091222ID

Page 1

1 Tuesday, 22 December 2009

2 [Initial Appearance]

3 [Open session]

4 [The accused entered court]

5 --- Upon commencing at 2.24 p.m.

6 JUDGE DELVOIE: Mr. Registrar, can you call the case.

7 THE REGISTRAR: Yes. Thank you and good afternoon, Your Honour.

8 This is case number IT-98-32/1-R77.1, the Prosecutor versus

9 Zuhdija Tabakovic.

10 JUDGE DELVOIE: [Microphone not activated]

11 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, Your Honour, please, microphone.

12 JUDGE DELVOIE: Oh, was it off? I'm sorry.

13 Mr. Tabakovic, can you hear and understand what we are saying

14 here in a language you understand?

15 THE ACCUSED: [No interpretation]

16 JUDGE DELVOIE: Can you repeat your answer, please. I don't

17 think the interpreters got that.

18 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Yes, I understand what you're

19 saying.

20 JUDGE DELVOIE: Thank you.

21 May I have the appearances, please.

22 MR. KREMER: Appearing for the Prosecution: Peter Kremer; to my

23 right, Kyle Wood; and we're assisted this afternoon by our case manager,

24 Jasmina Bosnjakovic.

25 JUDGE DELVOIE: Thank you.

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1 MR. POWLES: [Microphone not activated]

2 Good afternoon, Your Honour. On behalf of Mr. Tabakovic, my name

3 is Steven Powles.

4 JUDGE DELVOIE: Thank you.

5 MR. POWLES: Your Honour, may I raise one matter just before we

6 start, and it's in relation to private-session proceedings. I understand

7 that the indictment may be put in its entirety to Mr. Tabakovic in

8 private session. May I also ask on his behalf that if any sensitive

9 matters in addition to the indictment are to be dealt with during the

10 course of these proceedings, if they could also be dealt with in private

11 session.

12 JUDGE DELVOIE: We'll see about that. The indictment will be

13 read -- if that's necessary, will be read in private session, by all

14 means.

15 MR. POWLES: I'm very grateful, Your Honour. Thank you very

16 much.

17 JUDGE DELVOIE: Mr. Tabakovic, under the Statute and the Rules of

18 the Tribunal, you have the right to remain silent at all times during the

19 proceedings. You have also been assigned counsel in this case, duty

20 counsel. Now I have to ask you: Are you satisfied with the counsel

21 assigned to you?

22 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Yes.

23 JUDGE DELVOIE: Thank you.

24 Have you received a copy of the indictment in your own language?

25 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I have.

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1 JUDGE DELVOIE: Has counsel explained the indictment against you

2 and the charges against you?

3 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Yes, he has.

4 JUDGE DELVOIE: You have the right to have the full indictment

5 read aloud in full, but you may waive this right and hear only a summary

6 of the indictment involving the relevant parts of the indictment.

7 Mr. Tabakovic, would you please stand for a moment.

8 [The accused stands up]

9 JUDGE DELVOIE: Could you please state your full name for the

10 record.

11 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] My name is Zuhdija Tabakovic.

12 JUDGE DELVOIE: Your date and place of birth, please.

13 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] The 16th of February, 1964, in

14 Visegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

15 JUDGE DELVOIE: Thank you. What is your present nationality?

16 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I'm a Bosniak.

17 JUDGE DELVOIE: To your knowledge, has your family been informed

18 of your transfer to and detention in the United Nations Detention Unit?

19 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Yes, my wife knows.

20 JUDGE DELVOIE: Okay. You may sit down.

21 [The accused sits down]

22 JUDGE DELVOIE: We now turn to the Prosecution's indictment.

23 Would you prefer to hear a summary of the charge against you or would you

24 prefer to hear the entire indictment read aloud?

25 MR. POWLES: Your Honour, it may be that I can interject at this

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1 point.

2 JUDGE DELVOIE: Yes.

3 MR. POWLES: It may be that if the full indictment is put to

4 Mr. Tabakovic in private session, that may be the appropriate way to

5 proceed.

6 JUDGE DELVOIE: Okay, if that is what the Defence wants.

7 MR. POWLES: Thank you, Your Honour. I'm obliged.

8 JUDGE DELVOIE: So we'll go into private session.

9 [Private session]

10 (redacted)

11 (redacted)

12 (redacted)

13 (redacted)

14 (redacted)

15 (redacted)

16 (redacted)

17 (redacted)

18 (redacted)

19 (redacted)

20 (redacted)

21 (redacted)

22 (redacted)

23 (redacted)

24 (redacted)

25 (redacted)

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11 Pages 5-7 redacted. Private session.

