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Please
note that this is not a verbatim transcript of the Press Briefing. It is merely
a summary.
ICTY
Weekly Press Briefing
Date:
17 May 2000
Time:
11:30 a.m.
REGISTRY
AND CHAMBERS
Jim
Landale, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers made the following statement:
President
Jorda is very concerned by the reports of Ojdanic’s visit to Russia last week.
The Prosecutor has requested that the President take action on this and so he
will be writing a letter today to the Russian Ambassador to the Netherlands
asking for clarification and an explanation on what would appear to be a significant
issue of non-compliance by a permanent member of the Security Council.
I
would also like to remind you that at the time that the indictment was issued
a copy of the indictment, along with an international arrest warrant was sent
to all permanent members of the Security Council in New York, so claims in the
media that they were unaware Ojdanic had been indicted are not accurate. In
addition, I think it is fair to say that the Milosevic indictment is probably
the most famous and widely publicized indictment issued by this Tribunal so
far.
In
the Foca case, on 15 May, Trial Chamber II ordered that the Defence may disclose
the witness statements of specified protected witnesses to medical experts as
detailed in the order. Copies will be available after this.
The
Galic provisional release hearing that was due to take place tomorrow has been
postponed at the request of the Defence. No new date has been set, although
the Defence has suggested 8 June when the next status conference has been scheduled.
In
the Bosanski Samac case, an order on the request for the provisional release
of Milan Simic was issued yesterday. Simic has 14 days in which to file certain
guarantees.
In
the Celebici appeal, we have received a list of witnesses to be called in connection
with Landzo’s fourth ground of appeal and witness statements in the form of
affidavits have been attached.
Finally,
a reminder that the Krstic trial will resume next Monday, 22 May.
OFFICE OF THE
PROSECUTOR
Paul
Risley, Spokesman for the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) made no statement.
QUESTIONS:
Asked whether
a copy of the letter from the President to the Russian Embassy would be made
available, Landale replied that once it had been sent and received, he would
ask for a copy to be provided.
Asked whether
he believed that it was strange for the President of Montenegro to be in The
Hague but not visit the Tribunal, Landale replied that he did not believe
it was strange as the President’s visit to The Hague was on completely separate
issues.
Risley added
that the Prosecutor and Deputy Prosecutor were away from The Hague today.
Asked whether
the visit by Ojdanic was the first visit outside of the former Yugoslavia
by any of the five indictees on the Milosevic indictment, Risley believed
that this was the first visit outside of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
by any of the five indicted on May 26 1999.
Asked whether
there was any news concerning the seizure of assets of any of the five individuals
on the Milosevic indictment, Risley replied that a very important aspect of
the OTP’s investigations included reviewing and seizing, if possible, the
assets of these individuals.
Asked whether
any of these assets had been identified or frozen by the Tribunal and whether
any of the UN Member states had attempted to seize them, Risley reemphasized
that it was a very important part of the investigation, however, he declined
to comment further in case it in anyway assisted the five indictees involved.
Asked whether
the list of 40 Dutch Bat. soldiers asked to testify in the Krstic case, (due
to resume on Monday) would remain the same or whether the list had been reviewed
and rectified, Risley replied that the Prosecution case would begin to focus
on both the forensic aspects of the case and the evidence brought to bear
by outside sources. He added that it might well be that additional Dutch Bat
soldiers would testify.
Asked for the
attitude of the Prosecutor towards the visit of Ojdanic to Moscow, Risley
replied that the Prosecutor was alarmed by these media reports and would like
to determine whether or not the reports were true and why no steps were taken
to arrest an individual under indictment by this tribunal.
Asked for specifics
on the request from the Prosecutor to the President, Risley replied that it
was clear and to the point and he believed that the President and the Prosecutor
shared a similar view on this matter.
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