Tribunal Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Page 188

1 Wednesday, 30th September, 1998

2 (Initial Appearance)

3 (Open session)

4 --- Upon commencing at 10.20 a.m.

5 JUDGE JORDA: Please be seated.

6 Mr. Registrar, will you please call the case number?

7 THE REGISTRAR: This is IT-95-9-I-PT, the

8 Prosecutor against Slobodan Miljkovic, alias Lugar;

9 Blagoje Simic; Milan Simic; Miroslav Tadic, alias Miro

10 Brko; Stevan Todorovic, alias Stiv, alias Stevo, alias

11 Monstrum; Simo Zaric, alias Solaja.

12 JUDGE JORDA: Very well. Registrar, can we

13 have the accused brought in, please?

14 (The accused entered court)

15 JUDGE JORDA: Mr. Todorovic, for the time

16 being, I'm going to ask you to be seated or, perhaps,

17 it would be best to give Mr. Todorovic his headphones.

18 Do you hear me, Mr. Todorovic? This is the

19 Presiding Judge speaking to you. Please state your

20 name, your first name, your profession, your age, and

21 the domicile that you had before your arrest?

22 THE ACCUSED: My name is Stevan Todorovic. I

23 was born 29 December, 1957 in Bosanski Samac. My

24 address is in Donja Slatina, Bosanski Samac

25 municipality.

Page 189

1 JUDGE JORDA: Your profession, please?

2 THE ACCUSED: I am an engineer of machinery.

3 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you. You may be seated.

4 I would like the representatives of the two parties to

5 identify themselves. First of all, turning to the

6 Prosecution.

7 MR. NIEMANN: Your Honours, please, my name

8 is Niemann. I appear with my colleagues Ms. Paterson,

9 Mr. Michelich, and Ms. Annink for the Prosecution.

10 JUDGE JORDA: For the Defence?

11 MR. NESKOVIC: Mr. President, I am Goran

12 Neskovic from Doboj in the Republika Srpska. I have

13 been assigned as counsel for Mr. Todorovic.

14 JUDGE JORDA: Mr. Registrar, is Mr. Neskovic

15 registered in the bar and has he given all the official

16 documents?

17 THE REGISTRAR: Yes. He has been assigned

18 officially by the Tribunal.

19 JUDGE JORDA: Do you speak one of the two

20 official languages of the Tribunal, Mr. Neskovic?

21 MR. NESKOVIC: Mr. President, I do not speak

22 one of the two official languages.

23 JUDGE JORDA: Which languages do you speak?

24 Perhaps I misunderstood the interpretation. The

25 interpreters said you didn't speak one of the two

Page 190

1 languages. I understood that you did speak one of

2 them, one of the two, that is. You do not speak either

3 of the languages?

4 MR. NESKOVIC: No. I do not speak either of

5 the two official languages of the Tribunal, neither

6 English nor French.

7 JUDGE JORDA: Very well, neither of the two.

8 The registrar has placed your name on our list. I make

9 no comments, other than to say to you that this may

10 sometimes cause, not problems, specifically related to

11 your client, because he has a lawyer with whom he can

12 understand things and with whom he gets along with

13 well. But there are frequently motions and briefs that

14 are filed with this Tribunal, if only by the other

15 party. They are going to come, and they will be

16 presented, so that you understand this is a French

17 speaking Trial Chamber. But this is something you

18 already know.

19 We are here for the initial appearance of

20 Mr. Todorovic. Let me remind you that Mr. Todorovic

21 was included in an indictment which was confirmed in

22 1995, I believe.

23 THE REGISTRAR: Yes. It was confirmed on the

24 21st of July, 1995 by Judge Vohrah.

25 JUDGE JORDA: All right. We will come back

Page 191

1 to this because there are other accused already in the

2 United Nations detention facility in The Hague.

3 Mr. Todorovic, today this is your initial

4 appearance. You are going to, after certain text are

5 read, you are going to state before the Tribunal in

6 respect of the various charges which the Prosecutor has

7 brought against you and which were confirmed in 1995 by

8 a judge, you will plead either guilty or not guilty to

9 each of the counts. After this we will attempt to see

10 how we can organise the rest of the proceedings with

11 the difficulty, of course, that in this Tribunal now,

12 we are going through all kinds of preparatory phases

13 that were specifically carried out in relation to this

14 specific indictment and which involve three other

15 accused who are, today, being held in the detention

16 unit.

17 Without any further adieu, perhaps we could

18 turn to the registrar and ask the registrar to read the

19 relevant articles in the indictment.

