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ICTY Weekly Press Briefing
Date: 27.02.2008
Time: 13:00
Registry and Chambers:
Nerma Jelačić, Spokesperson for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:
Good morning,
Dragan Zelenović, a former Bosnian Serb soldier, was today transferred to Belgium to serve his 15 year sentence of imprisonment for torture and rape of women and girls in the town of Foča in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1992. On 17 January 2007, Zelenović pleaded guilty to seven counts of rape, including gang rape, and torture of women and girls, one of them merely 15 years old, following the take over of Foča municipality by Serb forces in April 1992
Yesterday Trial Chamber I issued its 98bis ruling in the Rasim Delić case in which it acquitted the accused of count three of the indictment. In this count the prosecution alleged Delic was responsible for the failure to prevent rape of three Bosnian Serb women in the El Mujahed-run camp of Kamenica in late 1995. The Trial Chamber ruled Delic had a case to answer in respect of the other counts: murder and cruel treatment. The defence will begin presenting its case next Tuesday, 4 March 2008 when the first defence witness will take the stand.
Last Friday, the Appeals Chamber stayed the order to provisionally release Jadranko Prlić, Bruno Stojić, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petković and Valentin Čorić. All five accused have filed their response to the Prosecution’s appeal for the provisional release to be revoked. We are now waiting for the Appeals Chamber to rule on the matter.
This Friday morning, there will be a status conference in the case of Milan Martić in courtroom I at 9:30.
Please note that the decision in the 98bis hearing in the Popović et al. case will take place on 3 March at 2:15 in courtroom III.
As regards the trials for Šešelj, Boškoski and Tarčulovski, and Milutinović et al., these continue as scheduled.
And lastly, please be advised that there will be no press briefing here next week as both the Prosecution Spokesperson and I will be in Zagreb holding a media event for Croatian media.
Office of the Prosecutor:
Olga Kavran, Spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor, made the following statement:
Prosecutor Serge Brammertz will be in Zagreb tomorrow and Friday and in Sarajevo next week, on Thursday and Friday. These will be his first official visits to the region of the former Yugoslavia and their purpose is to meet with the representatives of the local authorities and the international community involved in issues of cooperation.
In Zagreb, there will be a brief media opportunity at approximately 5.15 PM on Thursday, at the Ministry of Justice.
A brief media opportunity is planned for Sarajevo as well. Since there will be no press briefing, we will issue a press advisory with the details next week.
Questions:
Asked whether Serge Brammertz still had plans to visit Belgrade, Olga Kavran responded that the visit was still planned but that no dates have been confirmed yet. The Prosecutor is hoping to go as soon as possible but is mindful of the current situation in Belgrade.
Related to the media opportunity in Zagreb, a journalist asked whether this will be the first press conference held by the Prosecutor, upon which Olga Kavran replied that the Prosecutor will not hold a press conference but will give a brief statement to the media.
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