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1 Thursday, 18 June 1998
2 --- Upon commencing at 9.35 a.m.
3 (Open session)
4 JUDGE CASSESE: Good morning. Registrar,
5 could you please call out the case number?
6 THE REGISTRAR: Good morning, Your Honours,
7 case number IT-97-25-I, the Prosecutor versus Milorad
8 Krnojelac.
9 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you. We may now
10 commence with this hearing. As you know, this is the
11 initial appearance of the accused before the
12 International Criminal Tribunal for the former
13 Yugoslavia, and it is being held in accordance with the
14 Tribunal's Statute and Rules of Procedure and Evidence
15 formally to charge the accused.
16 Mr. Milorad Krnojelac, could you please rise
17 and state for the Trial Chamber your name, date and
18 place of birth, and the name of the attorney whom you
19 have chosen to represent you.
20 THE ACCUSED: Milorad Krnojelac, born on the
21 25th of July, 1940 in the village of Birotici near
22 Foca. I will be represented by Mihajlo Bakrac, an
23 attorney. And today I'm represented by Mr. Toma Fila.
24 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you. You may be
25 seated. Could I please have the appearances for the
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1 Prosecution?
2 MR. BOWERS: Yes, Your Honour, Terree
3 Bowers.
4 MS. THAPA: Tejshree Thapa.
5 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you. Mr. Fila?
6 MR. FILA: Your Honours, I'm Toma Fila. I
7 will be representing Milorad Krnojelac today in this
8 hearing.
9 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you. As you know, the
10 purpose of this initial appearance, and I just said
11 this, is formally to charge the accused. The Trial
12 Chamber is required to ensure that the indictment is
13 read to the accused in a language he speaks or
14 understands. If he waives his right to a public
15 reading of the indictment, the Trial Chamber must, in
16 any case, satisfy itself that he understands the
17 indictment.
18 We are then required to call upon the accused
19 to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty on each count.
20 If the accused fails to enter a plea, we are required
21 by our Rules of Procedure and Evidence to enter a plea
22 of not guilty on his behalf. In the case of a not
23 guilty plea, we will instruct the registrar to set a
24 date for trial. In the case of a guilty plea on all
25 counts, we will instruct the registrar to set a date
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1 for the presentencing hearing or any other appropriate
2 date.
3 I would like to ask Defence counsel,
4 Mr. Fila, whether he and his client have received
5 copies of the indictment in a language that they
6 understand and whether the contents therein were
7 understood.
8 MR. FILA: Your Honour, the accused has
9 received not only the indictment but all the supporting
10 material that he is supposed to have, that is, the
11 statute and the rules of this Tribunal. I had a
12 conversation with him today. He understood the
13 indictment in its entirety. He waives his right to the
14 reading, and he will just enter a plea of not guilty or
15 guilty, and he understands in full the charges levied
16 against him. Thank you.
17 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you. Mr. Fila, I
18 understand that you had adequate time to confer with
19 your client in preparation for this initial
20 appearance?
21 MR. FILA: Yes.
22 JUDGE CASSESE: Now, since, as you said, the
23 accused, after consulting with you, is waiving his
24 right to the public reading of the indictment, I will
25 now recall each of the 18 counts against the accused.
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1 Mr. Krnojelac, could you please tell the court whether
2 you plead guilty or not guilty after I have put the
3 counts to you.
4 The formal words we wish you to use is either
5 "I plead guilty" or "I plead not guilty." Have you
6 understood this?
7 THE ACCUSED: I understand.
8 JUDGE CASSESE: I will start now with the
9 various counts.
10 Count 1: A crime against humanity,
11 persecution on political, racial and/or religious
12 grounds, punishable under Article 5(h) of the Statute
13 of the International Tribunal.
14 How do you plead?
15 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
16 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
17 Count 2: A crime against humanity, torture,
18 punishable under Article 5(f) of the Statute of the
19 International Tribunal.
20 How do you plead?
21 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
22 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
23 Count 3: A grave breach, torture, punishable
24 under Article 2(b) of the Statute of the International
25 Tribunal.
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1 How do you plead?
2 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
3 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
4 Count 4: A violation of the laws or customs
5 of war, torture, punishable under Article 3 of the
6 Statute of the International Tribunal and recognised by
7 Article 3(1)(a) of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
8 How do you plead?
9 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
10 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
11 Count 5: A crime against humanity, inhumane
12 acts, punishable under Article 5(1) of the Statute of
13 the International Tribunal.
