1 Tuesday, 5 July 2005

2 [Status Conference]

3 [Open session]

4 [The accused entered court]

5 [The accused Haradinaj not present in Court]

6 --- Upon commencing at 8.00 a.m.

7 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Good morning to everybody here. Good early

8 morning.

9 Registrar, could you call the case, please.

10 THE REGISTRAR: Good morning, Your Honour. Case number

11 IT-04-84-PT, the Prosecutor versus Haradinaj, Balaj, and Brahimaj.

12 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Thank you. And then I should ask Mr. Balaj,

13 can you hear what's going on in a language which you understand?

14 THE ACCUSED BALAJ: [Microphone not activated].

15 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Thank you. And Mr. Brahimaj, the same

16 question to you: Do you understand what's going on? Is it translated to

17 you in a language you understand?

18 THE ACCUSED BRAHIMAJ: [Interpretation] Yes.

19 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Then we should have the appearance from the

20 Prosecution.

21 MR. MOORE: My name is Moore. I'm senior trial attorney. I'm

22 assisted this morning by Ms. Marie Tuma and Mr. Hasan Younis.

23 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Thank you. And from Mr. Haradinaj's defence.

24 MR. EMMERSON: My name is Ben Emmerson. I'm lead counsel for

25 Mr. Haradinaj and I'm appearing today with Mr. Rodney Dixon, co-counsel,

1 and Mr. Michael O'Reilly, Defence coordinator.

2 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Thank you. And appearance for Mr. Balaj.

3 MR. SMITH: Good morning, Your Honour. Gregor Guy-Smith,

4 appearing on behalf of Mr. Balaj.

5 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Thank you. And for Mr. Brahimaj.

6 MR. HARVEY: Good morning, Your Honour. My name is Richard Harvey

7 and I represent Lahi Brahimaj.

8 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Thank you. So, so far no surprises. Then I

9 should mention also, for the public, that the reason for such a Status

10 Conference is that it follows from Rule 65 bis of our -- the Tribunal's

11 Rules, that a Trial Chamber shall convene a Status Conference within 120

12 days the initial appearance of the accused in order to organise exchanges

13 between the parties so as to ensure an expeditious preparation for trial

14 and to review the status of the accused's case and to allow the accused

15 the opportunity to raise issues in relation thereto, including his mental

16 and physical condition and matters relating to detention.

17 So that's the reasons. And we have looked upon if there is any

18 outstanding motions. There is none, but during the Rule 65 ter meeting,

19 which took place yesterday, it was announced, I can see, from the Defence

20 of Mr. Haradinaj that by the 14th of August they will file a motion

21 seeking an amendment to the conditions for the provisional release with a

22 request for hearing in the week of the 12th September.

23 And now, is that so?

24 MR. EMMERSON: That's correct.

25 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: That's correct. And then, of course, it --

1 there will be a need for an answer from the Prosecution, I suppose, and

2 that means that we probably -- this will go on in the summer recess to

3 have some dates, some limitations announced. I'm probably a little

4 surprised that it will be that early that we'll have a motion from the

5 Defence, but you have taken into account the 90 days which is mentioned, I

6 suppose, in the conditions.

7 MR. EMMERSON: Yes. The time that we propose for the hearing is

8 beyond the 90-day period identified in the conditions, and the date of the

9 14th of August is simply working back from a workable hearing date. So

10 certainly the 12th of September is comfortably beyond the 90-day period

11 that the Chamber identified in the conditions for provisional release

12 relating to political activity.

13 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Yes. Very well, then. Then we'll go along

14 with this plan.

15 And for Mr. Brahimaj, it was announced that they will file a

16 motion for provisional release by the end of July. This certainly will be

17 in the middle of the recess, of course, and I don't know if it would be

18 easier, for practical reasons, if you delayed that a bit, or else, of

19 course, we will put a time limit on Prosecution, on their response, which

20 would allow, for practical reasons, not to have anybody sitting in the

21 recess period for that matter. But what is the position of the Defence

22 there?

23 MR. HARVEY: Your Honour, let me just make clear. The target date

24 of the end of July is one that I essentially have imposed on myself in

25 order to provide the Prosecution with sufficient time to investigate the

1 proposed conditions that we will be suggesting should meet the

2 requirements of the Court for provisional release. It is our expectation,

3 and we do this from the point of view of -- with an eye to saving court

4 time and dealing with all matters as expeditiously as possible, that the

5 hearing for that provisional release application could take place in the

6 same week and perhaps on the same day as that on which the Court considers

7 the application on behalf of Mr. Haradinaj to amend his conditions of

8 provisional release.

