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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: 3 June 1999
Time: 11.30 a.m.
REGISTRY
AND CHAMBERS
Today, Jim Landale, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers, made the following
announcements:
In the Delalic
and Others case:
On 31 May 1999,
the Appeals Chamber (Judges Riad, Presiding, Wang, Nieto-Navia, Hunt and Bennouna)
denied Hazim Delics "Request, filed on 31 May 1999, for Provisional
Release" to attend his mothers funeral on 1 June 1999 in Konjic,
central Bosnia.
The Appeals Chamber
found that it "cannot be satisfied (
) that Hazim Delic,
if released, would appear for appeal proceedings and would not pose a danger
to any victim, witness or other person".
Delic subsequently
filed an "Emergency Motion to reconsider denial of request for Provisional
Release" suggesting conditions of supervised release "to alleviate
any danger of flight or harm to any person".
On 1 June 1999,
the Appeals Chamber rejected the Emergency Motion on the basis that no new facts
had been disclosed.
In the Blaskic
case:
Further to the
Trial Chambers Decision of 12 May 1999 (see Update 77), and subsequent
correspondence from General Philippe Morillon requesting that his appearance
as a witness be postponed. On 28 May 1999, Trial Chamber I (Judges Jorda (Presiding),
Shahabuddeen and Rodrigues) ordered that General Morillon must give his evidence
before the Trial Chamber on 21 June 1999 and that the protective and organisational
measures previously ordered would remain in place.
With regard to
General Milivoje Petkovic, the Croatian Government has requested the Trial Chamber
to allow him to provide his testimony via video link from Croatia, citing his
current "critical command position" and the ongoing conflict in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). The Government has also requested that
General Petkovic be provided with additional protective measures, as permitted
by the Tribunals Rules of Procedure and Evidence. The Trial Chamber is
considering this request and we will inform you of any developments.
OFFICE
OF THE PROSECUTOR
Paul Risley, Spokesman
for the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), announced that the Chief Prosecutor
was in Kigali today and was attending a plenary session of the Rwanda Tribunal
tomorrow in Arusha. He also announced that the Deputy Prosecutor would travel
to New York today.
QUESTIONS:
Asked how the
Croatian Government had justified General Petkovic not coming to The Hague
to give testimony, Landale replied that the letter had said the General was
part of the Croatian armys presence on the border with the FRY at what
they said was a very sensitive time and therefore was very busy and could
not attend.
Asked how the
OTP saw the outcome of the current peace talks in Belgrade, Risley replied
that the Chief Prosecutor had said publicly that she had respect for the people
trying to negotiate peace but that the Tribunals role was to see justice
for those individuals who had been wronged in the area.
Asked whether
the Tribunal and OTP would view not being mentioned in a peace agreement as
a hurdle to entry to Kosovo, Risley refused to comment without seeing an agreement.
Asked about
the situation at Rambouillet when the President of the Tribunal gave a press
conference that implied that the Tribunal was involved in the negotiating
process, was this still the case, Risley replied that the OTP had clear contacts
with those organisations who were seeking an agreement. The Chief Prosecutor
had made her views known both publicly and privately, he said.
Landale said
the President had made clear on a number of occasions her support for the
Chief Prosecutors stand on any prospective peace agreement with regard
to access to Kosovo.
Asked whether
any indication had been received that a draft peace agreement might weaken
the position of the Tribunal, Risley and Landale replied that no such indication
had been received.
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