Page 9

1 Pursuant to Rule 62 (A)(iii) of the Tribunal's Rules of Procedure

2 and Evidence, you as the accused have a right to enter a plea of guilty

3 or not guilty on each count. You may enter your plea on any count today

4 or within ten days from your initial appearance here today. In the event

5 that you choose to not enter a plea, either today or within ten days, the

6 Chamber will enter a plea of not guilty on your behalf. Have you

7 discussed this with your duty counsel?

8 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Yes, I have.

9 JUDGE DELVOIE: Are you prepared to enter a plea today?

10 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Yes, I am.

11 JUDGE DELVOIE: I ask you to confine your answer to say either

12 "guilty" or "not guilty" on all accounts or on certain of them, as you

13 wish.

14 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I understand.

15 JUDGE DELVOIE: Can you then say what your plea is: Guilty or

16 not guilty?

17 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Not guilty on all six counts of the

18 indictment and the charges against me.

19 JUDGE DELVOIE: Thank you. You may be seated, Mr. Tabakovic.

20 [The accused sits down]

21 JUDGE DELVOIE: I remind the Prosecution of its duty under

22 Rule 66(A)(i) to make unavailable to the Defence in a language the

23 accused understands copies of all supporting material which accompany the

24 indictment, as well as prior statements the Prosecutor has obtained from

25 the accused within ten days of this initial appearance. After the

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1 Prosecution has turned over these documents to the accused, the Defence

2 has ten days to file its preliminary motions.

3 MR. KREMER: I can inform the Court that I met with counsel

4 yesterday and provided him with two copies of the materials, one copy for

5 him and one for his client.

6 JUDGE DELVOIE: Okay. Thank you.

7 MR. POWLES: Yes, Your Honour, I can confirm that is correct.

8 The Prosecution did disclose the Rule 66(A)(i) materials yesterday.

9 However, in relation to the time-limit for any preliminary motions, may I

10 just reiterate the fact to the Court that I am duty counsel and, as yet,

11 permanent counsel has not yet been assigned to Mr. Tabakovic and that the

12 ten days would only start running once that has taken place.

13 JUDGE DELVOIE: That's right, Mr. Powles.

14 MR. POWLES: May I also add this, that given the intervening

15 period that we have and some of the difficulties that there may be in

16 terms of seeing Mr. Tabakovic, I have discussed this on a preliminary

17 basis with my learned friend Mr. Kremer, on behalf of the Prosecution.

18 And once the decision is taken and permanent counsel is assigned to

19 Mr. Tabakovic, it may be that at that stage it will be appropriate for an

20 application to be made to extend any period for the filing of preliminary

21 motions. It's perhaps premature to make the application now, because we

22 don't know what stage we will be at that stage. But may I just flag-up,

23 as it were, that that may be an application that we will -- or that may

24 be necessary to be made. And my learned friend Mr. Kremer has indicated

25 that, provided it's not an excessive application, that the Prosecution

Page 11

1 may be sympathetic to such an application.

2 JUDGE DELVOIE: That's on the record now.

3 MR. POWLES: I'm grateful. And may I also add this in relation

4 to the taking of the pleas today. Of course the entering of the pleas

5 could have been adjourned for ten days; but given that it's the Christmas

6 period intervening, there would have been some difficulties having a

7 proper and full consultation of some quite voluminous material with

8 Mr. Tabakovic during that period. And as a consequence, we may well have

9 found ourselves in the same position then as we are today. And it's for

10 that reason that a plea has been entered on that basis today. And I

11 think all parties understand the basis upon which the pleas have been

12 entered today, in order to keep this process moving and complete this

13 phase of the proceedings, as it were.

14 JUDGE DELVOIE: Okay. Thank you for that, Mr. Powles.

15 MR. POWLES: Thank you very much, Your Honour.

16 JUDGE DELVOIE: Mr. Tabakovic, would you like to make a statement

17 on any concerns you may have regarding your health or the condition of

18 your detention?

19 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] No, nothing.

20 JUDGE DELVOIE: Thank you.

21 The Trial Chamber seized of the matter will organise the next

22 appearance and you will be informed of its date in due course.

23 Are there any other matters the parties wish to raise?

24 MR. POWLES: Sorry to take the floor once again, Your Honour, but

25 it's just to put the Court on notice - and again, I've already discussed

Page 12

1 this with my learned friend Mr. Kremer. There is a hope to put an

2 application in for provisional release sooner rather than later in this

3 case. In order to do that, contact will need to be made with the

4 relevant authorities to see what conditions can be offered to the Court

5 and the Prosecution. But may I just keep the Court apprised that efforts

6 are being made to do that as soon as possible.

7 JUDGE DELVOIE: Okay. That's on the record as well.

8 MR. POWLES: Thank you, Your Honour.

9 JUDGE DELVOIE: If that's all, then we adjourn.

10 --- Whereupon the Initial Appearance

11 adjourned at 2.46 p.m.