| Press Release |
APPEALS CHAMBER
|
| (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) |
|
The Hague, 12 November 2002
JP/PLS/711e
Amended Indictment against Ratko Mladic
On 8 November 2002, following a request from the Office of the Prosecutor, Judge Orie issued an “Order Granting Leave to File an Amended Indictment and Confirming the Amended Indictment”, against Ratko Mladić.
On 11 October 2002, the Prosecutor requested leave to amend the two outstanding indictments against Ratko Mladi} and sought confirmation of the Amended Indictment. These submissions were assigned to Judge Orie for consideration.
The first Indictment against Radovan Karadzić and Ratko Mladič was originally filed on 24 July 1995 and was confirmed by Judge Jorda on 25 July 1995. The sixteen-count Indictment charged the Accused with:
- One count of genocide.
- Three counts of crimes against humanity, including persecution on political, racial and religious grounds and the sniping campaign against the civilian population of Sarajevo.
- Five counts of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including the unlawful confinement of civilians in detention facilities, the extensive destruction of property, the appropriation and plunder of property and the unlawful taking of United Nations peacekeepers as hostages and using them as human shields.
- Seven counts of violations of the laws and customs of war, including the unlawful confinement of civilians, shelling civilian gatherings, destruction of sacred sites, appropriation and plunder of property, sniping at civilians in Sarajevo and the unlawful taking of United Nations peacekeepers as hostages and using them as human shields
The second Indictment was originally filed on 14 November 1995 and was confirmed
by Judge Riad on 16 November 1995. This twenty-count Indictment charged the Accused with:
- One count of genocide.
- Ten counts of crimes against humanity, including extermination and murder.
- Nine counts of violations of the laws and customs of war, namely murder.
The Prosecutor’s Amended Indictment, filed on 11 October 2002, consolidated the first and second Indictments and reduced the total number of charges, leaving only the most serious counts. In the Prosecutor’s view, these amendments were more in keeping with the current charging practices of the Office of the Prosecutor and reflected the evolving jurisprudence of the Tribunal. The Prosecutor also submitted that the Amended Indictment would provide an appropriate basis for a motion of joinder with the Amended Indictment against Radovan Karadzić.
The Amended Indictment charges Ratko Mladi} under Articles 7(1) and 7(3) with:
- One count of genocide. One count of complicity in genocide.
- Seven counts of crimes against humanity, including persecution on political, racial and religious grounds, extermination, murder, deportation and other inhumane acts.
- Six counts of violations of the laws or customs of war, including murder, unlawfully inflicting terror upon civilians, taking of hostages and other inhumane acts.
In his “Order Granting Leave to File an Amended Indictment and Confirming the Amended Indictment”, of 8 November 2002, Judge Orie agreed that ‘the consolidated Amended Indictment will expedite the proceedings should Ratko Mladi} be arrested’ and therefore granted the Prosecutor’s request to file the Amended Indictment.
Judge Orie confirmed the Amended Indictment in respect of each and every count therein.
*****
The full text of the Amended Indictment is available upon request from the
Public Information Services of the ICTY. It is also available on the ICTY Internet site: www.un.org/icty
*****
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
For more information, please contact our Media Office in The Hague
Tel.: +31-70-512-8752; 512-5343; 512-5356 Fax: +31-70-512-5355 - Email: press [at] icty.org
Follow ICTY on Twitter and Youtube