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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: 19.11.2003
Time: 12.20 p.m.
REGISTRY
AND CHAMBERS:
Jim
Landale, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers, made the following opening statement:
Good
afternoon,
As you will have
seen from our press release, on Monday 17 November 2003, the permanent Judges
ICTY held an Extraordinary Plenary Session at which they re-elected by acclamation
Judge Theodor Meron as President of the Tribunal and Judge Fausto Pocar as Vice-President.
Following
the departure of Judge Hunt effective 17 November 2003, President Meron has
assigned Judge Mumba to the Appeals Chamber. As with all members of the Appeals
Chamber of the ICTY, Judge Mumba automatically becomes a member of the ICTR
Appeals Chamber. Judge Mumba was sworn in as an ICTR Judge earlier this morning
by video-link between The Hague and Arusha, the first time that this has been
done.
In
addition, Judge Vonimbolana Rasoazanany (Madagascar) was sworn in as an ad
litem Judge of the ICTY after appointment by the Secretary-General of the
United Nations effective 17 November 2003.
Judge
Rasoazanany has been assigned by President Meron to The Prosecutor v. Hadzihasanovic
and Kubura. The trial in this case is scheduled to commence on 2 December
2003.
Full
biographies for all of the Judges are available from my office.
On
behalf of the Tribunal’s Outreach Programme:
From Monday 17
until this Friday 21 November, Outreach is hosting a week-long visit for eight
Judges and Prosecutors from the Brcko district in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A
comprehensive programme has been organised for them including a roundtable with
ICTY Judges, briefings from Senior Legal Officers in Chambers and Senior Trial
Attorneys from the OTP, attendance at court sessions, as well as visits to the
ICC and ICJ. This visit is supported by the Brcko Legal Reform Office of the
Office of the High Representative (OHR).
In
terms of other court documents:
We
will be making available after this briefing a comprehensive list of the most
recent filings of interest to you. I would however like to draw your attention
to the following:
On
17 November in the Milosevic case, Trial Chamber III issued its "Order
on the Testimony of General Wesley Clark", in which it ordered that
General Clark testify on Monday, 15 December, commencing at 9 a.m., and that
he be available for completion of his testimony the following day. The Trial
Chamber also made public the 30 October 2003 "Decision on Prosecution’s
Application for a Witness Pursuant to Rule 70 (B)", which sets out
the conditions under which General Clark is to give his testimony. A detailed
press release on this, as well as the relevant documents will be available
after the briefing.
Also
in the Milosevic case, on 13 November, the Trial Chamber rendered its "Eleventh
Decision on Applications Pursuant to Rule 54bis of Prosecution and Serbia
and Montenegro". This follows the filing of a confidential "Prosecution’s
Report on Compliance with Trial Chamber Decisions in Relation to Rule 54bis
and Application for Further Orders Pursuant to Rule 54bis" filed
by the Prosecution on 31 October 2003, requesting, inter alia, the
Trial Chamber to issue binding orders upon the Government of Serbia and Montenegro
("Serbia and Montenegro") for the production of documentation.
In
the Decision, the Trial Chamber notes that "the Prosecution has
not given Serbia and Montenegro notice of the Motion", and ordered
as follows:
"The
Prosecution shall give notice of the Motion to Serbia and Montenegro no
later than 17 November 2003.
Serbian
and Montenegro shall file a response (if any) to the Motion no later than
01 December 2003".
On
13 November in The Prosecutor v. Milutinovic, Ojdanic and Sainovic,
the Appeals Chamber (Judges Weinberg de Roca, presiding, Pocar, Shahabuddeen,
Hunt and Guney) issued its "Decision on Interlocutory Appeal on Motion
for Additional Funds", in which the Appeals Chamber dismissed the
Appeal and denied the Motion "to file the Amicus Curiae Brief of ADC-ICTY,
the Addendum, and the Amicus Curiae Submission of AIAD-ICDAA". (International
Criminal Defence Attorneys Association). Judge Shahabuddeen appended a separate
opinion to the Decision and Judge Hunt appended a dissenting opinion.
