Page 4101
1 Tuesday, 9 March 2010
2 [Open session]
3 [The accused entered court]
4 --- Upon commencing at 2.24 p.m.
5 JUDGE ORIE: Good afternoon, to everyone in and just around the
6 courtroom assisting us.
7 Madam Registrar, would you please call the case.
8 THE REGISTRAR: Good afternoon, Your Honours. Good afternoon
9 everyone in and around the courtroom. This is the case IT-03-69-T, the
10 Prosecutor versus Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic.
11 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Madam Registrar. For the continuation of
12 the cross-examination of the witness, we move into closed session.
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25 [Open session]
Page 4145
1 THE REGISTRAR: We are in open session, Your Honours.
2 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Madam Registrar.
3 Are there any procedural matters to be raised? We dealt with
4 most of them quite recently.
5 Mr. Hoffmann.
6 MR. HOFFMANN: No, thank you, Your Honour.
7 JUDGE ORIE: Then I see that the Defence is also -- remains
8 seated, both Defence teams, therefore if there are no further procedural
9 issues we will adjourn. And as explained earlier, and also the reasons
10 why we will not have any hearings next week, then there is the decision
11 of the Chamber on the motion for an adjournment which keeps us out of
12 court for a couple of weeks, but early April we have no court schedule
13 yet, so I can't give you the precise date on which we will resume. The
14 parties will be informed about it as soon as possible. That's, of
15 course, the first week after the weeks the Chamber indicated we would not
16 sit, but whether that would be a Monday, Tuesday, or any other days of
17 that week is still uncertain.
18 Therefore, adjournment will be sine die, without a day set.
19 Any other matters at this moment?
20 Mr. Knoops.
21 MR. KNOOPS: Your Honour, if I may ask the Court if the Court
22 could give us an indication when it would decide on the motion for filing
23 the questions with Dr. Eekhof in light of our provisional release
24 application.
25 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, I think we received the new questions late
Page 4146
1 yesterday afternoon, and since all the judges were busy with other
2 matters this morning, we have not found time yet.
3 If there would be -- of course, the first is the Chamber will
4 look at the questions, see whether these questions are appropriately put
5 to the Dr. Eekhof or whether the Chamber itself will rephrase one or more
6 of these questions, then we have to wait for the answer of Dr. Eekhof.
7 And once we've received the answers, we will have to decide whether we
8 want to have any further information from Dr. Eekhof in a hearing, and
9 this, of course, all to prepare a decision on provisional release.
10 I can't give you at this moment any further indications apart
11 from that the Chamber is aware of the urgency of the matter, and the
12 Chamber will not lose unnecessarily time to decide the matter.
13 MR. KNOOPS: Thank you, Your Honour.
14 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Bakrac.
15 MR. BAKRAC: [Interpretation] Your Honour, if you will allow me a
16 few words. As you know, we have submitted a request of provisional
17 release of Mr. Simatovic with the appropriate guarantees provided by the
18 Government of the Republic of Serbia
19 we have very good a collegiate relations with the OTP, but I would now
20 ask the OTP to just, if they can, speed up with their reply to our
21 request, and I am not addressing the Trial Chamber with the request to
22 actually issue an order to that effect to the OTP, but, rather, I am
23 appealing to the OTP to request that they provide their answer as soon as
24 they can. Thank you.
25 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, before we even considering an order, we will
Page 4147
1 first hear what the Prosecution has to offer in respect of timing of
2 their response.
3 Mr. Hoffmann.
4 MR. HOFFMANN: Your Honours, as the parties have been informed,
5 Mr. Groome at that point in time is on official business, but he returns
6 tomorrow. We have been working on the draft, and we intend to file it by
7 the end of the week. So within a week from the official filing.
8 I would like to add if the Chamber further considers to limit
9 that time further, that in our view the motions of -- hasn't been filed
10 urgent. It was known since the 19th of February that there would be an
11 adjournment, and the filing was only submitted on last Friday, late
12 afternoon, while we were all sitting in court. Since then we have been
13 again in court for two days, which is partly why we are still considering
14 the response on the motion.
15 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.
16 MR. HOFFMANN: Just --
17 MR. BAKRAC: [Interpretation] Your Honour --
18 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Groome informed Chamber staff that we could
19 expect a response to be filed tomorrow. So therefore -- yes, Mr. Bakrac.
20 MR. BAKRAC: [Interpretation] I apologise, Your Honour, but I feel
21 bound to reply to Mr. Hoffmann. He is absolutely correct, and it is this
22 Defence team's error. We were not sure as to what was going to happen
23 with the 18th and 19th, whether we were going to work on those days or
24 not, and, of course, we could have submitted our request to be effective
25 as of the moment of the delay, and on. And of course it was an error on
Page 4148
1 our part, but I appealed to the Trial Chamber and the OTP to have
2 understanding for our position, because the whole point of this delay of
3 the proceedings was to allow us to have some additional time to work with
4 our accused because he is the most appropriate person who can assist us
5 in the preparation of his Defence, and I do acknowledge that it was our
6 mistake in filing this just last Friday, but that was simply because we
7 weren't counting on this time as being counted, the delayed time as being
8 counted from now onwards and not from after the 19th. And we apologise
9 for filing our request too late, and we would very much appreciate if the
10 Prosecution could reply by tomorrow.
11 I thank you.
12 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Hoffmann.
13 MR. HOFFMANN: Your Honours, I certainly stand corrected. If
14 that information was provided that we will file tomorrow, we will do so
15 by the end of tomorrow.
16 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, I rely on the very specific information in
17 relation to this; whereas it seems that your announcement that you would
18 reply by Friday was a bit on the basis that you would wait for Mr. Groome
19 to return and then to further discuss the matter.
20 [Trial Chamber confers]
21 JUDGE ORIE: In order to give both parties a bit, the Chamber
22 would appreciate to receive the response by tomorrow close of business,
23 but orders it to be filed not later than Thursday, the 11th, at noon,
24 which gives you at least a night and a morning to further have a
25 better -- with Mr. Groome, Mr. Hoffmann, if there is any need.
Page 4149
1 Mr. Knoops.
2 MR. KNOOPS: Your Honour, it is our understanding that
3 Prosecution still intends to file questions for Dr. Eekhof as well if the
4 Court grants our request.
5 JUDGE ORIE: We haven't seen anything.
6 Mr. Hoffmann.
7 MR. HOFFMANN: Yes, I was about to raise earlier on and to
8 indicate to the parties and the Chambers that we have prepared that, and
9 as soon as we get out of court we will file that and also provide the
10 courtesy copies.
11 JUDGE ORIE: So that we can -- which allows us to consider all
12 the questions together. And so that will be filed today?
13 MR. HOFFMANN: Right after court, and we will make sure that we
14 send out courtesy copies directly.
15 JUDGE ORIE: That's understood. The Chamber appreciates the
16 flexibility shown by the parties in this respect. I would say in this
17 respect, obviously, and primarily, the Prosecution.
18 Any other matter to be raised?
19 MR. KNOOPS: Thank you, Your Honour, no.
20 JUDGE ORIE: Nothing.
21 Then we adjourn, as I explained and announced earlier, sine die.
22 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at
23 5.03 p.m.
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