20 Perhaps Mr. Neskovic would care to say

21 something.

22 MR. NESKOVIC: Yes, Mr. President. First of

23 all, I have not been asked whether we had prepared for

24 the initial appearance. You realise that I arrived

25 here yesterday. I talked to Mr. Stevan Todorovic.

Page 192

1 However, I was not able to reach -- I was not able to

2 discuss things with him because of his health

3 conditions.

4 During the process of his arrest in the

5 former Yugoslavia, he received a very heavy blow with a

6 baseball bat over his head. I requested of

7 Mr. Jean-Jacques Heintz yesterday to have an MRI. This

8 has not been done so far. Some injuries may only

9 appear within seven days, a certain hematoma.

10 Mr. Todorovic has complained of headaches and nausea

11 and all day yesterday, and I believe that it would not

12 be appropriate for him to go through the initial

13 appearance today.

14 JUDGE JORDA: First, we're going to ask

15 Mr. Todorovic's opinion, and then I would like to hear

16 comments from the Office of the Prosecutor, and I will

17 also, of course, hear what my colleagues have to say.

18 Mr. Todorovic, will you please stand? You

19 are before an International Tribunal. You may have

20 full confidence in this Tribunal and say what you wish

21 to say at this moment, and then we will see what has to

22 be done.

23 Mr. Todorovic, how do you feel? First of

24 all, would you prefer to speak while seated, because

25 your lawyer has drawn a rather negative picture of your

Page 193

1 medical condition, or would you prefer to speak while

2 you are still standing up?

3 THE ACCUSED: Mr. President, if I may sit

4 down, with your permission.

5 JUDGE JORDA: Yes. You may, of course, speak

6 sitting down, Mr. Todorovic. Would you explain or,

7 first, tell us, please, how you feel?

8 THE ACCUSED: I don't feel well, because

9 during the kidnapping, I was transported from Serbia by

10 boat, and I received a heavy blow with a baseball bat

11 over my head. I still feel a headache, dizziness,

12 nausea, and I have occasional vomiting.

13 As Attorney Neskovic said, I had a visit by

14 the medical doctor, and this was just a superficial

15 examination without any x-ray or any MRI. My

16 apologies. I still have a scar here in the back of my

17 head that is a laceration. There may be a hematoma

18 underneath, and if I have any abrupt movements, and if

19 I lean back onto the cushion, I get a feeling of

20 dizziness and nausea and I vomit.

21 JUDGE JORDA: All right. Let me ask the

22 Registrar, since we spoke with Mr. Jean-Jacques Heintz,

23 I suppose that these examinations have been scheduled?

24 Is that correct, Mr. Registrar? Would you speak on

25 behalf of the registry?

Page 194

1 THE REGISTRAR: Yes. Mr. Heintz is aware of

2 this request and I'm sure that the MRI will not be

3 postponed.

4 JUDGE JORDA: First of all, I would like to

5 give the floor to the Office of the Prosecutor and then

6 turn to Mr. Neskovic. We have tried to apply the rules

7 in the most flexible way possible. I can recall that

8 Rule 62, as in all legal systems, states that when

9 there is an arrest, there must be an appearance quickly

10 before a judge, and perhaps, Mr. Neskovic, if we had

11 not had Mr. Todorovic appear today, would now be

12 preparing a motion in which he would state that it was

13 not normal for his client to be thrown into the

14 detention unit in Scheveningen without having seen a

15 judge.

16 Therefore, I think his rights have been

17 explained to the client, but I would like to hear what

18 he has to say. This was not an order to try to

19 surprise you. Mr. Todorovic was arrested when,

20 Mr. Registrar?

21 THE REGISTRAR: Mr. Todorovic arrived in the

22 detention unit on Sunday, if I'm not mistaken.

23 JUDGE JORDA: Sunday. All right. Today is

24 Wednesday. It doesn't seem particularly strange to me

25 for there to be two or three days to go by before the

Page 195

1 initial appearance. It's the time necessary for

2 Mr. Todorovic to know how the proceedings are

3 conducted. We will see whether if it is possible to

4 continue or not.

5 Let me now turn to Mr. Niemann or to one of

6 the other representatives of the OTP and ask what he

7 has to say.

8 MR. NIEMANN: Thank you, Your Honours.

9 Unfortunately, Your Honours, we're not in a position to

10 assist the Trial Chamber with any of the details of the

11 arrest. We don't know what details occurred there.

