orders, summonses, subpoenas, warrants and transfer orders as may be necessary for the conduct of the trial,

PURSUANT TO Article 29 of the Statute and Rule 54 of the Rules,

REQUESTS the co-operation and assistance of the competent authorities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in contacting and informing Mr. Karremans of the Request for his testimony, at a time and date to be decided by the Defence in consultation with Mr. Karremans and the Dutch authorities, in order to establish Mr. Karremans’ willingness to appear as a witness before the Tribunal,

REQUESTS the competent authorities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to inform the Trial Chamber of the outcome within seven days from this decision, and

THANKS the Kingdom of the Netherlands for its co-operation and assistance in this matter.

Done in English and French, the English version being authoritative.

___________
Judge Liu Daqun
Presiding

Dated this twenty-seventh day of May 2004,
At The Hague
The Netherlands

[Seal of the Tribunal]