14 How do you plead?
15 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
16 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
17 Count 6: A grave breach, wilfully causing
18 serious injury to body or health, punishable under
19 Article 2(c) of the Statute of the International
20 Tribunal.
21 How do you plead?
22 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
23 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
24 Count 7: A violation of the laws or customs
25 of war, namely, cruel treatment, punishable under
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1 Article 3 of the Statute of the International Tribunal
2 and recognised by Article 3(1)(a) of the Geneva
3 Conventions of 1949.
4 How do you plead?
5 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
6 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
7 Count 8: A crime against humanity, namely,
8 murder, punishable under Article 5(a) of the Statute of
9 the International Tribunal.
10 How do you plead?
11 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
12 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
13 Count 9: A grave breach, wilful killing,
14 punishable under Article 2(a) of the Statute of the
15 International Tribunal.
16 How do you plead?
17 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
18 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
19 Count 10: A violation of the laws or customs
20 of war in the form of murder, punishable under Article
21 3 of the Statute of the International Tribunal and
22 recognised by Article 3(1)(a) of the Geneva
23 Conventions.
24 How do you plead?
25 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
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1 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
2 Count 11: A crime against humanity,
3 imprisonment, punishable under Article 5(e) of the
4 Statute of the International Tribunal.
5 How do you plead?
6 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
7 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
8 Count 12: A grave breach in the form of
9 unlawful confinement of a civilian, punishable under
10 Article 2(g) of the Statute of the International
11 Tribunal.
12 How do you plead?
13 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
14 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
15 Count 13: A crime against humanity in the
16 form of inhumane acts, punishable under Article 5(i) of
17 the Statute of the International Tribunal.
18 How do you plead?
19 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
20 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
21 Count 14: A grave breach in the form of
22 wilfully causing great suffering, punishable under
23 Article 2(c) of the Statute of the International
24 Tribunal.
25 How do you plead?
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1 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
2 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
3 Count 15: A violation of the laws or customs
4 of war, namely, cruel treatment, punishable under
5 Article 3 of the Statute of the International Tribunal
6 and recognised by Article 3(1)(a) of the Geneva
7 Conventions of 1949.
8 How do you plead?
9 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
10 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
11 Count 16: A crime against humanity, namely,
12 enslavement, punishable under Article 5(c) of the
13 Statute of the International Tribunal.
14 How do you plead?
15 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
16 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
17 Count 17: A grave breach in the form of
18 inhumane treatment, punishable under Article 2(b) of
19 the Statute of the International Tribunal.
20 How do you plead?
21 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
22 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you.
23 Count 18: A violation of the laws or customs
24 of war, namely, slavery, punishable under Article 3 of
25 the Statute of the International Tribunal and
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1 recognised under the Slavery Convention and
2 International Customary Law.
3 How do you plead?
4 THE ACCUSED: I plead not guilty.
5 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you. You may now be
6 seated. After the conclusion of this hearing, you will
7 be remanded to the further custody of the International
8 Tribunal and held in the detention unit until further
9 order is made.
10 Could I ask the registrar to please note the
11 pleas of the accused?
12 As the accused has pleaded not guilty to the
13 charges against him, it is necessary to consider the
14 organisation of the work of the Trial Chamber and the
15 setting of the date for the trial. I wonder whether
16 the registrar is able to set a date for the trial now?
17 THE REGISTRAR: Yes, we are.
18 JUDGE CASSESE: Can you indicate a date?
19 THE REGISTRAR: Maybe after 60 days of
20 preliminary motions, and then we can set a date.
21 JUDGE CASSESE: So, therefore, we will await
22 your confirmation.
23 Now, of course, I don't need to remind both
24 the Prosecution and the Defence of their obligations.
25 In particular, the Prosecution, as we all know, has the
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1 duty to make available to the Defence all copies of the
2 supporting material, in addition to what has already
3 been handed, of course, to the accused; namely, you
4 said the Statute and the Rules of Procedure. But what
5 is needed for the Defence to receive from the
6 Prosecution is the supporting material, namely, the
7 material which accompanied the indictment when
8 confirmation was sought and all the prior statements
9 obtained by the Office of the Prosecutor from the
10 accused.
11 Of course, we all know, and I'm sure that
12 Mr. Fila and the Prosecution are fully aware, that no
13 later than 60 days before the date set for trial,
14 copies of the statements of all witnesses whom the
15 Prosecutor intends to call to testify must be made
16 available to the Defence. I will not go into details
17 on this matter because we are all familiar with these
18 rules.
19 May I ask now the Prosecution whether any
20 such documents have already been provided to the
21 Defence? If not, if the Prosecution may indicate a
22 date by when those documents will be provided to the
23 Defence, the supporting material for the indictment?
24 MR. BOWERS: Yes, Your Honour. The
25 confirmation material consists of approximately 47
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1 witness statements. They have been redacted with
2 regard to the other defendants/accused in this case,
3 and they are ready to present to counsel.
