Date: 1.9.2010
Time: 12:00
Registry and Chambers:
Nerma Jelačić, Spokesperson for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:
Good afternoon,
The Registrar of the Tribunal, John Hocking, is on a working visit to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), in Tanzania and to Rwanda this week. This visit is part of the Tribunal’s continued efforts to secure the legacy and recognition of its achievements in the former Yugoslavia and globally. Besides visiting the ICTR, the Registrar will also visit national information centres as well as the Kigali and Murambi Genocide Memorials in order to share ideas and experience on how to preserve the work of the Tribunals, the record of facts established during the course of trials and the memory of the conflicts in regions. The knowledge gained during this visit will aid the ICTY in shaping its own legacy projects.
The Tribunal is hosting a study visit of Judges and Prosecutors from Serbia this week. The visit, organised by the OSCE Mission in Serbia in cooperation with the US Department of Justice and the ICTY Outreach programme, is part of the Tribunal’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the cooperation and knowledge sharing with members of the judiciary in the former Yugoslavia. A total of 10 Judges from the Belgrade Appellate Court and High Court and two Prosecutors from the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade are visiting the Tribunal. The visiting Judges will hold peer-to-peer discussions with the Tribunal’s Judges to cover various topics including witness protection, plea bargaining and sentencing practice, case management, appeals process, and application of legal standards in war crimes adjudication. The Prosecutors will meet with OTP officials to discuss similar legal issues from the viewpoint of prosecutorial work.
Onto the courtroom schedule:
Closing Arguments in the trial of Gotovina and others have been taking place since Monday morning. The Prosecution’s rebuttal arguments started this morning and they will be followed by the Defence’s rejoinder. Closing Arguments are expected to conclude tomorrow at 13:45 but this may change depending on the progress in courtroom today.
In the trial of Radovan Karadžić, a Status Conference will be held this Friday in Courtroom I at 10:00 to discuss the progress of the trial to date. His trial will resume on Monday 6 September at 14:15 in Courtroom I.
In the contempt of court case of Vojislav Šešelj, a Status Conference will be held also on Friday at 14:15 in Courtroom III. Šešelj, whose war crimes trial is currently ongoing, was charged with the second contempt of court indicement on 4 February 2010 for having disclosed information on 11 protected witnesses, including their real names, occupations and places of residence, in violation of the Trial Chamber’s orders in a book he authored.
Hearings in the case of Mićo Stanišić and Stojan Župljanin, Zdravko Tolimir, Momčilo Perišić as well as Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović continue this week and next as scheduled.
Finally, I would like to direct your attention to the latest feature on the homepage of the Tribunal’s website which was launched on Monday. The feature provides users direct access to public decisions and orders recently filed in all ongoing cases at the Tribunal and facilitate public access to the Tribunal’s legal library. The Internet Court Records features available on our website continues to house all public documents including motions and exhibits tendered in Tribunal’s cases.
Office of the Prosecutor:
Frederick Swinnen, Special Adviser of the Prosecutor, was not present.
Questions:
No questions were asked.