081201SC

Page 1

1 Monday, 1 December 2008

2 [Status Conference]

3 [Open session]

4 [The accused Tarculovski entered court]

5 --- Upon commencing at 12.02 p.m.

6 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Good morning to you all.

7 Mr. Registrar, can you kindly call the case for today, please. I

8 apologise, it's not a women -- not a man, but a woman.

9 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honour, case number IT-04-82-A, The

10 Prosecutor versus Ljube Boskoski and Johan Tarculovski.

11 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Thank you.

12 Mr. Tarculovski, can you hear and follow our proceedings in a

13 language you understand?

14 THE ACCUSED TARCULOVSKI: [Interpretation] Yes, Your Honour.

15 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Thank you.

16 I would like to turn to the parties and ask them if we can have

17 the appearance, please.

18 Let us start with the Prosecution.

19 MS. MARTIN SALGADO: Good morning, Your Honour. Elena Martin

20 Salgado appearing for the Prosecution, and with me is Nicole Lewis, and

21 our case manager, Lourdes Galicia.

22 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Thank you.

23 MR. METTRAUX: [Previous translation continues] ... Mr. Boskoski,

24 Guenael Mettraux, co-counsel.

25 MR. N. DERSHOWITZ: And Nathan Dershowitz appearing by telephone

Page 2

1 on behalf of Mr. Tarculovski.

2 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Thank you. Thank you very much.

3 I shall now check and see whether the videolink is working

4 properly.

5 Mr. Dershowitz, can you hear and follow these proceedings?

6 MR. N. DERSHOWITZ: Yes, I can.

7 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Yes. That's fine. Thank you.

8 This Status Conference has been convened pursuant to Rule

9 65 bis (B) and (C) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of this

10 Tribunal. That requires that a Status Conference be organised within 120

11 days of the filing of a notice of appeal. The main purpose of a Status

12 Conference is to allow any person in custody, pending appeal, the

13 opportunity to raise issues in relation thereto, including the mental and

14 physical condition of that person.

15 We are meeting for the first time today. The Trial Chamber

16 handed down its Judgement in this case on the 10th of July, 2008. On the

17 30th of July 2008, the president of the Tribunal issued an order

18 designating the Judges that would sit on appeal. Namely, Judge Pocar,

19 Judge Shahabuddeen, Jude Vaz, Judge Liu, and Judge Meron.

20 In the order of 11th November 2008, I have been assigned to

21 replace Judge Pocar. After having been elected Presiding Judge in this

22 case, I appointed myself Pre-Trial Judge on appeal on 17th of

23 November 2008.

24 Let me specify that the OTP filed its notice of appeal on the 6th

25 of August 2008. And Mr. Tarculovski's Defence counsel filed its notice

Page 3

1 of appeal on the 8th of August 2008.

2 I would like to address the conditions in detention and the state

3 of health of Mr. Tarculovski.

4 Mr. Tarculovski, do you wish to raise any concerns you may have

5 regarding to your conditions in detention or to your state of health, be

6 it mental or physical?

7 THE ACCUSED TARCULOVSKI: [Interpretation] No, Your Honour, I have

8 nothing to raise. Everything is in good order.

9 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Thank you very much. You may sit

10 down.

11 Let me now remind you, the schedule for the filing of

12 submissions on appeal.

13 The OTP filed its confidential appeals brief on the 20th

14 October 2008, As well as a redacted of this version on the 3rd of

15 November, and a corrected and redacted version on 4th November 2008.

16 The response brief for Mr. Boskoski Defence must be filed today.

17 Can Mr. Boskoski Defence counsel confirm that the brief in

18 response will be filed today.

19 MR. METTRAUX: [Previous translation continues] ... filed in the

20 course of today.

21 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Thank you very much for your

22 cooperation.

23 Let me remind you that once a brief of the respondent has been

24 filed, the appellant has two weeks to file a brief in reply, pursuant to

25 Rule 113 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.

Page 4

1 The OTP has until the 16th of December 2008 to file a brief in

2 response, if need be.

3 Now, as far as the respondent's brief and Mr. Tarculovski Defence

4 counsel is concerned, let me remind you that a decision was handed down

5 by the Appeals Chamber on the 22nd of October 2008 that stated that this

6 brief should be filed by the 12th of January, 2008 [as interpreted]. In

7 this respect I would like to emphasise that the translation services of

8 this Tribunal confirmed on Friday that the translation handed down by

9 the Trial Chamber will be completed today, the translation into

10 Macedonian.

11 Once all the submissions on appeal have been filed, the Trial

12 Chamber will then decide how to proceed and set the date of the hearing

13 on appeal.

