ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 16th May 2007

ICTY Weekly Press Briefing

Date: 16.05.2007

Time: 12:00

Registry and Chambers:

Refik Hodžić, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:



This week, the Tribunal hosts a group of Macedonian judges and prosecutors as part of a six-week training program in international humanitarian law. During this study visit, the judges and prosecutors take part in lectures focusing on various aspects of the work of the Tribunal.

The programme began in Skopje on 31 March, with a course in international humanitarian law. Following their visit to the Tribunal, the judges and prosecutors will participate in lectures at the Academy of Judicial Training in Skopje every month for the remainder of the programme.

The group is one of two groups expected to visit the Tribunal. A second group of judges and prosecutors are expected in early June. The programme is supported by the OSCE Spillover Mission to Skopje, the US Department of State, The Ministry of Justice of Macedonia and the Academy of Judicial Training in Skopje.

SCHEDULE:

Dragomir Milošević’s defence case will start next Thursday, 24 May at 14:15 in courtroom I. The hearing will begin with a pre-defence conference, immediately followed by the defence opening statement and evidence from the first witness. You can find the details of this hearing in the revised scheduling order dated 30 March 2007. The trial will continue in the last week of May in courtroom II.

As I mentioned last week, there are a couple of status conferences scheduled for this and next week: this afternoon for Mico Stanisić at 15:00 in courtroom I and next Tuesday for Vojislav Šešelj at 15:30 in courtroom I. A status conference in the Rasim Delić case has also been tentatively scheduled for next Monday afternoon, but has yet to be confirmed. And finally, next Wednesday, 23 May, there will be a status conference in the Perišić case at 10:00 in courtroom I.

The trials for the Popović et al., Prlić et al., Haradinaj et al. and Boškoski and Tarčulovski will continue this week and next. A hearing to render the 98bis decision in the Milutinović et al. case will take place on Friday, at 14:15 in courtroom III.

Office of the Prosecutor:



Olga Kavran, Spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor, made no statement.

Questions:

Noting the new government in Serbia and the alleged search for Ratko Mladić in Belgrade announced yesterday, a journalist asked if there had been developments with the Action Plan to fulfill its obligations to the EU. The journalist also noted that EU officials had consulted with the OTP on Serbia’s co-operation and asked for more information. In response, Kavran confirmed that the search carried out yesterday was conducted on the basis of information shared with the Belgrade authorities and that the OTP was trying to re-start co-operation and relations with the authorities working on the action plan. She stated that the OTP received information about the possible whereabouts of Mladić and immediately passed it on to the local authorities who decided to act. Unfortunately, she added, it appeared that this particular search did not lead to results but the OTP would keep trying. So far, there had been no concrete results; which meant the arrest and transfer of Ratko Mladić, Radovan Karadžić and the remaining fugitives. She added that the Prosecutor welcomed any and all activities which formed part of the search for Mladić and other fugitives and that the Prosecutor was still waiting for results – their arrest and transfer to the Tribunal. She made it clear that the Office of the Prosecutor was eager to work together with the Belgrade authorities on this issue.



Kavran pointed out that co-operation had been virtually at a standstill for over a year now and the OTP was awaiting contact from the new government as there was a lot of work to do to achieve the desired results. She added that the government had a very unfortunate inheritance, noting that Serbia was the only country in the world in violation of the statute of the ICTY, several UN Council Resolutions and the Genocide Convention. It would remain in violation of all these very important legal instruments and international obligations until it arrested and transferred to the ICTY Ratko Mladić, Radovan Karadžić and the other remaining fugitives. Kavran stated that this was why, like the EU, the OTP expected the new government to take immediate steps, in close co-ordination and co-operation with the Tribunal, to remedy this situation.

Asked whether the Prosecutor was satisfied with Serbia’s response concerning the search for Mladić, Kavran answered that that assessment would have to be made at a later date.

A journalist also wondered what the position of the Prosecutor’s office was in relation to the announcement by the EU that it would resume negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro almost immediately. In response, Kavran stated that it remained to be seen what would happen. She added that the Prosecutor’s position remained the same: full co-operation with the ICTY should be an absolute requirement. She emphasized that full co-operation meant the arrest and transfer of Ratko Mladić, Radovan Karadžić and the other remaining fugitives to the Tribunal. In that respect, the position of the prosecutor was unchanged.

Asked whether the OTP had been consulted yet by the EU, Kavran answered that it was too early to make an assessment as the government was only announced yesterday and it would require some time before any assessment could be made of what it may or may not do. She reiterated that consultations with the EU were an on-going process.

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