Tribunal Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

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 1                           Friday, 23 January 2009

 2                           [Status Conference]

 3                           [Open session]

 4                           [The accused entered court]

 5                           --- Upon commencing at 3.44 p.m.

 6             JUDGE MERON:  Please be seated.

 7             Registrar, will you please call the case.

 8             THE REGISTRAR:  Good afternoon, Your Honour.  Good afternoon to

 9     everyone in the courtroom.

10             This is case number IT-95-13/1-A, the Prosecutor versus Mile

11     Mrksic and Veselin Sljvancanin.

12             JUDGE MERON:  Let's make sure that the audio equipment is

13     working.

14             Mr. Mrksic, can -- sorry.  Mr. Mrksic, can you hear me?

15             THE ACCUSED MRKSIC: [Interpretation] Your Honour, I can hear you

16     very well indeed.

17             JUDGE MERON:  Thank you.

18             Mr. Sljivancanin, can you hear me?

19             THE ACCUSED SLJIVANCANIN: [Interpretation] Your Honour

20     Judge Meron, I can hear you very well, yes.

21             JUDGE MERON:  Thank you very much.

22             I presume the counsel can hear me for Defence and Prosecution,

23     and I would ask for appearances.  Prosecution, Ms. Brady is there, I see.

24             MS. BRADY:  Good afternoon.  Helen Brady appearing on behalf of

25     the Prosecution, and with me today, this afternoon, is Mr. Paul Rogers

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 1     and our case manager, Ms. Alma Imamovic.

 2             Thank you.

 3             JUDGE MERON:  Thank you.

 4             For Mr. Mrksic.

 5             MR. VASIC: [Interpretation] Good afternoon, Your Honour.  Good

 6     afternoon to everyone in the courtroom.

 7             Mr. Mrksic is represented by Mr. Miroslav Vasic and Mr. Domazet.

 8             Thank you.

 9             JUDGE MERON:  Thank you, Mr. Vasic.

10             Counsel for Mr. Sljivancanin.

11             MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] Good afternoon, Your Honour.

12             Novak Lukic and Stephane Bourgon for Mr. Sljivancanin, and with

13     us is our legal assistant, Maja Dokmanovic and Marie-Claude Fournier.  I

14     hope that she can remain at this status conference with us.

15             JUDGE MERON:  She can.

16             Thank you.

17             As you are aware, Rule 65 bis (B) of the Rules of Procedure and

18     Evidence requires that status conferences be held every 120 days for each

19     appellant in the Tribunal's custody.

20             A status conference serves two primary purposes; first, it allows

21     the appellants an opportunity to express concerns relating to their

22     appeal or detention conditions; second, it provides an opportunity to

23     update the appellants with respect to the status of their case.  The

24     status conference is also an opportunity for the Tribunal to inquire

25     about the mental and physical condition of the detained persons.

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 1             The last status conference in this case took place on 16 October

 2     2008.  Where both Mr. Mrksic and Mr. Sljivancanin are presently in the

 3     custody of the Tribunal, Mr. Sljivancanin's custody is only for the

 4     period of the appeals hearing, and he will soon be returning to the

 5     provisional release granted to him pursuant to the Appeals Chamber

 6     decision of 11 December 2007.

 7             I would like to begin the status conference by inquiring into

 8     Mr. Mrksic's and Mr. Sljivancanin's health.

 9             Mr. Mrksic, anything I should know about your health problems?

10             THE ACCUSED MRKSIC: [Interpretation] Your Honour, you already

11     know everything.  Now I feel all right.  I'm not experiencing any

12     problems, and I am satisfied with the treatment I am receiving in the

13     Detention Unit.

14             Thank you.

15             JUDGE MERON:  Thank you, Mr. Mrksic.

16             Mr. Sljivancanin.

17             THE ACCUSED SLJIVANCANIN: [Interpretation] Your Honour

18     Judge Meron, I have no problems to put forward to you today.  Thank you

19     once again for allowing me to be on provisional release until the final

20     judgement.  I am adhering to all your orders, and that is how I believe

21     things will remain.

22             JUDGE MERON:  Thank you, Mr. Sljivancanin.  You may sit down.

23             Now, on the update of the case, as you all know, the appeals

24     hearing has been completed, and I note that we will decide in due course,

25     soon, on Mr. Mrksic's confidential motions pursuant to Rule 115 of the

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 1     Rules of Procedure and Evidence.  I further note that we have received

 2     Mr. Mrksic's confidential motion for provisional release, and we will be

 3     issuing a decision in this matter in due course.

 4             At this point, I would like to ask the parties whether they have

 5     any other issues that they would like to raise.

 6             Ms. Brady.

 7             MS. BRADY:  No issues from us, Your Honour, save to say that

 8     we'll be filing our response to that confidential request for provisional

 9     release.  We hope to do so later today and at the latest by Monday.  The

10     due date is actually Monday, but we're endeavouring to speed that up, and

11     hopefully we'll be able to do it today.

12             JUDGE MERON:  Thank you very much.  Thank you for that,

13     Ms. Brady.

14             Mr. Vasic, anything that you would like to raise?

15             MR. VASIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.

16             We are awaiting the decisions Your Honour mentioned.  I only wish

17     to say that I have received another set of new documents from my learned

18     friend.  I found them in my locker, and I will deal with them after the

19     status conference.

20             I have nothing more to add.  Thank you.

21             JUDGE MERON:  For Mr. Sljivancanin, Mr. Lukic.  Nothing?

22             MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] No, Your Honour, thank you.

23             JUDGE MERON:  Thank you.

24             Since there are no other matters to be raised, I thank the

25     parties for their attendance and call these proceedings to a close.

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 1             Thank you very much.

 2                           --- Whereupon the Status Conference adjourned

 3                           at 3.51 p.m.

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