Date: 22.04.2009
Time: 12:00
Registry and Chambers:
Nerma Jelačić, Spokesperson for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:
The trial of Sredoje Lukić and Milan Lukić charged with war crimes committed in Višegrad in the early 90’s came to a close yesterday with the Trial Chamber hearing the testimony of the last witness Radomir Šimšic. Closing arguments are scheduled to take place next Monday, 27 April at 14:15 in Courtroom I, pending a decision on a defence motion to postpone the arguments until the week of 18 May.
In the Popović and others case, the testimony of Trial Chamber’s witness Momir Nikolić, which started yesterday, is expected to last two more days. His testimony will be followed by two additional OTP witnesses to present rebuttal evidence.
In the Prlić and others case, Bruno Stojić’s defense case is expected to finish next week on 29 April. The defence case of the third accused in the Herzeg-Bosna case, Slobodan Praljak, should start on 4 May with the testimony of the accused himself.
The trials for Vlastimir Ðorđević and Momcilo Perišić, Prlić and others and Popović and others will continue this week and next as scheduled.
I wish to highlight one key decision:
The Tribunal's Vice-President, Judge Kwon, yesterday dismissed Radovan Karadžić’s request for reversal of limitations of contact with a Dutch journalist. In an earlier decision, Karadžić had been permitted contact with the journalist remotely via written correspondence, telephone calls, or whatever other means the Registrar deemed appropriate. The Registrar responded that conducting the interview via written communication would be the most appropriate way to ensure the protection of confidential information. Judge Kwon found the Registrar’s conclusion reasonable and denied Karadžić’s request to be interviewed through a monitored phone call.
Office of the Prosecutor:
Olga Kavran, Spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor, made the following statement:
Prosecutor Serge Brammertz will be in London today and tomorrow where he will meet with Ms. Caroline Flint, Minister for Europe as well as other officials of the British Foreign Office.
This working visit is a part of the Prosecutor’s regular contacts with member states of the European Union and permanent members of the UN Security Council.
The topics of the meetings will be the work of the ICTY, the Tribunal's Completion Strategy as well as the cooperation of states with the Office of the Prosecutor.
Questions:
A journalist asked about Javier Solana’s response regarding access to EUMM’s archives, Nerma Jelačić responded that Solana’s response will be made available soon.
Asked whether the Prosecution received the artillery documents from the Croatian government, Olga Kavran responded that no progress has been made to date. The OTP has been seeking to obtain the documents for over two years, since November 2006. A binding Order was issued by the Judges to Croatia in September 2008. Some documents in respect to the special police were handed over to the OTP but the various artillery documents are still missing. In February 2009, the Croatian officials agreed that 23 of the more than 100 documents the Prosecution is still seeking were created and did exist at one point in time, but since then, no relevant documents have been submitted to the OTP.