| Press Release |
CHAMBERS
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| (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) |
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The Hague, 11 July 2008
CT/MOW/1271e
Dragoljub Ojdanić Granted Provisional Release
The Trial Chamber today granted Dragoljub Ojdanić temporary provisional release to Serbia on compassionate grounds from 18 July until 12 August 2008.
The provisional release is granted under strict terms and conditions, including 24-hour surveillance by the Serbian authorities.
Ojdanić was the former Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army and former Defence Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He is on trial alongside five co-accused, Milan Milutinović, Nikola Šainović, Nebojša Pavković, Vladimir Lazarević and Sreten Lukić, for an alleged campaign of terror and violence directed against Kosovo Albanians and other non-Serbs living in Kosovo in 1999. All have been charged with deportation, forcible transfer, murder and persecutions of thousands of Kosovo Albanians and other non-Serbs.
The trial commenced on 10 July 2006. The Prosecution completed its case-in-chief on 1 May 2007, following which the Trial Chamber dismissed all Defence motions for acquittal for each of the accused. The Defence case started on 6 August 2007. The closing arguments are scheduled to take place between 19 until 22 August 2008.
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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