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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: 18 July 2001
Time: 11:30 a.m.
REGISTRY
AND CHAMBERS
Jim
Landale, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:
As you all know,
Mira Markovic will be in The Hague between Thursday and Saturday. We will not
be releasing precise details of her visit to the Detention Unit ahead of time
for obvious security reasons and the visit itself will be dealt with as a strictly
private matter.
On 13 July, Judge
Almiro Rodrigues, issued an order to unseal the indictment and warrant of arrest
of Stojan Zupljanin, who is still at large.
Judge Rodrigues
also ordered that the amended indictment, warrant of arrest and accompanying
documents "be transmitted by the Registrar to the authorities of Bosnia
and Herzegovina forthwith".
Stojan Zupljanin
was originally indicted with Radoslav Brdanin and Momir Talic. We hope to have
copies of that indictment for you shortly.
In the Krnojelac
case, we received on 13 July the Prosecutor’s final brief. Copies will be available
on request.
The defence brief
in Krnojelac was filed confidentially also on 13 July. The closing arguments
will be held tomorrow starting at 9.30a.m. in Courtroom II.
On 16 July the
appeal briefs for Kunarac and Kovac were filed. Copies will be available on
request.
We also received
on 16 July a scheduling order in the Kupreskic appeal. The appeal hearings will
be held next week between 23 and 25 July. Copies will be available after this.
There are two
status conferences due at the end of this week. The first is a pre-trial conference
in the Vasiljevic case on Friday 20 July in Courtroom II at 2.30p.m. Then there
will be a status conference in the Naletilic and Martinovic case in Courtroom
III at 4.00 p.m. later the same day.
PROSECUTION
Florence
Hartmann, Spokeswoman for the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) made no statement.
QUESTIONS:
Asked
why the Zupljanin indictment had been disclosed, Landale replied that it was
released following a request of 13 July from the Office of the Prosecutor.
Hartmann added that the Prosecution was insisting with the authorities in
Belgrade and Republika Srpska for months for Zupljanin to come to The Hague
as he was linked with another trial starting soon. As with the case of Plavsic
and Krajisnik, the Tribunal would like to avoid repeating trials and because
his name had been mentioned many times with authorities there was now no reason
to keep the indictment under seal, she added.
Asked
about the elements contained in the indictment, Landale replied that Zupljanin
was originally indicted with Brdanin and Talic who had been charged with offences
inall four clusters of crimes that the Tribunal had jurisdiction over: grave
breaches of the Geneva convention, violations of the laws or customs of law,
crimes against humanity and genocide. Landale added that he was waiting to
see what this indictment contained and would pass the indictment on as soon
as it was received.
Asked
where the arrest warrants were sent, Landale replied that the order stipulated
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hartmann added that a sealed indictment was served
in Belgrade during the winter.
Asked
if there were any developments in the Plavsic case, Landale replied there
was not. Hartmann added that the Prosecutor had 14 days from last Wednesday
and the Office had not filed its position yet.
Asked
if the OTP had any information about the whereabouts of Zupljanin, Hartmann
replied that he had spent some time in Serbia which was why the indictment
was served to Belgrade a few months ago, but that he was now believed to be
in Republika Srpska. Landale added that the authorities in Republika Srpska
were under a binding obligation to apprehend and transfer him.
Asked
about any details of the coming visit of Mira Markovic with her husband, Mr.
Milosevic, Landale replied that the visit was a private one and no details
would be discussed. Every accused had the right to privacy on the details
of visits and the Tribunal was going to respect that, he added.
Asked
about Ramsay Clarke’s possible visit to the Detention Unit, Landale replied
that there were no new details and that the last contact was that the Tribunal
indicated to him that he would be entitled to a visit but as yet he had not
provided specific details on his visit such as time or date which could be
used to facilitate such a visit.
Asked
who the lawyer was who was coming to The Hague with Mira Markovic, Landale
replied that he was not sure however he thought that it might be one of the
two original lawyers who had come, shortly after Milosevic’s arrival.
Asked
in what capacity the lawyer was visiting, Landale replied that he was not
coming as defence council for Mr. Milosevic because Mr. Milosevic had refused
to give power of attorney. Landale added that it was not clear that the lawyer
was accompanying Mrs. Markovic on her visit to Mr. Milosevic.
Asked
about the process of disclosure of documents to Mr. Milosevic, Landale replied
that documents had been delivered and that he had access to those documents.
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