ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 3rd May 2000

Please
note that this is not a verbatim transcript of the Press Briefing. It is merely
a summary.

ICTY
Weekly Press Briefing

Date:
3 May 2000

Time:
11:30 a.m.

REGISTRY
AND CHAMBERS

Jim
Landale, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers made the following statement:

First,
I would like to announce that the President of the Tribunal, Judge Claude Jorda,
will be attending an international symposium on Tuesday 9 May in Opatija, on
the Croatian coast, which will focus on the work of the Tribunal.

The
international symposium, which starts on Monday 8 May, has been organised by
the Croatian Law Centre and the Croatian Association of Criminal Sciences and
Practice, in coordination with the Tribunal’s Outreach Programme. It is
a two-day event with over 150 participants expected to attend, including senior
Croatian Government officials, members of the Croatian legal and judicial community,
representatives from the Tribunal and other leading experts of international
criminal and humanitarian law.

There
will be a short press opportunity with President Jorda after he has delivered
his keynote address to the symposium on Tuesday 9 May.

After
the symposium, President Jorda will travel to Zagreb at President Mesic’s
invitation for a meeting to discuss Croatia’s relationship with the Tribunal,
the recent improvement in cooperation from the Croatian authorities, and outstanding
matters of compliance. President Jorda will meet the Deputy Prime Minister and
Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs the following day, on Wednesday 10
May.

The
Tribunal welcomes the symposium, and President’s Mesic’s invitation
to meet President Jorda in particular, as further positive and encouraging signs
that the new administration in Croatia is serious in it’s commitment to
cooperate with the Tribunal and to help in the fulfillment of its mandate. Initiatives
of this kind can only improve understanding of the Tribunal’s work in the
former Yugoslavia and help to cement the relationship between this institution
and the people it has been set up to serve.

QUESTIONS:

Asked
if anyone else from the Tribunal would participate in the symposium, Landale
replied that a number of senior representatives from the Tribunal would participate
including Gavin Ruxton, James Stewart and Patricia Sellers representing the
Office of the Prosecutor (OTP). Also participating would be David Tolbert,
Senior Legal Advisor to the Registry, Stephane Bourgon, the President’s
Chef de Cabinet, and Liam McDowall the Outreach Coordinator, among others.

*****