9 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Okay. That's very reasonable, I suppose. And

10 that means that if we set a time limit to the 1st of August, which I know

11 has been discussed with the chief legal officer, and then the

12 Prosecution's response to that to the 22nd of August, then everything

13 should be able to go along the idea you have had. Isn't that so?

14 MR. HARVEY: From my standpoint, that's perfectly acceptable. I

15 don't know whether Mr. Moore has any difficulties with that.

16 MR. MOORE: I would have thought that that would be an appropriate

17 time. The problem that we would have is that we are not in a position to

18 know exactly the conditions that may be suggested by the Defence, but on a

19 preliminary view I would have thought that period would be appropriate.

20 If, however, it does create difficulties, then of course we would seek to

21 have an extension of time in relation to that, but we would try for the

22 22nd.

23 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Let it be

24 so.

25 So we know that the Defence of Mr. Haradinaj have mentioned that

1 they will not file preliminary motions in -- pursuant to Rule 72 of the

2 Rules, and the Defence of the two other accused have not filed such

3 motions within the prescribed time limit, so there is no problem there.

4 Likewise, it can be noticed that the Prosecution have disclosed in

5 relation to Rule 66(A)(i), and that disclosure has been completed on the

6 5th of May, 2005, so there is no problem there.

7 Then I have been told that the parties, as they should, have,

8 during the 65 ter meeting, discussed how this case could be prepared for

9 the trial. And of course, as everybody knows, this Trial Chamber tries

10 really to handle the cases as rapidly as possible, but for the time being

11 the parties have the following work plan in mind: The Prosecution should

12 complete its Rule 66(A)(ii) disclosure by May next year. The parties will

13 discuss possible agreed facts roughly around May, July 2006. The

14 scheduling of pre-trial briefs will take place in late autumn 2006. The

15 start of trial is envisaged as being January 2007, but that's, of course,

16 depending on a Bench being available. The length of trial, as far as it

17 can be estimated at the moment, would roughly be around 18 months, but

18 certainly we want to see if it can't be shorter, but the parties, as far

19 as I understand, do not foresee a possibility for the trial to run for

20 less than 12 months. That, of course, is something which will be

21 discussed in details when the relevant time comes.

22 So that seems to be the very easy task this morning, to make this

23 clear. Does anybody have anything to -- further to mention, to raise this

24 morning? Yes, please.

25 MR. HARVEY: Just two brief matters, Your Honour. One I should

1 say, as I did yesterday in our conference, that the reason why no

2 provisional release application has been made so far on behalf of

3 Mr. Brahimaj was because he and I both discussed this matter and we agreed

4 that it was wise to allow a reasonable period after the release of

5 Mr. Haradinaj to -- so that the Court and all parties could be assured

6 that that release did not lead to any cause for concern and so that we

7 could monitor the situation in Kosovo, and that's why we haven't made an

8 application until now. We thought that was the most reasonable approach

9 to take.

10 Secondly, and it's a matter that's been one of concern for some

11 time, as you indicated in your opening remarks, one of the purposes of

12 today's hearing is to assure the physical and mental well-being of the

13 defendants, and I raise -- with some diffidence I raise the question of my

14 client's rheumatism which has been troubling him for a considerable period

15 of time. He has a five-year history of suffering from rheumatism.

16 I'm just realising that I'm speaking perhaps a little quickly. I

17 beg your pardon.

18 He has seen the doctor in the Detention Unit, but I don't -- I

19 have the sense from him, let me put it this way, that he does not believe

20 that this doctor is taking -- has any specialisation in the field of

21 rheumatism, and he feels that it would be appropriate to have a complete

22 physical medical exam. I raise that, Your Honour, because you are the

23 ultimate authority in these matters.

24 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Thank you. I'm fully aware that the climate

25 here is not best for rheumatism. I can assure you I'm aware of that. But

1 we will take note of this, and I will consult with the right authority on

2 this matter, but anyhow, it has been noticed that there is this complaint

3 or what you would call it.

4 MR. HARVEY: I would say concern rather than complaint, but thank

5 you, Your Honour.

6 JUDGE BRYDENSHOLT: Thank you. And then I take it that after this

7 there probably is no matter to raise relating -- further matter to raise

8 relating the state of health or condition of detention for the two

9 detainees. I see that you nod, so I take that for everybody.

10 So we can then conclude this conference, and the court stands

11 adjourned. Thank you.

12 --- Whereupon the Status Conference adjourned

13 at 8.17 a.m.

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