4 We would just request the court to issue the
5 protective order with regard to those statements before
6 we actually physically transfer them to the Defence.
7 But they are prepared and can be turned over as soon as
8 the protective order is in force.
9 JUDGE CASSESE: Sorry. What sort of
10 protective order, for the redaction, authorising you to
11 redact the statements or protective measures?
12 MR. BOWERS: Your Honour, it's pretty much
13 our standard protective order with regard to the
14 witness statements that the Defence receives, that they
15 will only use those in connection with the preparation
16 of the Defence and not disclose them to the media.
17 It's the same order that's been issued in prior
18 proceedings.
19 JUDGE CASSESE: All right. So we will do so
20 as soon as possible, maybe today or tomorrow, so that
21 upon receiving this order, you may then be able to
22 disclose all this material to the Defence?
23 MR. BOWERS: Absolutely, Your Honours.
24 JUDGE CASSESE: So by when? Say, by next
25 Monday, perhaps?
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1 MR. BOWERS: At the latest, hopefully sooner.
2 JUDGE CASSESE: Sooner, wonderful.
3 So, Mr. Fila, you have taken notice of this
4 pledge by the Prosecution?
5 MR. FILA: Yes, I fully agree that this
6 should not be published. You know what my views are on
7 publishing anything in the papers before the witness
8 has testified. You know the case of a high ranking
9 official. We read everything in the paper in Belgrade
10 before he testified. I agree fully that this should be
11 a principle of this Tribunal.
12 I have been authorised to receive this
13 material on Monday, regardless of whether my colleague,
14 Mr. Bakrac arrives or not, because he has some problems
15 with the visa, the usual problems with the visa. But I
16 will be receiving the material on his behalf, and
17 that's not a problem at all.
18 So as far as the expediency is concerned,
19 everything will be okay, and I agree fully that a date
20 should be set now, but not before mid September. We
21 really, all of us, the Defence counsel, we need our
22 rest.
23 JUDGE CASSESE: Yes, we too actually, we
24 Judges, because we are working very hard. I assume
25 this also applies to the Prosecution.
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1 Generally speaking, you would be prepared to
2 proceed to trial. Of course, I assume we can't set a
3 date for trial now. It's very difficult.
4 MR. BOWERS: Your Honour, just for the
5 court's edification, this is a fully prepared case. We
6 do not anticipate any significant amendment to the
7 indictment. At the most, we would be possibly dropping
8 the Article 2 counts to expedite the trial. It's
9 fairly straightforward, and we are prepared to proceed
10 whenever the court wishes.
11 JUDGE CASSESE: I see. Therefore, I think we
12 should now think of a status conference. We should try
13 to set a date for a status conference so that on that
14 particular occasion, which will be held in closed
15 session. Of course, as you know, that particular
16 occasion, we could make all the necessary arrangements
17 for the beginning of the trial which, as Mr. Fila
18 rightly pointed out, in any case, cannot start before
19 mid September, also because we have so many other
20 cases. We are sitting, we, our Trial Chamber, we have
21 six cases now, and probably so -- any suggestion about
22 a date for the status conference?
23 MR. FILA: No problem. Whatever date is good
24 for the Prosecution, I will make sure that my colleague
25 is here. Although the court should set the date.
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1 JUDGE CASSESE: We would like to suggest a
2 date which may be then set later on for mid August, the
3 second part of August, because at that stage probably
4 your colleague -- for the status conference, not for
5 the beginning of the trial.
6 MR. FILA: I'm sorry. But the Italians, they
7 have their Ferragosto when everybody is on vacation.
8 That's why I was laughing. I'm sorry, Your Honour, I
9 apologise.
10 JUDGE CASSESE: You know that we will start a
11 new trial, Kupreskic, on the 17th of August, and we
12 will go on, I think, for four weeks in a row sitting on
13 Kupreskic. Well, Ferragosto is the 15th of August so,
14 therefore, it is the -- we are sticking to the
15 Ferragosto celebration.
16 I wonder whether between the 17th of August
17 and the end of August, this status conference could be
18 held? You don't have, in principle, any opposition?
19 We will let you know in due time, maybe in one week,
20 which particular day is more convenient. All right?
21 Any questions, any comments, any procedural
22 matters? I wonder whether my colleagues have any
23 questions to ask; no? All right, the hearing, then,
24 may be adjourned. The hearing is adjourned.
25 --- Whereupon hearing adjourned at
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