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Please
note that this is not a verbatim transcript of the Press Briefing. It is merely
a summary.
ICTY Weekly
Press Briefing
Date: 11 July 2001
Time: 11:30 a.m.
REGISTRY AND
CHAMBERS
Jim Landale, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:
Since so many
of you have been asking, I can now confirm that a motion for provisional release
has been filed on behalf of Biljana Plavsic. We should have copies of that motion
for you later in the day.
A Plenary session
of the Tribunal’s Judges starts today and will finish on Friday. At the session
the Judges will discuss the finalisation of the Tribunal’s Annual Report, the
budget and matters relating to the arrival of the first ad litem judges.
This morning,
Judge Mehmet Guney of Turkey was sworn in as a Judge of the Appeals Chambers
for the ICTY and ICTR. A press release which includes a biographical note on
Judge Guney will be available to you after this.
The first six
ad litem judges are due to be nominated by the UN Secretary-General,
Kofi Annan, in the coming days following requests from the President of the
Tribunal, Judge Claude Jorda. We will of course keep you informed of any developments
on that front.
In the Sikirica
case, on 6 July we received an expert witness statement from a neuropsychiatrist
from Belgrade on Damir Dosen. Copies of this will be available on request.
And, in the Kupreskic
case we also received on 6 July the respondent’s brief for Drago Josipovic in
response to the Prosecution’s amended appeal brief. Again, copies will be available
on request.
The Pre-trial
conference for Vasiljevic has been rescheduled for next Friday 20 July at 2.30p.m.
The closing arguments
in the Kvocka and others case start next Monday and the closing arguments in
the Krnojelac case are due to start a week on Thursday.
PROSECUTION
Florence Hartmann, Spokeswoman for the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) made the
following statement:
The
Prosecutor will be on leave as of the end of the week and before she goes on
leave she will head to Geneva tomorrow. The Prosecutor will be giving a Press
Conference on Thursday 12 July at 3.30p.m. at the United Nations in Geneva,
to discuss the latest developments of the ICTY and ICTR.
QUESTIONS:
Asked
about the new Judges in the Appeals Chambers and whether there was going to
be two additional judges, Landale replied that there will be two Judges but
that the second Judge will be sworn in soon.
Asked if
they could comment on the fact that a detainee gave an interview to a Belgrade
newspaper that denounced a co-accused as a traitor because she is co-operating
with the Prosecution and how the interview occured with a detainee and was
the Tribunal worried about her safety, Landale replied that the incident was
regrettable and that the journalist entered the Detention Unit pretending
to be a friend of the detainee and not a journalist. He added that the journalist
had violated the Rules of Detention and the Tribunal will consider whether
any further action would be taken.
In terms of
security the Defence team had filed the motion for Biljana Plavsic and obviously
issues of security and other guarantees are something the Judges would think
of very carefully before coming to their decision.
Hartmann
added, that the Prosecutor had met with the Registrar about this issue and
the Registrar promised the Prosecutor that he would take care because direct
interviews with the detainees are forbidden and he would make sure that
this situation would not happen again.
Asked what
further action could be taken Landale replied that the obvious course of action
would be to decline any further visits from this journalist to the Detention
Unit.
Asked if there
had been any new requests for visits with Mr. Milosevic, Landale replied that
there has been requests by at least one other individual and the request was
currently under review.
Asked whether
Mr. Milosevic was still under 24 hour observation Landale replied that he
was under observation and that he would be isolated from Bosnian Serb detainees
until the 27 July, as stipulated in the Separation Order. He added that Mr.
Milosevic had been asked if he wished to see other detainees who were not
Bosnian Serbs and that Milosevic had declined.
Asked if
there had been any indication that Mr. Milosevic would appoint a defence counsel,
Landale replied that Mr. Milosevic maintained that he wished to represent
himself. Landale added that the Tribunal did not feel that this was in his
best interest and that the Tribunal would continue to suggest that he reconsider.
Mr. Milosevic had asked for advice from lawyers, who had not been given the
power of attorney, which in principle could happen, however they would not
be given the same privileges a defence team who had been given power of attorney.
For example they would not be allowed to represent Mr. Milosevic in court.
Asked about
the comment made by Mr. Black that following the completion of the standing
order Mr. Milosevic would prefer to re-join the rest of the Detention Unit,
Landale replied that a few days before the 27 July the Commander of the Detention
Unit would write an assessment report to the Registrar giving his assessment
of the situation, of any potential threat or conflict that might arise should
he mix with other detainees.
Asked if the
Prosecutor had a position on the security of Milosevic talking to other detainees,
Hartmann replied that the Prosecutor could file a request to stop contact
between him and any other detainees if there was a possibility of collusion.
She added that this request was not specific for Milosevic and was the case
for all detainees.
Asked about
a report in the Croatian press about the surrender of two generals, Hartman
replied that the position of the Prosecutor was that any indicted person must
be bought to The Hague. They could either be arrested and transferred by the
authorities or they could express the wish to surrender voluntarily. She added
that at the moment there was no information confirming whether there was a
voluntary surrender or arrest by the Croatian Government.
Asked when
the Motion provisional release for Plavsic would be dealt with, Landale replied
that this would be up to Judges and when he had more information he would
pass it on. Asked about the Prosecution’s position, Hartmann replied that
it was to early to give a position but it must be remembered that Plavsic
did surrender voluntarily. She added that the Prosecutor would take her final
position depending on guarantees offered by the Defence counsel.
Asked whether
the Prosecutor had supported previous applications for provisional release,
Hartmann replied that there had been three people from Bosanski Samac and
that the Prosecutor was supportive of this because they surrendered voluntarily
and those three are now in Republika Srpska awaiting the start of trial.
Asked if the
Prosecution had started the disclosure process in the Milosevic case Hartmann
replied that the procedures are being followed in the pre-trial stage. Landale
added that through the Registry the Prosecution’s supporting material had
begun to be provided. Asked if Mr. Milosevic was personally receiving the
documents, Landale replied that yes he was.
Asked if the
lights were on in his cell 24 hours a day, Landale replied that they were
not, there was a small light on in his bathroom area but this did not disturb
his sleep.
Asked if there
was any word on Mira Markovic visiting her husband, Landale replied that there
had been nothing specific, adding that the Tribunal’s position was that she
had a right to visit if and when her visa was granted and she indicated to
us when she would be arriving for a visit. The Tribunal could then start putting
arrangements into place.
Asked about
the possibility of Ramsey Clarke visiting Milosevic, Landale replied that
he had requested a visit and that the Tribunal was in the process of getting
back to him. Asked if Ramsey Clarke was in The Hague, Landale replied that
he did not know his whereabouts.
Asked if there
was any coincidence between the timing of the Plavsic motion and the transfer
of Milosevic, Landale replied that you would have to ask her defence team,
they had the right to file a motion whenever they wished, he added.
Asked if there
was any more information on a decision in the Krstic case, Landale replied
that there had been no decision.
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