Time: 12:00
Registry and Chambers:
Nerma Jelačić, Spokesperson for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:
The rest of this week will be rather busy in the courtrooms starting this morning with the pre-trial conference and commencement of the trial against Milan and Sredoje Lukić. The two cousins are accused of murder, torture and extermination committed against the Bosnian Muslims in eastern Bosnian town of Višegrad during the 1992-1995 conflict.
Staying with the Lukić and Lukić case, in a decision rendered yesterday, the Trial Chamber denied the Prosecution leave to amend the indictment at this late stage. The Prosecution had sought to include a pleading of joint criminal enterprise and to include five new counts alleging sexual violence (rape, enslavement and torture). If you require a copy of this decision, please let the Media Office know at the end of this briefing.
Tomorrow afternoon the Trial Chamber will render its judgement in the case of Ljube Boškoski and Johan Tarčulovski who stood trial on charges of war crimes allegedly committed during August 2001 by forces under their control in the village of Ljuboten, near Skopje in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Boškoski, a former Macedonian Interior Minister, and a security aide of his, Tarčulovski, stood trial for the alleged unlawful attack on Ljuboten during which seven ethnic Albanian men died, at least 14 houses were intentionally set alight and more than 100 ethnic Albanian male village residents detained and subjected to beatings, humiliation, harassment and psychological abuse. This is the Tribunal’s only case concerning the six-month conflict in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Next Thursday, 17 July at 9:30 in courtroom I, the Appeals Chamber will render its judgement in the case against Pavle Strugar, a former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) commander convicted of attacks on civilians and destruction or willful damage of the UNSECO protected Adriatic town of Dubrovnik. Pavle Strugar was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment on 31 January 2005: both the prosecution and defence appealed. The appeals hearing took place on 23 April this year.
And with regard to the ongoing cases, the trials for Popović et al., Prlić et al., Gotovina et al. and Vojislav Šešelj will continue this week and next. This afternoon, the special sitting in Milutinović et al case will conclude with the end of former General Aleksandar Dimitrijevic’s testimony via video link. Aleksandar Dimitrijevic was Chief of Security Department of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army during the period relevant to the indictment. He is a Chamber's witness.
Office of the Prosecutor:
Olga Kavran, Spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor, made no statement.
Questions:
There were no questions.