With
regard to the court schedule and in addition to the ongoing trials
In
chronological order:
The
status conference in The Prosecutor v. Radovan Stankovic which was originally
planned for Tuesday 18 November will now be held this Thursday 20 November
at 11.30 a.m. in Courtroom II.
The
Evidentiary Hearing in The Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic will be held
this Friday 21 November starting at 10 a.m. The hearing is scheduled to continue
on 24 November, commencing at 9 a.m.
The
Pre-trial conference in The Prosecutor v. Radovan Stankovic will be
held on 24 November.
The
Appeal Hearing in The Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic will be held on
26 and 27 November, 2003.
The
Sentencing Hearing in The Prosecutor v. Ranko Cesic will be held on
27 and 28 November starting at 3 p.m.
The
Pre-Trial Conference in The Prosecutor v. Hadzihasanovic and Kubura
will be held on Friday, 28 November commencing at 9 a.m. in Courtroom III.
The
status conference in The Prosecutor v. Naser Oric which was originally
to be held for Tuesday 25 November 2003 has been rescheduled for Friday, 28
November, commencing at 3 p.m.
In
The Prosecutor v. Momir Nikolic, the Sentencing Judgement will be rendered
on 2 December 2003, commencing at 3 p.m. in Courtroom III.
The
trial in The Prosecutor v. Hadzihasanovic and Kubura will commence
on 2 December.
In The
Prosecutor v. Dusko Jovanovic, Trial Chamber II on 14 November ordered
that Dusko Jovanovic "appear before the Trial Chamber on 4 December
2003, at 14:30 hours, to enter a plea with respect to the allegations of contempt
of the Tribunal as charged in the Indictment". The Trial Chamber
also designated Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti as the Judge responsible for the
conduct of the initial appearance.
In
The Prosecutor v. Radoslav Brdjanin, Trial Chamber II on 18 November
ordered that Milka Maglov "appear before the Trial Chamber on 4 December
2003, at 16:00 hours, to enter a plea with respect to the following allegations
of contempt of the Tribunal:
Intimidating
the Witness, pursuant to Rule 77 (A)(iv); and
Disclosing
the identity of the Witness to a member of the public, in violation of an
order of the Chamber, pursuant to Rule 77 (A)(ii)."
The Appeals
Hearing in The Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaskic will be held from 8 until
11 December and then from 15 to 17 December.
The session
on 8 December will commence at 2.15 p.m. and end at 7 p.m.
The session
on 11 December will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The sessions
on other days will consist of two parts: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., and 2.30 p.m.
– 7 p.m.
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.
In
The Prosecutor v. Dragan Nikolic, Trial Chamber II has ordered that
the Sentencing Judgement in this case will be rendered on 18 December at 2
p.m.
Office
of the Prosecutor:
Florence
Hartmann, Spokeswoman for the Office of the Prosecutor, made no statement.
Questions:
Asked
if Landale would be available after the briefing to answer further questions
in regard to the scheduled testimony of Wesley Clark, Landale replied that he
would be and that a press release would be given out in full detail at the end
of the briefing. Landale pointed out that the press release would explain what
the arrangements would be with regard to the testimony and would outline in
detail the Decision of 30 October 2003 which listed how the testimony would
be given and what the access would be.
Asked
if the testimony would be confidential, Landale stated that it would not be
confidential, but there would be no access to the public. Recordings of the
testimony would be played for the public and media 48 hours after the testimony
had finished.
Asked
if this was the first time this had happened, Landale confirmed it was and that
it was pursuant to Rule 70 of The Rules of Procedure and Evidence. Landale stated
that this Rule dealt with the production of information to the prosecution on
a confidential basis. He added that the US Government had provided General Clark
as a witness to the Milosevic trial pursuant to Rule 70. By doing so, they were
entitled to certain protective measures including requests for redactions before
the testimony was made public, which the Trial Chamber could consider. He suggested
that journalist refer to the press release and re-stated he would be available
for any additional questions.
Asked
if this was a request from Washington, Landale answered that it was from the
US Government through the Prosecution pursuant to Rule 70.
