ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 22nd Jun 2006

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

ICTY Weekly Press Briefing

Date: 21.06.2006

Time: 12:00 p.m.

Registry and Chambers:

Three new ad litem Judges have been appointed to the ICTY and will be sworn-in in the coming weeks: this Tuesday, at 9am in courtroom 1, Judge Ali Nawaz Chowhan (Pakistan) and Judge Tsvetana Kamenova (Bulgaria) will make their Solemn Declaration. Judge Kimberly Prost (Canada) will do the same on Monday 3 July at 4:30 p.m in courtroom 1.

Judge Chowhan and Judge Kamenova will be assigned to the trial in the case Milutinovic et al., while Judge Prost will sit in the case Popovic et al.

Both trials, involving multiple accused, are due to start on 10 July and 14 July respectively.

COURT PROCEEDINGS:

Following the timely completion of the Prosecution case, there will be no more proceeding in the trial of Milan Martic until next Monday when at 14:15 in courtroom I the Trial Chamber will hear oral submissions pursuant to rule 98bis.

The Vukovar trial of former Yugoslav Army high-ranking officers Mile Mrkšić, Miroslav Radić and Veselin Šljivančanin, will continue this and next week in courtroom I, sitting from 9:30 to 16:30 today and next Tuesday. On Friday it will sit from 9:00 to 13:45 and next Monday from 12:30 to 17:00.

The trial of Momcilo Krajisnik will continue in courtroom II, sitting today at 14:15. Tomorrow it will sit in the afternoon and on Thursday from 9:00 to 15:00, with a break from 11:00 to 12:30. On Friday morning the trial will move to courtroom III, returning to courtroom II next week, sitting in the mornings.

The proceedings against the six accused in the Prlic et al. case Jadranko Prlic, Bruno Stojic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petkovic, Valentin Coric and Berislav Pusic, former high-ranking political and military officials of the then Herceg-Bosna continues. Next week the case will sit Monday at 14:15 and Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:00 to 17:15.

WITH REGARDS TO CHAMBERS FILINGS:

The trial of Josip Jovic on charges of contempt of court has been scheduled to take place on Monday 3 July, before Trial Chamber III. If necessary, it will continue on Wednesday 5 July.

Last Friday, Trial Chamber I, dismissed a Motion by the Defence for Momcilo Krajisnik which was seeking for Judge Canivell to be declared unable to continue sitting in the case. The Bench found that the SC Resolution which extended Judge Canivell’s mandate as an ad litem Judge (1668/2006) was a mere administrative act, allowing the Chamber to complete the case without any further undue delay, and did not constitute an interference by the Security Council in the judicial functions of the Tribunal.

Finally, two Decisions concerning the case The Prosecutor v. Vojislav Seselj:

- On 15 June, the President of the Tribunal, Judge Fausto Pocar, denied a request by the Accused who had requested that those detainees who had reached a plea agreement with the Office of the Prosecutor be segregated from the other detainees. The President also issued a warning to Vojislav Seselj, saying that any other Motion containing statements of an insulting or otherwise offensive nature will not be considered.

- On 16 June, Trial Chamber I dismissed a Motion by the accused raising various matters and reminded him of his obligation not to disclose confidential material to any unauthorized person, including his so-called expert team.

Office of the Prosecutor:

Anton Nikiforov, Advisor to the Prosecutor and acting Spokesperson of the Office of the Prosecutor, made the following statement:

I have only one announcement to make: today, the Prosecutor Del Ponte is travelling to Monaco to attend the Crans Montana Forum ‘Addressing a New World’. She will participate in a session which is dealing with the challenges of fighting crimes against humanity tomorrow, Friday. The session will also be attended by other practitioners of criminal law, including war crime Prosecutor from Belgrade Vladimir Vukčević, and State Prosecutor from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Marinko Jurčević The session will be chaired by former Secretary General of Council of Europe, Mr. Walter Schwimmer.

Questions:

A journalist referred to the start of the Popovic et al. case on 14 July 2006. Asked whether or not opening statements would be given on this day, Chartier said that the scheduling order indicated that the trial would begin by discussing procedural matters. The opening statements and the presentation of evidence by the Prosecution would take place after the summer recess.

Nikiforov added that the Prosecutor would attend the start of the trial on 14 July and will have a statement during the proceedings, which will be more than procedural and is expected to be of interest.

Asked what procedural matters were on the agenda since it was unusual to have a procedural hearing before the opening statements, Charter said that the order does not specify the agenda but that it was not unusual. Chartier pointed out that recently a similar procedural hearing took place in the opening of the Prlic et al. case. The Presiding judge asked the Prosecution how evidence was to be presented, how much time was needed and discussed with the defence how to share the time for cross examination.

Asked if this typically took place in a pre-trial conference, Chartier said yes, but that this was a highly complicated case dealing with eight accused, like the Milutinovic et al. case involving six accused. Charter said that these matters needed to be discussed publicly and that it was a sign of transparency.

Asked if Chambers would call its witnesses next week in the Krajisnik case and if so was there a list available, Chartier said yes was true but that a list of witnesses was never provided. He had not seen any order with such a list.

Asked which judge was presiding in the Milutinovic et al. case, Chartier answered that Judge Bonomy was presiding on the case.

Asked if there was a comment on the separate opinion of Judge Bonomy in the Blaskic contempt cases, Nikiforov said that the Prosecution would make a comment in court on 3 July in the proceedings against Josip Jovic. He said that no motion could be filed in regard to a separate opinion to the decision.

Chartier said that it was important to note that in Jude Bonomy’s opinion he agreed with the final outcome to grant the Prosecution’s motion to dismiss the indictment.

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