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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: 03.12.2003
Time: 12.20 p.m.
REGISTRY
AND CHAMBERS:
Jim
Landale, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers, made the following opening statement:
Good
afternoon,
As I mentioned
at the last briefing, the first meeting of the Implementation Task Force (ITF)
for the establishment and operation of the Special War Crimes Chamber of the
Court of BiH is being held in Sarajevo this week, from Monday 1 December to
3 December. The ITF is composed of several working groups dealing with specific
issues such as witness protection, trial management and investigations. These
groups are composed of representatives from the Office of the High Representative
(OHR), the BiH Government, the ICTY, the OSCE and others. On Friday, there will
be meeting of the Joint Executive Board to review the progress made by the working
groups. The Joint Executive Board is co-chaired by the BiH Ministry of Justice
and the OHR. President Meron will be attending on behalf of the ICTY.
In addition,
this week the Registrar of the Tribunal, Hans Holthuis, will be conducting a
visit to the Bosnian capital. During his stay, he will visit the Court of BiH
and meet its President and the State Prosecutor; he will visit the Sarajevo
Cantonal Court and meet its President; and he will meet with a number of representatives
of victims groups. On Friday and Saturday he will attend a conference on Plea
Agreements, which he will officially open.
The conference
is being hosted by Outreach and the Human Rights Center from Sarajevo. It will
focus on plea agreements and guilty pleas at the ICTY and related practice in
national systems. The conference will be the last event for this calendar year
supported by the Peace and Stability Fund of the Danish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and it will be attended by judges, prosecutors and other senior legal
professionals, as well as numerous representatives of victim groups from the
territory of the former Yugoslavia.
Again,
as I mentioned at the last briefing, this week the Tribunal is planning to host
the first in a series of conferences for the purpose of assisting the ICTY and
specifically its Victims and Witnesses Section (VWS) to help build referral
networks of health and welfare professionals who will provide preparation and
follow-up services to meet the health needs of ICTY witnesses in the former
Yugoslavia. There have, I understand, been some weather-related travel problems
for the participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina which have delayed the start
of the conference by a day. I will let you know of any further developments.
With regard
to the court schedule and in addition to the ongoing trials
In chronological
order:
The
Sentencing Hearing in The Prosecutor v. Miodrag Jokic will be held on
4 December at 8.30 a.m. in Courtroom III.
The contempt
of court hearing in The Prosecutor v. Dusko Jovanovic, is planned to
take place on 4 December at around 4.30 p.m. hours in Courtroom III.
The contempt
of court hearing of Milka Maglov in The Prosecutor v. Radoslav Brdjanin,
will take place on 4 December 2003, at 2.15 p.m. in Courtroom II.
The Judgement
in The Prosecutor v. Stanislav Galic will be rendered this Friday 5 December
starting at 10 a.m. in Courtroom I.
The trial
in The Prosecutor v. Strugar is planned to commence on 9 December.
The Appeals
Hearing in The Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaskic will be held from 8 until
11 December and then from 15 to 17 December. There is a revised Scheduling Order
available for this setting out the detailed timings of the hearing which I refer
you to.
In The
Prosecutor v. Dragan Obrenovic, the Sentencing Judgement will be rendered
on 10 December 2003, commencing at 3 p.m. in Courtroom I.
The Pre-Trial
Conference in The Prosecutor v. Sefer Halilovic will be held on 15 December
at 3 p.m.
There will
be a status conference in The Prosecutor v. Mitar Rasevic on 18 December
at 12.30 p.m.
In The
Prosecutor v. Dragan Nikolic, the Sentencing Judgement will be rendered
on 18 December at 2 p.m.
There will
be a status conference in The Prosecutor v. Milomir Stakic on 18 December
at 2.30 p.m.
Finally, later today, ICTR
Trial Chamber I comprised of Judges Pillay (presiding), Mose and Gunawardana
will deliver its Judgement in the so-called "Media Case", The Prosecutor
v. Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, Hassan Ngeze and Ferdinand Nahimana. Starting
at 3 p.m. in Arusha, this important Judgement hearing will be broadcast live
on ICTY TV (channels 41 and 42) as of 1 p.m. I understand you can access those
channels in Room 085 (the new media room).
Office of
the Prosecutor:
Florence
Hartmann, Spokeswoman for the Office of the Prosecutor, made no statement.