Asked
if the entire tape would be played, Landale stated the tape would be played
but that any redactions would be made to the tape.
Asked
if this would be due to national interests , Landale stated that it would be
due to national interests and referred the journalists back to the press release.
Asked
if the technical conditions would be available for the journalists to obtain
the testimony, Landale pointed out that a detailed media advisory would be put
out detailing all the logistical and technical details. These details would
be given in advance in order to view, broadcast, and record the testimony.
Asked
what the mechanism would be for the Americans, Landale replied that two representatives
from the United States Government could be present in the court during the testimony.
Asked
if there had been any negotiations to arrive at this procedure, Landale stated
this had come through the OTP, therefore, this would have to be addressed by
the OTP.
Hartmann
commented that the Chief Prosecutor, Ms Del Ponte, as well as Geoffrey Nice
during the Milosevic hearings had mentioned on many occasions that they want,
when possible, to avoid calling in closed sessions international witnesses in
order to ensure the public character of the debate. However, in this case, the
conditions imposed by the US government under Rule 70, correspond to the closest
formula that the OTP can accept for General Clark’s testimony.
Landale
added that not only the US government used Rule 70, but other states had done
so as well. He added that the Trial Chamber was bound by an Appeals Chamber
Decision in 2002 which granted the information provider, in this case the US
Government, the right to request certain conditions upon the testimony of a
witness.
Asked
if the US had the final decision on redactions or whether a request was made
to the Trial Chamber, Landale replied that the request would indeed have to
go before the Trial Chamber.
A
journalist commented that this could take more than the 48 hours given to release
the testimony. Landale confirmed that it would be at least 48 hours. He repeated
that a detailed media advisory would be issued outlining all details of the
broadcast, in order for it to reach the widest possible audience.
Asked
if Djukanovic, for example, had the same rights, Landale said that states could
apply for Rule 70 considerations as long as they adhered to the conditions of
Rule 70.
Asked
if there were any states that were using Rule 70 at present, Landale stated
that there were, but that he would not be able to disclose that information.
Hartmann added that the Rule 70 not only applied to witnesses, but to documents
as well.
Asked
if Jovanovic and Maglov had to appear in court for their contempt case and would
they be detained in the detention unit, Landale replied that his understanding
was that there was no formal arrest warrant and that these were initial appearances
to enter a plea. Landale informed the journalists that the Indictment against
Jovanovic would be available after the briefing.
Hartmann
added that the OTP did not ask for an arrest in this case.
Asked
if the OTP knew of Babic’s location taking into account that he testified as
a protected witness in the Milosevic case, Hartmann replied that according to
the Order and the confirmation of the Indictment, an officer of the Registry
was requested to serve the Indictment in cooperation with the OTP. In that sense,
the OTP had a way to be in contact with the accused.
Asked
then if the OTP had contact, Hartmann stated that they did not, but that the
OTP had intermediaries who were in contact and that the OTP had a way for the
Indictment to be served on him.
A
journalist referred to an alleged report that the Prosecutor had met with Justice
Minister Batic in the Izetbegovic
investigation. He
stated that in the report she confirmed an investigation, and that it would
be made public in order to show support, in which Batic agreed. Hartmann replied
that she had not heard of this report even though she was reading the media
from the region daily. She asked the journalist to provide the report, and at
that time she would be able to comment.
Asked
if the Prosecutor had a meeting with Batic before or after Izetbegovic’s death,
Hartmann replied that she was not aware of such a meeting and again asked the
journalist to provide her with the report.
Asked
if last week in a diplomatic conference in The Hague the Prosecutor had announced
that two senior Croats were to be indicted in the coming months, Hartmann stated
that the Prosecution was conducting certain investigations which were to be
finished by the end of 2004, and the public would be informed as the Indictments
were confirmed.
A
journalist pointed out that Stephane Bourgon, President of the Association of
Defence Counsel for the ICTY, was not present at the briefing. Asked if there
was a special reason for this absence, Landale replied that the Registrar had
given the ADC-ICTY the opportunity to address the press every week and whether
or not they took the opportunity was up to them.
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