Case: IT-03-66-R77

Mr. David Akerson
Mr. Jason Dominguez

Counsel for the Accused:

Mr. Tjarda Eduard van der Spoel

TRIAL CHAMBER I ("Chamber") of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 ("International Tribunal");

NOTING the "Prosecution’s Motion for Admission of Transcripts pursuant to Rule 92bis (D)" (the "Motion") filed confidentially on 31 January 2005 whereby the Prosecution seeks to introduce the prior testimony of Witness B-1 given in the case Prosecutor v Limaj et al. (IT-03-66-T) ("Transcript") pursuant to Rule 92bis (D) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence ("Rules");

NOTING the "Defence Response to Prosecution’s Motion for Admission of Transcripts pursuant to Rule 92bis (D)" ("Defence Response") whereby the Defence does not object to the admission of the Transcript if it is disclosed to the Defence in English and to the accused Beqa Beqaj ("Accused") in Albanian, and if Witness B-1 appears for cross-examination in relation to the evidence he gave in the Limaj case;

NOTING the Decision of the Chamber on the Motion filed on 24 February 2005 (1) requesting the Registry to provide an audio recording of the public portions of Witness B-1’s testimony in the Limaj case to the Accused in the Albanian language, (2) instructing the Prosecution to file an application with the Limaj Trial Chamber pursuant to Rule 75(G)(i) of the Rules, and (3) requesting the Registry to provide – should the application pursuant to Rule 75(G)(i) of the Rules be successful – an audio recording of the whole of Witness B-1’s testimony in the Limaj case to the Accused in the Albanian language;

NOTING the Decision of the Chamber seised of the case Prosecutor v Limaj et al. filed on 8 March 2005 allowing the Prosecution to disclose the unredacted version of the Transcript to the Defence of Beqa Beqaj and the unredacted audio recording of the testimony of Witness B-1 to the Accused;

NOTING that Rule 92bis (D) of the Rules provides that "A Chamber may admit a transcript of evidence given by a witness in proceedings before the Tribunal which goes to proof of a matter other than the acts and conduct of the accused";

CONSIDERING that the Prosecution asserts that Witness B-1’s previous testimony in the Limaj case is relevant to the Beqaj case because the testimony of Witness B-1 introduces the context of the alleged acts and conduct of the Accused;

FINDING that the content of the Transcript does not directly go to the acts or conduct of the Accused but that the Defence should be in a position to ask for clarification of certain aspects of the testimony of Witness B-1 which may assist the understanding of the context of the case;

NOTING that Witness B-1 will be available for cross-examination since in addition to seeking the admission of the Transcript, the Prosecution intends to call Witness B-1 as a viva-voce witness;

PURSUANT TO Rules 89(C) and (D), and Rule 92bis (D) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence;

Hereby GRANTS the Motion, ADMITS the Transcript into evidence, AUTHORISES the Defence to cross-examine Witness B-1 on issues touched upon in the Transcript for a limited period of time and REQUESTS the Registry to assign an exhibit number to the Transcript.

Done in English and French, the English version being authoritative.

Dated this seventh day of April 2005,
At The Hague,
The Netherlands

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Judge Amin El Mahdi
Presiding Judge