Questions:
Asked
whether it would be possible to receive copies of the speeches made at the conference
in Sarajevo relating to plea agreements, Landale replied that it might be possible
to get some after the conference. He added that he would ask Outreach who sometimes
collected the various speeches and background papers people had given. If Outreach
planned to do it this time, he would request copies, he concluded.
A journalist
stated that it was his understanding that the Strugar case scheduled to begin
on 9 December 2003 would be postponed due to illness. Asked if this was the
case, Landale replied that at the moment the trial was due commence on 9 December.
He said that Strugar had been ordered by the Trial Chamber to be in The Hague
by yesterday, although the Trial Chamber said in its Order that ‘a delay
of up to 24 hours in order to accommodate the discomfort of the accused would
not be treated as a breach of the Decision on provisional release’. He went
on to say however, that it was his understanding that 24 hours would mean the
accused coming today and that he understood that Strugar was not coming today,
which meant technically that he and the authorities were in breach of the Order
from the Trial Chamber. It would now be up to the Trial Chamber to decide what
the next step was. Landale concluded by saying that he would keep the media
informed and that copies of the above mentioned Decision of 27 November would
be made available after the briefing.
A journalist
stated that the Montenegro media had reported yesterday that Jovanovic was facing
problems with obtaining Dutch visas. Landale replied that with regards to Dusko
Jovanovic, he had seen a couple of statements Jovanovic’s lawyer had made with
regards to this issue. He added that the Registry had taken exceptional measures
to convey to Mr. Jovanovic and his attorney precisely what he needed to do to
apply for the appropriate paperwork in order to travel here to attend the hearing
tomorrow. He added that the Registry had talked to him on a number of occasions
about this, laying out what he needed to do.
Landale
went on to say that the Registry had issued support letters for his and his
lawyer’s visa applications a number of days ago, so they were slightly surprised
that problems were being encountered. The Tribunal was still hopeful that there
was enough time left for this situation to be sorted out and for Jovanovic to
be here for the hearing tomorrow. He added that the Tribunal was actively working
on this situation and that he should find out more in the course of the day,
so the media who wished to know more should ring him.
Asked
to confirm that the Tribunal still expected Jovanovic tomorrow, Landale replied
that it did.
Asked
whether Jovanovic needed to be present at the hearing, Landale replied that
he did.
A journalist
asked, in light of the fact that tomorrow there were two hearings taking place
relating to contempt of court and that at the beginning of the Milosevic trial
there were a number of intimidation problems against witnesses, whether these
were problems still being encountered and in general how he assessed the situation
of witness protection and contempt of court and whether the situation had improved.
Landale replied that for his part it was a difficult question to answer. He
stressed that the Tribunal took the security and safety of witnesses, especially
protected witnesses, extremely seriously. He added that if there was suggestion
that there was a threat to them or that there were people acting with undesirable
motives with regard to exposing them or intimidating them, then the Tribunal
would act very quickly.
Asked
whether there was still a problem with the Milosevic trial, Hartmann replied
that it was a huge issue. She added that there were different kinds of situations
the Tribunal had to deal with and that they were not all related to the publication
of the names of protected witnesses, but any tip given as to the names of protected
witnesses put them at risk and this was why the Rule in the Rules of Procedure
and Evidence which sanctioned people breaking the protective measures existed.
Landale
added that the two case being heard tomorrow underlined very clearly that the
Tribunal took contempt of court extremely seriously.
A journalist
asked, following the recent elections in Croatia, what was expected by the OTP
in relation to cooperation from the new leaders concerning the case of Gotovina,
Hartmann replied that the obligation to cooperate rested on the state, which
meant that whoever constituted the Government had the same obligation to cooperate
fully. She added that the OTP had not yet been in contact with potential officials,
but that the arrest warrant and any pending requests towards Croatia, including
in relation to Gotovina, remained active whether it be during elections or on
New Year’s eve. They were always active, she reiterated.
The
journalist added that the OTP had always been very firm in stating that it knew
where Gotovina was and on insisting that the Croatian Government knew where
he was but that they had no will to arrest him. Asked whether the OTP was keeping
an eye on Gotovina and still knew where he was, Hartmann replied that the latest
resolution 1503 of August 28 2003 reiterated the obligation to arrest, according
to the law, all of the ICTY fugitives and mentioned by name some of them. Gotovina
was one amongst 21 accused at large and he had to be arrested as any other accused
indicted by the ICTY who was at large had to be arrested.
