Date: 9.05.2012
Time: 12:00
Registry and Chambers:
Nerma Jelačić, Spokesperson for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:
Good afternoon,
The Prosecution’s opening statement marking the start of Ratko Mladić’s trial will be held next Wednesday, 16 May and Thursday, 17 May from 9:00 onwards in Courtroom I. Last Friday, the Trial Chamber denied the two latest Defence requests for a 90-day adjournment of the start of the trial. The Chamber will issue in writing the reasons for denying the request for postponement in due course. The start of presentation of evidence by the Prosecution therefore remains scheduled for Tuesday, 29 May at 9:00. The accreditation procedure for journalists and members of the general public wishing to attend the opening statement is currently open and will close on Monday, 14 May. Further information is available on the Tribunal’s website.
A separate accreditation procedure is in place for the Appeals Hearing in the case of Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač which will be held on Monday, 14 May in Courtroom I from 9:00 to 18:30. Details are also available online. Media have until this coming Friday to request accreditation. The Appeals Hearing will be followed by a Status Conference on Wednesday, 23 May at 15:00 in Courtroom III.
This Friday, a Status Conference will be held in the appeals case of Vlastimir Đorđević at 9:30 in Courtroom I. A Status Conference in the appeals case of Nikola Šainović and others will follow next week Wednesday, 16 May, at 14:30 in Courtroom I.
Hearings in the case of Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović continue this week and next as scheduled. The Chamber is currently hearing the testimony of expert witness Milan Milošević who has been testifying since Tuesday, 1 May on behalf of Franko Simatović. His expertise relates to the system of internal affairs and the security in Serbia and in the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia.
Hearings in the trial of Radovan Karadžić adjourned until further notice last Friday after the last Prosecution witness testified. The Prosecution called a total of 195 witnesses and the Chamber called one witness. The Prosecution case will officially close once the Trial Chamber has issued a decision on the last pending evidence-related motion filed by the Prosecution.
In the case of Ramush Haradinaj and others, the Chamber in the course of last Wednesday’s Status Conference confirmed the deadline for the submission by both parties of the final briefs as Monday, 11 June 2012. Closing arguments will be held on Monday, 25 June and Tuesday, 26 June. None of the accused will present a defence case.
Finally, I would like to bring to your attention the recent Outreach activities:
The Tribunal’s Outreach Programme’s university lecture series have kicked off in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, following similar lecture series in Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. A series of university lectures is scheduled to be held in Kosovo in May 2012. Updates on these lectures as they happen will be available online, on the news feed of the Outreach page of the Tribunal’s website. Presentations, premieres, conferences, visits - all of our major activities, both in The Hague and across the region of the former Yugoslavia, will from now on be covered in pieces written by those on the ground to provide live updates on the wide-ranging activities of our Outreach Programme.
Office of the Prosecutor:
Frederick Swinnen, Special Adviser to the Prosecutor, made the following statement:
On 4 May 2012, in the Mladić case, the Prosecution filed the list of witnesses it intends to call during the presentation of the first segment of the case. It is expected to cover the period between the commencement of the case on 29 May until 13 July 2012. The list is an annex to the 'Amended Notice of Presentation of Prosecution Case in Chief: First Segment'.
In addition, please note that the OTP will regularly make available information on the witnesses it intends to call in the Mladić case. We will provide a list of witnesses containing summaries of their testimonies and, in case they have already testified before the ICTY, we will provide the links to the public transcripts of their previous testimonies.
The list will be made available on the ICTY website via the following link.
Questions:
Asked by a journalist about a report from Priština stating that Haradinaj was being provisionally released, Jelačić said that it was not something she could confirm nor deny at this stage.
Asked whether there were any further outstanding requests for postponements of the start of trial in the case of Ratko Mladić, Jelačić confirmed that all the five requests for the postponement of the start of trial and the presentation of evidence had been dealt with - at least orally – and that the written reasoning for the last two decisions was pending.
Asked whether a date had been set for Prosecutor’s visit to Serbia, Swinnen replied that the Office of the Prosecutor is in contact with the Serbian authorities and the date would be communicated in the coming days. The visit will take place during the week commencing 21 May.
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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