12 With respect to the situation we find

13 ourselves in now, the position of the Prosecution is

14 that we would be reluctant to see a plea taken from the

15 accused, be it guilty or not guilty, if he has said

16 directly and through his counsel that he is not well.

17 Our concern would be that if he is not well, he is

18 probably not in the best position to indicate to the

19 Court his attitude to the charges that are laid against

20 him.

21 Your Honours are rightfully concerned about

22 the issue of an accused being put in detention and not

23 being brought before a judge as expeditiously as

24 possible, and that, of course, is an issue that the

25 Prosecution shares with Your Honours.

Page 196

1 In our submission, Your Honours, two of the

2 very important components of Rule 62 can be properly

3 satisfied at this stage without the necessity of taking

4 a plea. Firstly, Your Honours need satisfy yourselves

5 that the accused is properly represented by counsel.

6 Your Honours can satisfy yourselves of that fact

7 because counsel does appear here today in respect of

8 Mr. Todorovic and has made submissions on his behalf.

9 With respect to reading in the indictment,

10 which is also an important matter, we would submit,

11 Your Honours, if counsel for Mr. Todorovic were to give

12 you an undertaking to read the indictment to him at the

13 very earliest possible time, Your Honours could be

14 satisfied that he has had read to him the indictment in

15 a language that he understands. If counsel for the

16 Defence were prepared to give that undertaking to Your

17 Honours at this stage, then two of the concerns that

18 are dealt with in Rule 62 would be, in my respectful

19 submission, disposed of.

20 That wouldn't preclude, Your Honours, a

21 formal procedure of coming before the Chamber at a time

22 when the accused is in better medical condition and for

23 the formal procedure of reading the indictment and

24 taking charges to take place. There are two issues.

25 One is for the Court to ascertain the attitude of the

Page 197

1 accused to the indictment, which is dealt with in

2 subparagraph 3 of Rule 62, and there is another issue,

3 and that is Your Honours being satisfied that the

4 accused is aware of the charges against to him. That

5 can be done in another way, which is to obtain an

6 undertaking from counsel for the Defence, that at the

7 very earliest possible opportunity he will make sure

8 that the accused is fully acquainted with the terms of

9 the indictment.

10 Then, of course, Your Honours, if the case

11 was to be adjourned on the basis that it can be brought

12 on at any time before Your Honours, subject to Your

13 Honours' convenience, at short notice, then any

14 concerns that the accused may have about being

15 incarcerated before a formal plea has been taken can be

16 resolved by that process. Then we can only hope that

17 the medical condition of the accused improves rapidly.

18 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you. There are two

19 concepts here. Mr. Todorovic or at least his counsel

20 have understood, first was the requirement that an

21 accused cannot remain in an indictment before a Trial

22 Chamber in a court, especially an international court.

23 We have to keep in mind the concept of human rights,

24 but he cannot remain in a detention facility either

25 without having had an initial appearance, which is what

Page 198

1 we're doing today.

2 What the Prosecutor has just raised,

3 Mr. Neskovic, is that, in fact, we might postpone the

4 guilty pleas, but I do point out that if you have read

5 the indictment, the accused can make no plea at all, if

6 he so chooses, and at that point all his rights are

7 guaranteed.

8 Let me look at Rule 62(3), which is: We call

9 upon the accused to enter a plea of guilty or not

10 guilty on each count, should the accused fail to do so,

11 enter a plea of not guilty on the accused's behalf,

12 which does not preclude if, subsequently, he would like

13 to plead not guilty. We have already had examples of

14 similar cases in other cases with which this Trial

15 Chamber is familiar.

16 A third point: The Prosecutor has, in a

17 sense, sent you back the ball. You have to know what

18 it is that you want, Mr. Neskovic. The Judges here are

19 very attentive to what you wish, but I think that you

20 must speak with your client about this. We, here,

21 cannot take an opinion from Mr. Todorovic because he

22 doesn't feel good. We are not in a tremendous hurry to

23 have this initial appearance, but my colleagues and

24 myself wanted to see Mr. Todorovic today.

25 Nonetheless, the Prosecutor has provided an

Page 199

1 opening, and he has asked that not only one of the

2 provisions of the text which has already been carried

3 out, is that you introduce yourself, but that you would

4 read or have the indictment read to the accused. He

5 was already read the indictment when he was arrested.

6 Before I give the floor back to you, Mr. Neskovic, I

7 would like to turn to Mr. Todorovic. I ask him to

8 remain seated.

9 At the time of your arrest, did they read the

10 indictment to you? Please remain seated. Did they

11 read the indictment to you?

