Prlic and others provisional release stayed

PRLIC AND OTHERS PROVISIONAL RELEASE STAYED

The Hague, 22 February 2008

NJ/MOW/1218e

The Appeals Chamber on 22 February 2008 stayed the orders previously issued by Trial Chamber III on the provisional release of five of the six accused in Prlić and others case.

The order follows yesterday's application filed by the Prosecution seeking leave to appeal the Trial Chamber's decision of 19 February 2008 on the provisional release of Jadranko Prlić, Bruno Stojić, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petković and Valentin Čorić for varying periods of time prior to the scheduled commencement of the defences case in May.

The ruling means that the accused will remain in custody of the Tribunal's Detention Unit until the Appeals Chamber rules on the merits of the Prosecution's appeal.

The Prosecution's filing to the Appeals Chamber came on the back of the Trial Chamber's rejection late yesterday of the same request for stay of the temporary provisional release.

In the same filing before the Appeal's Chamber the Prosecution also asked that the decisions to provisionally release the five accused be revoked, arguing that this week's Rule 98bis Ruling in which the Trial Chamber said that there is a case to answer for each of the accused potentially increases their risk of flight.

The accused are former high-level leaders of the Bosnian Croat wartime entity Herceg-Bosna and are on trial for their alleged responsibility for war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and other non-Croats from areas in southwestern and central Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1992 and 1993.

The full text of the decisions can be found in French and English on the Tribunal's website at www.un.org/icty.

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Courtroom proceedings can be followed on the Tribunal's website www.un.org/icty.