The
journalist said that the OTP had always stated that the previous government
had not wanted to arrest Gotovina. Hartmann replied that Gotovina had not yet
been arrested and the responsibility for his arrest rested with the Government
of Croatia.
A journalist
stated that Minister Svilanovic said that Belgrade had delivered documents requested
by the Tribunal including a personal file on General Mladic. Asked whether the
Tribunal had received anything, Hartmann replied that the OTP had received some
documents related to pending requests from the OTP. The Mladic file related
to a Binding Order from the Chamber, therefore Jim Landale should answer this
question.
Landale
added that something had been received but that it was ex parte and confidential
and that he could not comment on it.
Briefing
Documents:
Please
find below the list of documents were made available to the media this week.
Prosecutor
v. Tihomir Blaskic
02
December 2003 "Scheduling Order Amending Prior Scheduling Order And Setting
The Schedule For The Final Arguments"
Prosector
v. Dusko Jovanovic
1
December 2003 "Order Determining Competent Trial Chamber In A Case Of Contempt"
Prosecutor v.
Slobodan Milosevic
26 November 2003
"Prosecution’s Submission On The Effect Of The Appeals Chamber’s Decision
Of 23 October 2003 Concerning Judicial Notice Of Adjudicated Facts".
26 November 2003
"Prosecution’s Final List of Facts".
26 November 2003
"Refiled With Annex A-Amici Curiae Reply To Prosecution Motion For The
Admission Of Evidenc-In-Chief Of Witness C-057 In Writing Pursuant To Rule 89
(F) dated 24 November 2003".
27 November 2003
"Prosecution’s Motion for the Admission of Witness Statements of Dean Manning
Pursuant to Rule 89(F)".
27 November 2003
"Prosecution Motion For The Admission Into Evidence Of Written Statements
By Deceased Witnesses Ivan Rastija,Bosko Brkic and Stana Albert Pursuant To
Rule 92bis (A) and (C)".
Prosecutor
v. Radoslav Brdanin
28
November 2003 "Decision On Motion For Acquittal Pursuant To Rule 98 bis"
Prosecutor
v. Vojislav Seselj
27
November 2003 "Motion no. 28".
Prosecutor
v. Milutinovic, Sainovic and Ojdanic
28
November 2003 "Motion For Stay Of Proceedings Or For Appointment Of Amicus
Curiae"
Prosecutor
v. Milutinovic, Sainovic and Ojdanic and Prosecutor v. Nebojsa Pavkovic,Vladimir
Lazarevic,Vlastimir Dordevic and Sreten Lukic
26
November 2003 "Prosecution Reply To Defence Response To Prosecution Motion
For Joinder".
Prosecutor
v. Ranko Cesic
26
November 2003 "Further Supplementary Information Relating to Sentencing".
Prosecutor
v. Kordic/Cerkez
26
November 2003 "Mario Cerkez Reply To The Prosecution’s Response to "Mario
Cerkez’s Motion for Provisional Release".
Prosecutor
v. Miodrag Jokic
26
November 2003 "Order For Miodrag Jokic’s Return To The United Nations Detention
Unit and Scheduling Order For A Sentencing Hearing".
Prosecutor
v. Pavle Strugar and Vladimir Kovacevic
26
November 2003 "Decision On The Prosecutor’s Motion For Separate Trial and
Order To Schedule A Pre-Trial Conference and the Start Of The Trial Against
Pavle Strugar".
28
November 2003 "Accused’s Pavle Strugar Request For Postponement"
01
December 2003 "Decision And Order Relating To Accused’s Pavle Strugar Request
For Postponement"
Prosecutor
v. Dragan Nikolic
23
October 2003 "Confidential Sentencing Brief".
19
November 2003 "Confidential Addendum To Defence Sentencing Brief".
01
December 2003 "Decision On Lifting Confidentiality Of The Defence Sentencing
Brief".
Prosecutor
v. Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura
24
November 2003 "Prosecution’s Notice To The Trial Chamber Concerning The
Lack Of Agreement Between The Parties On Facts and Issues Not In Dispute and
The Effect On The Pre-Trial Conference and The Trial".
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