14 I would like to ask the parties if, at this stage, they have any

15 questions they would like to raise during this Status Conference.

16 Let me first turn to the representatives of the OTP.

17 MS. MARTIN SALGADO: I don't have any issues to raise, Your

18 Honour.

19 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Thank you.

20 Does Mr. Tarculovski Defence counsel wish to raise any particular

21 issue?

22 MR. N. DERSHOWITZ: Yes, Your Honour, there is Nathan Dershowitz.

23 I'm just curious as to whether the two matters will continue to be -- to

24 proceed together. And, if so, I do not believe that I ever received a --

25 formally a copy of the OTP submission, and I would imagine that, if they

Page 5

1 are to be handled together, that I probably should receive a formal copy

2 of that submission, as well as a formal copy of the submission by the

3 appellant.

4 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Thank you. I shall now give the

5 floor to the representatives of the OTP.

6 MS. MARTIN SALGADO: Your Honour, I believe that may be a matter

7 for the registry.

8 In our submissions on appeal, Mr. Dershowitz is copied in the

9 cover page, so he should have received a copy.

10 JUDGE GUNEY: Thank you very much. ... [previous translation

11 continues] ... that you hear the reply given by the OTP. Does it satisfy

12 you?

13 MR. N. DERSHOWITZ: I will have to check in my office today, and

14 I will get back to the registrar if I am correct that I did not receive

15 copies.

16 JUDGE GUNEY: Thank you very much, and thank you for your

17 cooperation. I would like to turn to Mr. Dershowitz. I hope you heard

18 my question. I shall repeat it for you.

19 At this juncture do you have any question that you would like to

20 raise during this status conference?

21 MR. N. DERSHOWITZ: No, I do not, Your Honour.

22 JUDGE GUNEY: Thank you. Let me now turn to Defence counsel of

23 Mr. Boskoski. Do you wish to raise any particular issue at this stage?

24 MR. METTRAUX: Thank you, Your Honour, there are two very brief

25 matters which we would like to address if we may.

Page 6

1 The first one pertains to the dates or the likely dates of the

2 appeals hearing in this matter. And we understand that the Appeals

3 Chamber may not be in a position --

4 JUDGE GUNEY: One moment, please.

5 [Technical difficulty]

6 JUDGE GUNEY: I apologise for this interruption. You may

7 proceed.

8 MR. METTRAUX: Thank you, Your Honour. The first matter, and

9 very briefly, pertains to the date or the likely date of the appeals

10 hearing in this matter.

11 We understand that the Appeals Chamber at this stage my not be in

12 a position to give us an indication of the approximate date of the

13 appeals hearing, but on behalf of Mr. Boskoski, we would wish to indicate

14 that it would be our wish that an appeals hearing in this matter should

15 take place as soon as practicable. And we would be grateful to the

16 Appeals Chamber if that indication could be taken into consideration.

17 The second matter, briefly, Your Honour, pertains to the

18 disclosure. And thanks to the cooperation of the Prosecution, it has

19 been resolved before the hearing. We were being given an indication that

20 as far as the Prosecution could tell, they had disclosed all remaining or

21 outstanding material that was to be disclosed on the understanding,

22 obviously, that their obligation is in that regard is ongoing.

23 That is all for us. Thank you very much.

24 JUDGE GUNEY: [Interpretation] Thank you very much.

25 As I have already mentioned, it is now too soon and a little

Page 7

1 premature to set the date of the hearing on appeal. In order to do that,

2 the filing of all the submissions need to be complete.

3 As far as your second issue is concerned, I'm happy to hear that

4 disclosure pursuant to Rule 68 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence has

5 been completed. If there are any outstanding documents, I hope this will

6 be disclosed as soon as possible.

7 As far as I am concerned, I have no other issue to raise. And I

8 believe therefore that we can adjourn for today.

9 I would like to thank all the parties for being present, as well

10 as the staff of the Tribunal, that has helped us organise this Status

11 Conference.

12 The hearing stands adjourned.

13 --- Whereupon the Status Conference adjourned at

14 12.20 p.m.