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ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 14th Dec 2005

ICTY Weekly Press Briefing

  ICTY WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING Latest
Developments

Please note that this
is not a verbatim transcript of the Press
Briefing. It is merely a summary.


Date: 14.12.2005

Time: 12:05


Registry and Chambers:


Jim Landale, Spokesman for Registry
and Chambers, made the following statement:


Good afternoon,


The President of the Tribunal, Judge
Fausto Pocar, will be addressing the
Security Council in New York tomorrow.
We will distribute his speech as soon
as we can after he has delivered it.


As you will have noted, this is the
last week of court proceedings before
the winter court recess. Trials are due
to resume again as of 9 January 2006,
although the Tribunal is open and staffed
throughout the recess period.


A court schedule for the proceedings
in January 2006 will be available on
our website in due course.


This is my last press briefing here
at the Tribunal.


I wish you all a very happy holiday
season and all the very best for 2006.


Office of the Prosecutor:


Anton Nikiforov, Special Advisor of
the Prosecutor, made the following statement:


I just want to make one clarification.
We noticed that the UN News Centre made
a little mistake in regard to the recent
decision in the Milosevic case. They
said that the ICTY denied the request
by the accused to sever the Kosovo indictment.
This is obviously not correct – the
request was not submitted by the accused.


The Prosecutor will also address the
Security Council tomorrow and in due
course we will distribute her speech.


Questions:


Asked to comment on reports from Belgrade
that the OTP was unhappy with the latest
dossier sent by the Belgrade authorities
to the Tribunal and whether it was true
that several of the pages pertaining
to General Mladic were in fact blank,
Nikiforov confirmed that the OTP was
still not satisfied with the co-operation
from Belgrade. He added that the question
of the Mladic file had now been going
on for more than two years as referred
to in the application for an order under
Rule 54bis. He reiterated that
the OTP was not happy with the documents
it had received, adding that the new
pages, heralded by Belgrade as being
extraordinary and new, contained no information
on Mladic. They were part of the file
and he stressed that it was normal to
find empty pages in a file. The pages
were numbered and thus part of the file
but they did not provide anything new.
He reiterated that the OTP was still
not satisfied because it still believed
that some things were missing from the
army personnel file such as recommendations
for promotion. He further stated that
Mladic was extraordinarily promoted several
times in Belgrade, so there should be
some assessment. This assessment was
missing.


Asked if he thought the blank pages
were a forgery, Nikiforov stated that
they were not. He stated that the Belgrade
authorities claimed that they had sent
the full, present file. He added that
the OTP believed there must be something
else in the file. This was part of the
OTP’s recent rule 54bis filing
in which it asked the court to order
the documents to be produced. He stated
that the OTP was awaiting a response
and added that it was not known whether
anybody had at some stage removed some
of the pages from the file.


Asked to confirm the speculation from
Belgrade that the part of the Prosecutor’s
speech to the Security Council concerning
Serbia and Montenegro would be negative,
Nikiforov responded that he could not
discuss specifics but that generally,
apart from commenting on the completion
strategy, the Prosecutor would also make
an assessment of the co-operation with
different states and confirmed that there
would be a critical assessment of the
co-operation provided by Serbia and Montenegro.


In response to a question as to whether
the Prosecution was preparing a joinder
motion to link the Gotovina case to the
Cermak and Markac case, Nikiforov answered
that they were. He added that the crime
base was the same in both cases.


In relation to the recent order not
to allow the re-opening of the Prosecutor’s
case in the Milosevic trial to allow
it to introduce new evidence, a journalist
asked whether it would be possible to
hear some of these witnesses during rebuttal.
Nikiforov answered that all options were
being considered, including appealing
the decision and rebuttal. He could not
go into the various options as the Prosecution
team was still looking into them and
it would therefore be premature to go
into the options now. He added that the
Prosecution team was keen for the new
evidence to be heard, not only the Scorpions
video but other documents as well.


Documents:


Case

Date

Document
title

Gotovina

09/12/2005

Order
Assigning A Case To A Trial Chamber

Martic

09/12/2005

Decision
On Prosecution's Motion To Amend
Its Rule 65 Ter Witness List

Jankovic
G. et al.

