ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 19th Sep 2007

ICTY Weekly Press Briefing

Date: 19.09.2007

Time: 12:00

Registry and Chambers:

Refik Hodžić, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:

The judgement against Mile Mrkšić, Miroslav Radić and Veselin Šljivančanin, former military commanders in the Yugoslav Peoples Army (JNA) indicted for crimes allegedly committed after the fall of the Croatian city of Vukovar in November 1991, is scheduled for next Thursday, 27 September at 3.30pm.

The indictment against Mrkšić, Radić and Šljivančanin alleges that following the siege of Vukovar, which fell to the JNA and Serb paramilitary forces on 18 November 1991, the units under the command or supervision of the three accused removed about 400 non-Serb individuals from the Vukovar Hospital where they sought refuge believing they would be evacuated in the presence of international observers. Some 300 persons, including the wounded, were transported to a farm building in Ovčara, where they were beaten and otherwise mistreated. On about 20 November 1991, the Serb soldiers transported their captives in groups of about 10 to 20 to a site between the Ovčara farm and Grabovo, where they shot and otherwise killed at least 264 of them. After the killings, the bodies of the victims were buried by bulldozer in a mass grave at the same location.

All three accused are charged with persecutions, extermination, murder, torture, inhumane acts and cruel treatment for their alleged role in these crimes. The trial against Mile Mrkšić, Miroslav Radić and Veselin Šljivančanin commenced on 11 October 2005 and concluded on 16 March 2007. A total of 88 witnesses were heard and over 800 exhibits tendered.

Also next Thursday 27 September, the Appeals Chamber judgement is scheduled in the case against former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) officers Fatmir Limaj, Isak Musliu and Haradin Bala, at 2 p.m. in courtroom I.

Both former KLA commanders Fatmir Limaj and Isak Musliu were found not guilty of all charges regarding their alleged involvement in crimes committed at the Llapushnik/Lapušnik prison camp in Kosovo in 1998. The Trial Chamber found Haradin Bala, a guard at the camp, guilty of torture, cruel treatment and murder and sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment. Bala was convicted for his personal role in the "maintenance and enforcement of the inhumane conditions" of the camp; aiding the torture of one prisoner and participation in the murder of nine prisoners from the camp who were marched to the Berishe/Beriša Mountains on 25 or 26 July 1998 and murdered.

On 30 December 2005, the Prosecution and the Defence for Haradin Bala filed their notices of appeal. On 29 March 2006 the Prosecution filed a motion of appeal against the acquittals of Fatmir Limaj and Isak Musliu. The appeals hearing was held on 5 and 6 June 2007.

SCHEDULE:

There will be no hearing in the Haradinaj et al case next week but all other cases will sit.

There are two status conferences scheduled for next week. On Tuesday in the Milan Martić case at 8.00am in courtroom II and on Thursday in the Šešelj case at 9.00am in courtroom III. As you may be aware, the start of the trial in the Šešelj case has been scheduled for 7 November, when the Prosecution will deliver its opening statement. The accused will have the opportunity for the opening statement the following day and the first witness will be heard on 14 November. The pre-trial conference in this case will be held on 6 November.

Office of the Prosecutor:

Olga Kavran, Spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor, made the following statement:

ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte will travel to Belgrade tomorrow. During her visit, the Prosecutor will meet with President Boris Tadić, Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica as well as other individuals involved in the operational aspect of cooperation with the Tribunal.

The purpose of the visit is to meet with authorities at the political and operational level to assess what, if any, progress was made in the past three months. As you all know, at the beginning of the summer, the cooperation of Belgrade with the Tribunal started again and the government and relevant services expressed and demonstrated their commitment to this cooperation. However, three months have passed since then and the Prosecutor expects more results. Following the visit, at the request of the European Union, the Prosecutor will prepare her assessment and present it the EU.

There will be no media opportunities during this visit.

Questions:

Referring to a piece in today’s Juterni List newspaper, a journalist asked whether the decision by the Appeals Chamber to reject the OTP request to lift the confidentiality from the decisions related to ‘SDC transcripts’ in the Milošević case was available. Hodžić replied that he was not aware of such a public document.

Asked to comment on possible investigations by the Serb prosecutor into an agreement for impunity for Karadžić and whether there had been any contact on this issue between the Serb prosecutor and Carla Del Ponte, Kavran answered that the Serb prosecutor was part of the team dealing with cooperation with the Tribunal so Mme. Del Ponte would be meeting with him and others in Belgrade. The discussions would focus on cooperation: anything that had to do with the remaining four fugitives and their arrest and transfer to the Tribunal, as well as anything to do with OTP requests for documents and issues related to witnesses would be discussed. Kavran could not, however, refer to specific topics.

Documents:

*****