ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 17 September 2008

 

Date:  17.09.2008
Time: 12:00

Registry and Chambers:

There was no statement made by Registry and Chambers.

Office of the Prosecutor:

Olga Kavran, Spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor, made no statement.

Questions:

Asked if the amended indictment was ready for the case against Radovan Karadžić, Kavran said that it had not yet been filed and she did not have an exact date when it would be filed. She explained that the procedure was such that once the proposed amended indictment was filed, it would go to the judges for confirmation so that the whole process could take some time.

A journalist referred to the ministerial summit held in Brussels and a comment made by the Dutch Foreign Minister regarding "problems in cooperation with Serbia in regards to witness protection". Asked if there were any existing problems in this regard, Kavran said that she had not seen the comments the journalist was referring to and that she could not comment. However, Kavran said that she would not refer to "problems" regarding cooperation in regards to witness protection. She added that witness protection was an element of cooperation between Serbia and the OTP and that the Prosecutor had meetings in Belgrade to discuss all issues related to cooperation. He briefed the EU Ministers about the meetings in Belgrade, she added. Asked if she would say that cooperation of Serbia with the Tribunal was full when it came to witness protection, Kavran said that the Prosecutor had not provided a complete assessment of cooperation, and that the next assessment was scheduled for December, when the Prosecutor reports to the UN Security Council, added Kavran.

A journalist asked if there was any indication which direction the indictment review process was taking in the Karadžić case. He pointed out that he was asking this question because there were people who pretended to know that genocide would be charged for municipalities other than the municipalities that genocide has been proven in the past by the Tribunal. Kavran said that she could not say anything more than that the indictment was being looked at in light of the case law that has been established since 2000 and in light of possible new evidence that came to light in the meantime.