Page 216
1 Wednesday, 13 November 2013
2 [Status Conference]
3 [Open session]
4 --- Upon commencing at 2.59 p.m.
5 JUDGE AGIUS: Yes, good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to this
6 ninth Status Conference in the Djordjevic appeal.
7 Madam Registrar, could you call the case, please.
8 THE REGISTRAR: Good afternoon, Your Honour.
9 This is case number IT-05-87/1-A, the Prosecutor versus
10 Vlastimir Djordjevic.
11 JUDGE AGIUS: Thank you.
12 Appearances for the Prosecution.
13 MS. FINNIN: Good afternoon, Your Honour. My name is
14 Sarah Finnin. I appear for the Prosecution with Kyle Wood and
15 Colin Nawrot, our Case Manager.
16 JUDGE AGIUS: Thank you. And for Appellant Djordjevic.
17 MR. DJURDJIC: [Interpretation] Good afternoon, Your Honour. My
18 name is Veljko Djurdjic. I'm the co-counsel of the accused,
19 Mr. Djordjevic.
20 JUDGE AGIUS: Thank you. Before I proceed any further, I just
21 want to make sure that all parties can follow the proceedings in a
22 language that they understand. Particularly you, Mr. Djordjevic, are you
23 able to follow the proceedings in a language that you understand and,
24 therefore, follow them?
25 THE APPELLANT: [Interpretation] Yes, everything is all right.
Page 217
1 JUDGE AGIUS: Okay. Thank you.
2 This Status Conference is called in accordance with Rule 65 bis
3 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. 65 bis (B) requires a
4 Status Conference to be convened within 120 days after the filing of a
5 Notice of Appeal and thereafter within 120 days after the last
6 Status Conference. The purpose is to allow any person in custody pending
7 appeal the opportunity to raise issues in relation thereto, including the
8 mental and physical condition of that person.
9 In the present case, the parties filed their Notices of Appeal on
10 24 May 2011 and the first Status Conference was held on 30 May 2011. The
11 second through eighth Status Conferences were held on 21st September
12 2011, 16th January, 11th May, 23rd August, and 5th December, 2012, and
13 9th April and 17 July 2013 respectively. Today's Status Conference,
14 being the ninth in this case, was scheduled by an order issued by myself
15 on the 14th of October, 2013.
16 I might as well tell you that my expectation is that this will be
17 the last Status Conference before the delivery of judgement, and
18 therefore, I enjoin you, if you have any matters to raise, to raise them
19 today.
20 Firstly, I would like to inquire into the status of the detention
21 condition -- conditions and health situation of Mr. Djordjevic.
22 Mr. Djordjevic, if you have any concerns in relation to the
23 conditions of your detention or your state of health, I would invite you
24 to raise them now, and if you prefer, this discussion can take place in
25 private session.
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1 THE APPELLANT: [Interpretation] No, Your Honour. Everything is
2 all right in the Detention Unit, and I have no complaints.
3 JUDGE AGIUS: Thank you. And on your part, Mr. Djurdjic, you
4 have got nothing to add?
5 MR. DJURDJIC: [Interpretation] No, thank you.
6 JUDGE AGIUS: Okay. Thank you.
7 I'll just give a review of the recent procedural history before
8 we close down. As I noted at the last Status Conference, the parties
9 have heard me summarise the procedural history many times before, and for
10 that reason I have not included all the same details here today.
11 However, I will again set out the dates of the most important filings and
12 events below, as it is important that the public be made aware of the
13 background of the case.
14 Both the Defence and the Prosecution filed their Notices of
15 Appeal on 24 May 2011, having previously been granted an extension of
16 time of 60 days. The Prosecution presented two grounds of appeal, and
17 Djordjevic presented 19 grounds of appeal.
18 After having granted various extensions of time and word limits,
19 the parties filed their appeal briefs on 15 August 2011, their response
20 briefs on 26 September 2011, and their reply briefs on 26 October 2011.
21 The Prosecution filed a public redacted version of its appeal
22 brief on 17 August 2011, while Djordjevic filed his public redacted
23 version of his appeal brief on 30 September 2011. However, following a
24 confidential motion by the Prosecution requesting redactions of certain
25 information, Djordjevic was ordered to make an additional redaction, and
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1 he refiled the public redacted version of his appeal brief on
2 23 January 2012.
3 Both parties filed public redacted versions of their response
4 briefs on 30 January 2012. The Prosecution filed its public redacted
5 brief on 8 February 2012, and Djordjevic filed a notice of
6 reclassification of his reply brief on 9 February 2012.
7 On 7 March 2012, President Meron issued an order assigning
8 Judge Khalida Rachid Khan to the Bench in place of Judge Fausto Pocar.
9 Subsequently, on 27 September 2012, Judge Patrick Robinson was assigned
10 to the Bench in lieu of Judge Liu Daqun.
11 On 17 October 2012, the translation of the Trial Judgement into
12 the B/C/S language was filed. The following day, I issued an order
13 setting the time-limit to file any motion seeking a variation of the
14 grounds of appeal following the translation of the Trial Judgement.
15 Pursuant to that order, Djordjevic filed a submission on 29
16 November 2012. There was a further change to the Bench pursuant to an
17 order issued by President Meron on 19 March 2013. Judge Bakhtiyar
18 Tuzmukhamedov was assigned to the Bench in place of Judge Andresia Vaz.
19 Finally, the appeals of the parties were heard before the full Bench on
20 Monday, 13 May 2013.
21 Having said all this, I would like now to ask the parties whether
22 they have any other issues that they would like to raise at this point.
23 Ms. Finnin.
24 MS. FINNIN: Nothing for the Prosecution, Your Honour.
25 JUDGE AGIUS: Thank you. And for the Defence.
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1 MR. DJURDJIC: [Interpretation] No, thank you.
2 JUDGE AGIUS: Thank you. Before I conclude this afternoon's
3 proceedings, I would like to inform the parties that my colleagues and I
4 on the Bench are in the final stages of the process of finalizing our
5 judgement in this case. We are making very good progress and expect to
6 deliver our judgement probably sometime in January. If not, it will be
7 in early February. A Scheduling Order to that effect will be issued
8 shortly.
9 Unless I hear any questions or remarks, I believe that I can now
10 conclude today's Status Conference, which I'm doing now.
11 I thank the parties for their attendance and now adjourn these
12 proceedings.
13 Thank you.
14 --- Whereupon the Status Conference adjourned
15 at 3.09 p.m.
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