12 THE ACCUSED: Since I was in very bad shape,

13 they were showing me something, but I do not know what

14 specifically. I do not know what they were reading to

15 me. There were some papers there, but there was --

16 even there was something on one page, but I don't know

17 exactly what it was.

18 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you, Mr. Todorovic. We

19 can consider that at the time of your arrest you were

20 not conscious of what was being read to you.

21 Let me now turn to Mr. Neskovic. Since the

22 arrest and since you have been working on this case,

23 did you have the opportunity of reading, as you must do

24 according to the rules of the Tribunal, did you read

25 the indictment to the accused and what impressions did

Page 200

1 you get from him? You must have felt something while

2 you were reading it to him.

3 MR. NESKOVIC: Mr. President, Your Honours, I

4 have not at all examined the indictment with my client,

5 nor have I discussed it with him. My first contact

6 with him was yesterday, and we spent the whole time

7 discussing his health. Please do not take me wrong.

8 The initial appearance could take place tomorrow after

9 a scan is taken of his head. I have said this out of

10 caution, and the practice in this Tribunal so far has

11 shown that if the defendant doesn't feel well, we must

12 request a full medical examination so that we know that

13 he's fully conscious of where he is or what the

14 indictment says and that he may enter a proper plea.

15 I have not asked for any adjournment. I have

16 just familiarised you with his state of health. I

17 found him in his pyjamas, the pyjamas he was wearing

18 when he was taken into custody in the Federal Republic

19 of Yugoslavia. I cannot go into the details of the

20 procedure of his arrest. The Tribunal could request

21 such information from the appropriate unit of the

22 SFOR.

23 All that I'm asking is that a scan be taken

24 of his head to make sure that there is no hematoma

25 inside, and then we can have an initial appearance, if

Page 201

1 necessary, tomorrow.

2 JUDGE JORDA: Mr. Neskovic, your request is

3 actually official. I would like your request to be

4 made official, that you would like this appearance to

5 be postponed. We want to be very clear here and

6 understand one another.

7 MR. NESKOVIC: I'm proposing that we postpone

8 the initial appearance because of the medical condition

9 of Mr. Todorovic, but in order to assist the Trial

10 Chamber, I propose that we have the initial appearance

11 as early as tomorrow, if the examination is carried

12 out.

13 JUDGE JORDA: You heard the request of the

14 Defence who prefers that this initial appearance take

15 place only after the MRI, if, in fact, the Registrar

16 orders that one should be done. Do you agree with

17 that, Mr. Niemann?

18 MR. NIEMANN: Yes, Your Honour. We agree

19 with that. We think that's a sensible course.

20 JUDGE JORDA: I would like to consult with my

21 colleagues.

22 Mr. Todorovic, please remain seated,

23 Mr. Neskovic, as well. First of all, Mr. Todorovic,

24 from the Registrar, we have just received certain

25 information about your medical condition. Do you

Page 202

1 agree, since the registry did do something, and this is

2 a public hearing, the registry has not ignored the

3 situation, has not paid attention to it? Do you

4 agree that I reveal what was done? Do you agree to my

5 explaining what your medical condition is as of today,

6 once the formalities that were taken by the registry

7 were carried out?

8 Would you like to speak on behalf of your

9 client, Mr. Neskovic? I'm also going to ask your

10 client.

11 In other words, what I want to say in public

12 is that everything that was possible to do was done

13 when Mr. Todorovic arrived. Perhaps there are other

14 things that can be done, we haven't got to that point

15 yet. For the time being, there are formalities that

16 were carried out after Mr. Todorovic, after his

17 arrest.

18 First, I would like to ask that you agree to

19 my revealing what was done. Mr. Todorovic, do you

20 agree to my revealing these things?

21 THE ACCUSED: Your Honours, I must say that I

22 was given some medical attention, but a visual

23 examination cannot disclose whether there is anything

24 behind those outside injuries.

25 JUDGE JORDA: That's not the question I'm

Page 203

1 asking. I'm simply asking whether you agree to my

2 revealing what was done by the efforts of the registry

3 on the medical level. Do you agree or do you not agree

4 to my stating what was done? Your counsel said yes,

5 but I would like to have your opinion, Mr. Todorovic.

6 THE ACCUSED: Yes, Your Honour.

7 JUDGE JORDA: This is not a great secret. I

8 would simply like to point out that the accused was

9 seen by the physician at the detention unit, who called

10 in a neurologist for consultation, who made a diagnosis

11 of a hematoma and said that an MRI, at this point, was

12 not necessary. I'm not saying that one should not be

13 done. I'm not a physician. I simply wanted to make

14 this clarification to the public, but with your

15 authorisation.

