ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 12th Sep 2006

ICTY Weekly Press Briefing

Date: 12.09.2006

Time: 13:00

Registry and Chambers:

Refik Hodzic made the following statement:

Good afternoon to all.

We’ll start by announcing a Plenary which is to take place tomorrow. The judges will meet to discuss the ways to speed up trials at the trial stage and the possible changes of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence to accommodate this. We should have more information about the concrete measures adopted after the Plenary.

I will put on the record yesterday’s visit of Clint Williamson, the United States Ambassador at Large for War Crimes. In his second visit to the ICTY since appointment in June, Ambassador Williamson met the President, Prosecutor and Registrar to discuss a range of issues. In the meeting with Ambassador Williamson, the President discussed the implementation of completion strategy. He insisted that it was of paramount importance for the successful implementation of it to have Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic brought before the Tribunal. He reiterated that the Tribunal will not close its doors until Karadzic and Mladic are brought to The Hague.

As regards protocol, on Thursday we expect a delegation led by the Prime Minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, who will meet with the President and the Prosecutor. There will be a photo opportunity at the beginning of the meeting with the President which is to be held at 9:30. The details will be forwarded to you in a press advisory in the course of tomorrow.

WITH REGARD TO THE COURT SCHEDULE:

It will be another busy week in the courtrooms, with all current five trials continuing.

There are also a number of status conferences and other hearings scheduled for this week, the first one in the Seselj case on Thursday at 2.15pm in courtroom II.

On Friday, there will be a status conference in the Trbic case at 8.00am in courtroom III.

At 2.15, also in courtroom III, there will be an 11bis hearing in the case of Milan and Sredoje Lukic. 30 minutes after this hearing finishes, there will be a status conference in the Kovacevic case immediately followed by an 11bis hearing in the same case.

IN TERMS OF COURT FILINGS, the following should be singled out:

The Tribunal yesterday issued an indictment charging Domagoj Margetić with contempt of Court for allegedly publishing the identities of protected witnesses in the Blaškić case on the internet between 7 July 2006 and 2 August 2006.

The indictment states that, through his actions, Margetić ‘undermined confidence in the Tribunal’s ability to grant protective measures’ and by such acts interfered with witnesses who have given or are about to give evidence before the tribunal or are potential witnesses.

In a decision issued yesterday, the President of the Tribunal dismissed a request by Vojislav Seselj "to remove all obstacles that restrict equality of all television and radio stations to broadcast the Seselj’s trial." The President dismissed the request as being without merit, following a response by the Deputy Registrar from 31st of August, which states that "the Tribunal has consistently pursued a policy of transparency and openness with regard to public and media access to trial proceedings. (…) At no time has a television been denied access to this system or granted exclusive or privileged rights to broadcast".

In the same case, the President issued an order appointing the following judges to the Appeals Chamber to decide on the Appeal against The Appointment of Counsel filed on 4 September by Seselj’s former Standby Counsel who is appearing as Seselj’s counsel for the purposes of this interlocutory appeal. The judges sitting in this appeal will be: Judge Fausto Pocar, Judge Mohamed Shahabuddeen, Judge Mehmet Güney, Judge Andrésia Vaz, Judge Theodor Meron.

And lastly, in the case of Milan Martic, the Trial Chamber issued a scheduling order on 7 September ordering that the Defence concludes presentation of evidence by 20 November. According to the Order, closing argument by the Prosecution will be given on 10 January 2007, the Defence on 11 January 2007 and closing argument in rebuttal and rejoinder, if any, on 12 January 2007.

Office of the Prosecutor:

Anton Nikiforov, Advisor to the Prosecutor and acting Spokesperson of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), made no statement.

Questions:

A journalist pointed out that the indictment for Domagoj Margetic stated that he was on provisional release for health reasons. Asked if this could be confirmed and if so, what action would the Tribunal take to ensure that he would return, Hodzic confirmed that the Tribunal had been informed that Margetic had been released by the cantonal court in Zagreb. Hodzic said that the indictment was issued yesterday and that there was a valid order of transfer since there was no arrest warrant for the indictment but the order of transfer still stands.

Asked why Margetic was indicted again and if it was because the charge was more serious this time, Nikiforov answered that Margetic revealed the names of protected witnesses including people who testified under specific measures, state officials or people working for international organizations. He added that some of these witnesses were very vulnerable to attacks and that it was done with a clear knowledge of a court order for non-disclosure of the information. The prosecution brought it to the attention of the Chamber and was ordered to prosecute the case.

Asked how Margetic gained access to the witness names, Nikiforov said that in the previous case against Margetic it was a result of the disclosure obligation on the part of the prosecution to release the materials relevant for the defence.

Hodzic added that according to the indictment Margetic was fully aware of the confidentiality of the information that he received and he stated so on the website in the accompanying letter that was posted alongside the information on the witnesses. Hodzic said it was a blatant violation of the order and goes against one of the pillars of the Tribunal, to protect witnesses in war crime trials.

Asked if the prosecution had considered or was considering to disclose the evidence only to an assigned counsel for the accused like Margetic to avoid the sharing of confidential information twice, Nikiforov stated there was a constant debate in the Tribunal on the disclosure obligations, internal and institutional and in a number of cases, and the prosecution specifically is very often criticized for not fulfilling this obligation. In this case, the prosecution was sensitive to this particular situation and in exercising its obligation released relevant information to the accused, said Nikiforov.

Asked if there were details on the discussions between the US Ambassador At-Large for War Crimes, Clint Williamson, and the Prosecutor, Nikiforov said that the primary points of discussion were the remaining accused at large and the cooperation of the states concerned, mainly the co-operation of Belgrade authorities. Nikiforov added that Ambassador Williamson would be in the region this week and that he would be delivering appropriate messages to the relevant authorities.

Asked when the Prosecutor would submit her assessment to the EU, Nikiforov stated that so far there was no request of the EU and no precise date for such assessment but that there was an indication that it could be the end of this month or the beginning of the next month. Nikiforov added that the Prosecutor had not been formally invited yet to give the assessment.

Asked if there had been any significant changes in the cooperation with Belgrade, Nikiforov said that he would leave this to the Prosecutor to assess in her report to the EU. He added that the Prosecutor had made a few comments in Vienna and that he would not go beyond these comments. He said to leave it for Belgrade to deliver on promises and the action plan in a manner that would produce results.

Document List: