Date: 22.02.2012
Time: 12:00
Registry and Chambers:
Nerma Jelačić, Spokesperson for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:
Good afternoon,
I’ll move straight to updates on several of the Tribunal’s cases.
The Judgement in the trial for contempt of the Tribunal of Milan Tupajić, former chief of the crisis staff and president of the Serb municipality of Sokolac, will be rendered on Friday, 24 February at 15:30 in Courtroom I. Tupajić is accused of failing to comply with, or to show good cause why he could not comply with, two subpoenas in which he was ordered to testify in the case of Radovan Karadžić. At his initial appearance on 16 December 2011, Tupajić pleaded not guilty. The trial was held on 3 February 2012.
The trial of Ratko Mladić, former Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army Main Staff, has been scheduled to commence on Monday 14 May 2012. In the same decision the Chamber also limited the number of sitting weeks for the early stage of trial up to 20 August 2012 to allow the parties more preparation time. The next Status Conference in this case will be held tomorrow afternoon at 15:00 in Courtroom III.
In the case of Zdravko Tolimir, the Defence rested its case yesterday after having called 4 witnesses. The Prosecution called a total of 126 witnesses. Closing arguments are scheduled for 21 and 22 August 2012. Tolimir, former Assistant Commander for Intelligence and Security of the Main Staff of the Bosnian Serb Army, is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war committed between July and November 1995 against Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and Žepa, eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. His trial began on 26 February 2010.
Proceedings in the trials of Radovan Karadžić, Mićo Stanišić and Stojan Župljanin as well as the trial of Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović continue this week and next as scheduled.
In the trial of Stanišić and Župljanin, the Chamber has indicated that it will call three witnesses to testify on ‘discreet issues of relevance to some of the crimes with which the Accused have been charged in the Indictment’. As scheduled by the Chamber, Srboljub Jovičinac will testify on 23 February 2012, Slavko Lisica is to testify on 1 and 2 March, and Tomislav Kovač will testify on 7 and 8 March 2012.
In the Karadžić case, the Trial Chamber has just finished hearing the testimony of Milan Lešić, a Canadian Serb who was a founding member of a humanitarian organisation providing funding and material support to the Republika Srpska political and military leadership during the war. The next witness to testify is Ljubomir Obradović, who was the head of the Operations and Training Organ of the Army of Republika Srpska Main Staff in 1995.
In the trial of Stanišić and Simatović, the Chamber is currently hearing the testimony of Simatović Defence witness Risto Šeovac, former Commander of the border police station in Bajina Bašta, Serbia.
Office of the Prosecutor:
Frederick Swinnen, Special Adviser to the Prosecutor, made no statement.
Questions:
No questions were asked.
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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