09/12/2005

Submission
Of The Deputy Registrar Pursuant
To Rule 33 (B) On The Transfer
Of Mr. Gojko Jankovic To Bosnia
And Herzegovina

Milutinovic
et al.

09/12/2005

General
Ojdanic's Response To United States
Request For Stay Of Execution Of
Decision On Second Application
For Binding Orders Pursuant To
Rule 54bis

Milutinovic
et al.

09/12/2005

Request
Of The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
For An Extension Of The Stay Of
The Decision On Second Application
Of Dragoljub Ojdanic For Binding
Orders Pursuant To Rule 54bis Pending
Appeal Of The Decision

Cermak & Markac

09/12/2005

Decision
On The Prosecution's Motion For
Modification Of The Trial Chamber's
Decision Issued On 19 October 2005

Milosevic

09/12/2005

Prosecution's
Application For An Order Pursuant
To Rule 54bis Directing Serbian
And Montenegro To Comply With Outstanding
Requests For Assistance

Mrksic

09/12/2005

Joint
Defence Rule 94bis Notice

Mejakic
et al.

12/12/2005

Decision
On Defendant Dusan Fustar's Motion
To Reconsider

Seselj

12/12/2005

Decision
On Request Of The Accused For Trial
Chamber Ii To Issue An Order For
The Trial To Commence By 24 February
2006 Or An Order To Abolish Detention,
Dismis The Indictment And Release
Dr Vojislav Seselj (Submission
Number 116)

Gotovina

12/12/2005

Scheduling
Order For Initial Appearance

Lukic
et al

12/12/2005

Defence
Counsel's Response To Prosecution's
Motion To Suspend Consideration
Of Rule 11 Bis Request

Gotovina

12/12/2005

Order
For Detention On Remand

Gotovina

12/12/2005

Order
For Release Of Audio-Visual Record
And Permitting Photography

Gotovina

12/12/2005

Order
Designating Judge For Initial Appearance

Milosevic

12/12/2005

Prosecution
Second Motion For Further Action
In Relation To Previous Rule 54bis
Applications

Jankovic
G. et al.

12/12/2005

Prosecutor's
Submission Concerning The Hand
Over Of Material To The State Prosecutor's
Office Of Bosnia And Herzegovina

Gotovina

12/12/2005

Decision
[By The Deputy Registrar Re Assignment
Of Duty Counsel]

Perisic

12/12/2005

Decision
Granting Prosecution Motion To
Amend Indictment

Strugar
et al. (Appeal)

12/12/2005

Defence
Motion: Defence Request For Provisional
Release For Providing Medical Aid
In The Republic Of Montenegro

Milutinovic
(Interlocutory)

12/12/2005

General
Ojdanic's Consolidated Response
To Requests For Review

Milutinovic
(Interlocutory)

12/12/2005

General
Ojdanic's Consolidated Response
To Requests For Review

Blaskic
(Contempt)

12/12/2005

Order
On Scheduling Of Trial And Production
Of Defence Witness-List

Oric

13/12/2005

Decision
On Ongoing Complaints About Prosecutorial
Non-Compliance With Rule 68 Of
The Rules

Milosevic

13/12/2005

Separate
Opinion Of Judge O-Gon Kwon

Krajisnik

13/12/2005

Verification
Of Transcript In Hearing Of 12
December 2005

Rajic

13/12/2005

Order
On Defence Motion For Extension
Of Time To File Sentencing Brief

Milosevic
Dragomir

13/12/2005

Ordonnance
Portant Modification Du Calendrier

Milutinovic
et al.

13/12/2005

Order
Dismissing Requests To Extend The
Stay Of Enforcement Of The Decision
On Second Application Of Dragoljub
Ojdanic For Binding Orders Pursuant
To Rule 54bis

Strugar
et al. (Appeal)

13/12/2005

Prosecution
Response To Defence Request For
Provisional Release For Providing
Aid In The Republic Of Montenegro

Delic

13/12/2005

Decision
On Defence Motion Alleging Defects
In The Form Of The Indictment And
Order On Prosecution Motion To
Amend The Indictment