ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 22nd Feb 2006

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

Date: 22.02.2006


Time: 12:20h

Office of the
Prosecutor:

Carla Del Ponte, Chief
Prosecutor of the ICTY, made the following statement:

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,

The false rumors spread yesterday from Belgrade about the arrest
of Mladic have absolutely no basis whatsoever. There is no indication
at all that negotiations about his surrender are currently being
conducted. I was in contact with the authorities in Belgrade yesterday
and I was assured that there is no truth in all this. Mladic remains
at large.

Mladic and Karadzic must be brought to justice in The Hague so
that the genocide of 8000 Muslims in Srebrenica is not left unpunished.

Ratko Mladic is in Serbia, there is no doubt about this. He has
been there since 1998. During all this time he has been, and he
remains, within reach of the Serbian authorities. He can and must
be arrested immediately, and I expect all Serbian authorities to
work much more intensely towards that objective.

The conditionality imposed by the European Union in the context
of the negotiations on a stabilization and association agreement
is of key importance. Serbia knows that negotiations may be suspended
or may never conclude if Belgrade fails to cooperate fully with
the ICTY. I always could count on the support of the European Union.
But now the role of the European Union is crucial. I need now a
stronger support of the European Union to have Mladic in The Hague
very soon. Clear deadlines associated with clear sanctions will
produce early results.

Registry and Chambers:

Alexandra Milenov, Liaison Officer for Registry and Chambers,
made the following statement:

Good afternoon.

Milan Lukic will have his first appearance before the court on
Friday 24 February at 14:15 in court room I. Milan Lukic is alleged
to have been the leader of a Bosnian Serb paramilitary unit, and
stands accused of murdering dozens of Bosnian Muslim women, children
and elderly on several occasions in the municipality of Visegrad,
eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, among other crimes. As many of
you may already know, yesterday Milan Lukic was transferred to
the Tribunal’s custody from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where
he was arrested on 8 August 2005. Argentinian authorities recognized
the Tribunal’s primacy over domestic jurisdictions, one of
which had filed a request for his extradition. The Tribunal would
like to thank the Argentinian authorities for their cooperation
with his arrest and transfer. Journalists will find on our website
in English and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian a press kit that contains
various pieces of information in relation to the case against Milan
Lukic.

In terms of the courtroom schedule, the trial against former Yugoslav
and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic will be continuing in
courtroom I this week on Thursday and Friday, and next week from
Monday to Wednesday at 9:00am.

The trial against Yugoslav Army officers Mile Mrksic, Miroslav
Radic and Veselin Slivancanin continues this afternoon, tomorrow
at 14:15 in courtroom I and on Friday it will sit in court room
II from 9:00am. It will sit next week from Monday to Wednesday
at 14:15 in courtroom I.

The trial against Momcilo Krajisnik, a former high-level leader
of the Bosnian Serb political entity, will continue this week on
Thursday 23 February at 9:00, on Monday 27 February at 14:15 and
Tuesday 28 February and Wednesday 1 March at 9:00 in courtroom
II.

The trial against former Bosnian Muslim army officer Naser Oric
will continue next week from Tuesday 28 February to Thursday 3
March at 14:15 in courtroom II.

Finally, there will be a regular status conference in the case
against Radoslav Brdjanin, a former high-level leader of the Bosnian
Serb political entity on Wednesday 1 March at 8:00 in courtroom
II. The Trial Chamber convicted Radoslav Brdjanin of various crimes
against Bosnian Muslims, including persecution, willful killing,
torture, and wanton destruction and sentenced him to 32 years in
prison. His case is currently under appeal.

Questions:

A journalist asked what lay behind the rumors of Mladic’s
arrest and whether it was possibly an attempt to make it more difficult
for him to surrender. In response, Hartmann stated that she did
not know. She added that nothing particular in relation to the
fugitive had happened in The Hague yesterday – it was no
different to any other day. The Tribunal had been saying since
the beginning of the year that Mladic was in Serbia and within
the reach of the Serbian authorities and that the government should
act upon the international arrest warrant. As the Serbian government
was not co-operating, despite the fact that Mladic has been in
Serbia for many years, the Tribunal had asked the EU to be very
cautious and to use its influence on the government. She added
that the Tribunal could not accept waiting years and years for
the arrest of someone indicted for genocide. Other people had already
been brought to the Tribunal; Mladic, Karadzic and the remaining
6 fugitives also had to be brought to The Hague.

In answer to a question whether she thought the Serbian authorities
were getting closer to Mladic, Hartmann responded that she did
not know: it was another case of a fugitive being within reach
of the authorities and the authorities not arresting him. Asked
to clarify what she meant by “within reach” and whether
she believed that the Serb authorities know where Mladic was, Hartmann
stated that she would not get into details. She added that the
Tribunal had no police force to make arrests but had to rely on
local police. In saying that Mladic was in Serbia, the Tribunal
was saying that the authorities in Serbia were the only ones responsible
for his arrest as there were no international troops in the territory.
She added that political will was essential for compliance with
the arrest warrant; the Serb authorities could and must comply.

When questioned about the Prosecutor’s 21 February deadline
for the arrest of Mladic, Hartmann stressed that no such deadline
had been given by the prosecutor and that speaking about deadlines
created misunderstanding. She explained that the arrest warrant
was valid until it was fulfilled – there was no deadline
or date by which if Mladic was not arrested proceedings would finish,
because there was no statute of limitation for such crimes. She
pointed out that the Prosecutor was calling all institutions, such
as the EU, to use their leverage to remind Belgrade of its international
obligations. The EU negotiations on SSA, scheduled today, had brought
back again the issue of deadlines. She added that the question
of when Mladic would be arrested should not be addressed to the
Tribunal but to the government which had the authority to arrest
him – only Belgrade could say when Mladic would be arrested.
The Tribunal could not answer that question but would continue
insisting on apprehending all fugitives, including Mladic, as it
had been for the last ten and a half years. She reminded journalists
that Mladic was indicted in 1995.

Asked whether the events of the past couple of days brought Mladic’s
arrest closer or further away, Hartmann stated that only when Mladic
was in Scheveningen would he be close to justice and answer to
the crimes for which he had been indicted. This was the only way
to bring justice to the victims of the genocide. Any other options,
rumors or maybes were not an answer.