ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 29th Mar 2006

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

Date:
29.03.2006

Time: 12:00

Registry
and Chambers:

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

Good Afternoon.

The President of the Tribunal, Judge
Fausto Pocar, will be traveling to Brussels
on Friday for a donors conference to
fund the State Court for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Tribunal was actively involved in
establishing the State Court, which is
the first state-level specialized judicial
body dealing with war crimes. The Tribunal
has continued to work in partnership
with the State Court in various areas
in its first year of operation, and is
encouraged by its progress thus far.
The Tribunal remains committed to supporting
the State Court, and other judiciaries
in our common effort to see to it that
war criminals are brought to justice.

The Tribunal is pleased to announce
that the remodeling of our courtrooms
has now been completed. The remodeling
project was carried out in order to permit
trials of multiple accused, and to expand
the courtrooms’ translation capacity.
The Tribunal’s Registrar stated
that "having three state-of-the-art operational
courtrooms was crucial in light of the
Tribunal's workload." The courtroom remodeling
was carried out on time and within budget
thanks to the efforts of Tribunal staff
and Dutch contractors and sub-contractors.
The remodeling project was funded entirely
from savings from the Tribunal’s
2004/2005 budget.

The Tribunal’s Outreach Programme
is participating this coming weekend
in a training seminar for journalists
organised in Split, Croatia, by the Zagreb-based
NGO Documenta. The aim of the seminar
is to help journalists acquire skills
for reporting on war crimes trials before
the ICTY and local courts. The Tribunal
will be represented by OTP Spokesperson
Florence Hartmann and ICTY Registry's
Liaison Officer in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Matias Hellman.

This week the Tribunal’s Outreach
Programme welcomed two visits of students
from the region. The first group of around
45 students were from Ljubljana, while
the second larger group of nearly 70
students were from Kragujevac in Serbia
and Montenegro. Both groups received
introductory presentations on the Tribunal,
with time for questions and answers and
attended trials.

I would also like to mention that the
Tribunal’s Outreach Programme continues
its efforts to engage local communities.
Registry Liaison Officer Matias Hellman
traveled to Prijedor last Monday and
met with victims’ groups to discuss
last week’s Appeals Chamber Judgement
against Milomir Stakic. He explained
that the judgement confirms that the
highest level political leader in Prijedor
was responsible for persecuting Bosnian
Muslim and Bosnian Croat civilians, among
other crimes.

In terms of the courtroom schedule,
closing arguments in the trial against
Bosnian Army officer Naser Oric will
start on Monday 3 April until Thursday
6 April at 9:00 and at 14:15 on Friday
7 April in courtroom I.

As a reminder for tomorrow 9:00 in Courtroom
I, there will be a regular status conference
in the case against a number of the highest-level
leaders of the Bosnian Croat wartime
entity, and one of the Republic of Croatia,
the Prlic et al. case.

A further initial appearance of Milan
Lukic, A Bosnian-Serb paramilitary leader,
will take place on 31 March at 9:00 in
courtroom I. The accused will be asked
to enter a plea on charges in the amended
indictment.

A status conference will also be held
in the case against some of the highest-level
Serb and Yugoslav political military
and police leaders, Milutinovic et al.
case, on Friday, 31 March at 10:00 in
courtroom III. (Accused are on provisional
release).

There will be a regular status conference
in the case nine accused charged with
crimes committed in Srebrenica in 1995,
the Popovic et al. case on Tuesday, 4
April at 14:15 in courtroom I.

The trial against Milan Martic, a high-level
political leader of the war-time Croatian
Serb entity, continues this Thursday
and Friday at 9:00 in courtroom II. The
trial continues next week Monday and
Tuesday at 9:00 In Courtroom III and
Wednesday and Thursday at 14:15 in courtroom
I.

The trial against Yugoslav Army officers
Mile Mrksic, Miroslav Radic and Veselin
Slivancanin continues this Friday at
9:00 in courtroom I. It will sit next
week Monday and Tuesday at 14:15 in courtroom
I and in courtroom II on Wednesday through
Friday at 9:00.

The trial against Momcilo Krajisnik,
a former high-level leader of the Bosnian
Serb political entity, will continue
this week on Thursday and Friday afternoon
at 14:15 in courtroom II. The trial will
sit next week Monday at 14:15 in courtroom
II and Tuesday through Friday at 9:00
in courtroom II.

Office of the Prosecutor:

Florence Hartmann, Spokesperson for
the Office of the Prosecutor, announced
that the Prosecutor was currently in
Banja Luka and Belgrade and that she
would be meeting with EU Enlargement
Commissioner Olli Rhen on Friday, 31
March in Brussels.

Questions:

Asked if there were any results
on the Tribunal enquiry or the Dutch
enquiry into the death of Slobodan Milosevic,
Milenov answered that the Tribunal had
not received anything further from the
Dutch authorities and that the internal
enquiry was still underway. Milenov said
that she could not comment on the Dutch
enquiry and when further results could
be expected.

In terms of the internal enquiries,
Milenov pointed out that there were two
that were ongoing at the moment, one
into the death of Milan Babic and the
other into the death of Slobodan Milosevic.
Both enquiries were being headed by Vice
President Judge Kevin Parker and involved
interviewing witnesses and reviewing
documentation, said Milenov. The enquiries
were well under way and until they were
completed not much could be said.

Asked if there were any results
on the external probe into the Detention
Unit, Milenov answered that the Tribunal
was in the process of finalizing this
week with a Scandanavian country to conduct
an audit into the Detention Unit. Milenov
said that as soon as the arrangements
were finalized it would be announced.

Documents: