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Press Release · Communiqué de presse
(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document)
CC/PIO/022-E
The Hague, 4 October 1995
FIRST WITNESSES TO GIVE EVIDENCE IN OPEN COURT IN THE NIKOLIC CASE
As of Monday 9 October 1995 at 10 a.m., the Judges of Trial Chamber I will hear in public the evidence supporting the indictment issued on 4 November 1994 against Dragan NIKOLIC. In submitting this evidence, the Prosecutor will also call before the Trial Chamber witnesses, who will be the first to testify in open court before the International Tribunal, subject to any protective
measures that may be ordered in respect of individual witnesses. The number and identity of the witnesses will remain confidential until further notice.
Expected to last at least one week, this hearing is the first ever application of Rule 61 of the International Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence.
Rule 61 Proceedings: "the voice of the victims"
Please refer to the attached Information Memorandum (also available in French upon request).
The Nikolic Case : background information
The first person to be indicted by the International Tribunal (November 1994), Dragan NIKOLIC, also known as "Jenki" Nikolic, was, in the summer of 1992, the commander of a camp at Susica, in north-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Set up within one month after the take-over by Serbian forces of the Bosnian city of Vlasenica, on about 21 April 1992, this camp was closed down in
September 1992. The population of the camp was at most times in excess of 500 detainees. Between the inception of the camp and its closure, as many as 8000 Muslim civilians may have passed through it. The detainees were guarded by some twelve soldiers commanded by Dragan NIKOLIC.
Accused, among other charges, of killing 8 detainees, of torturing 10 others, of causing great suffering or serious injuries to 3 others, and of the deportation, confinement and persecution of more than 500 civilians, Dragan NIKOLIC is charged with crimes against humanity, violations of the laws or customs of war and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.
Media Arrangements
Since the hearing is public, media representatives are invited to attend. Accreditation procedure and technical practicalities will soon be arranged. Journalists are requested to contact the Press Office.
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