16 Having made this clarification, the question

17 which the Judges must now respond to is whether or not

18 to continue with this initial appearance. We would

19 like to ask Mr. Todorovic and his counsel, are you, at

20 least, in a condition to hear the reading of the

21 indictment? We're not going to ask you to plead guilty

22 or not guilty. We will simply note that you have

23 entered a plea of not guilty.

24 Are you in a condition which would allow you

25 to hear the reading of this indictment? Since your

Page 204

1 counsel has not had the opportunity to read it to you.

2 Take your time, you may consult with one another. If

3 you want to consult with your client, Mr. Neskovic, and

4 you can do it in private, if you care to.

5 Mr. Todorovic, are you in a condition to hear

6 the indictment and then we will enter a plea of not

7 guilty, I'm not going to ask you to do what we do with

8 all of the accused, that is, to rise, but simply in

9 public, we will replace the reading of the indictment,

10 which should have been done to you, had you been in

11 better condition yesterday.

12 Do you agree that we read it?

13 THE ACCUSED: Your Honour, if there may be a

14 break so that I may consult with my counsel.

15 JUDGE JORDA: Very well. We will suspend the

16 hearing for five minutes.

17 --- Recess taken at 10.55 a.m.

18 --- On resuming at 11.13 a.m.

19 JUDGE JORDA: We will resume the hearing.

20 Please be seated.

21 Mr. Todorovic, we have given you as much time

22 as you needed in order to consult with your counsel.

23 We thought that we would read the indictment. What is

24 your opinion? After you have spoken with Mr. Neskovic,

25 your counsel, what is your opinion?

Page 205

1 THE ACCUSED: Your Honours, I wish to thank

2 you for giving me this opportunity to consult with my

3 counsel. I informed you yesterday in writing that I'm

4 not feeling well. I hope you received that letter. I

5 do not feel capable of following the reading of the

6 indictment. If counsel could read it to me when I am

7 in a better condition, because I would like to lie down

8 awhile, because I still am feeling pain and dizziness.

9 Thank you.

10 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you. I would like to

11 consult with my colleagues.

12 The Tribunal has noted your opinion,

13 Mr. Todorovic, but in view of everything that was

14 revealed having to do with your medical condition, also

15 with your approval, and since it is your right, we're

16 not going to ask you to plead guilty or not guilty.

17 Since you're tired, we can do that another time.

18 However, since this is a public hearing, we

19 are going to read the indictment, that is, the relevant

20 parts that concern you, and then we will adjourn for

21 another initial appearance when the Tribunal will know

22 that the indictment has been read, which is a basic

23 document, and you must have heard it. Because,

24 apparently, we were not able to give it to you before

25 that.

Page 206

1 Therefore, I will now ask the Registrar to

2 read the relevant parts. We're only going to read

3 those relevant parts of the indictment that deal with

4 you, and then we will adjourn. You will provisionally

5 be noted as having pled not guilty, and then we will

6 have a further initial appearance in which, once you

7 are completely better, you will be able to express an

8 opinion as to each of the charges.

9 Registrar, read the general parts of the

10 indictment and then only the relevant part which has to

11 do with Mr. Todorovic. If you don't feel well,

12 Mr. Todorovic, you will ask the reading to be

13 interrupted, although we do hope that it can be read

14 until the end.

15 THE REGISTRAR: The Prosecutor of the

16 Tribunal against Slobodan Miljkovic, alias Lugar;

17 Blagoje Simic; Milan Simic; Miroslav Tadic, alias Miro

18 Brko; Stevan Todorovic, alias Stiv, alias Stevo, alias

19 Monstrum; Simo Zaric, alias Solaja. As regards Blagoje

20 Simic, Milan Simic, and Miroslav Tadic, they are part

21 of a new indictment which was confirmed on the 25th of

22 August and whose initial appearance already took place

23 on the 3rd of September, 1998.

24 Indictment: Richard J. Goldstone, Prosecutor

25 of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former

Page 207

1 Yugoslavia, pursuant to his authority under Article 18

2 of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal

3 for the former Yugoslavia (Tribunal Statute) charges:

4 1) In 1991, almost 17.000 Bosnian Croats and

5 Muslims, of a total population of about 33.000, lived

6 in the municipality of Bosanski Samac in the Republic

7 of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By May 1995, fewer than 300

8 of the Bosnian Croat and Muslim residents remained.

9 2) On 17 April, 1992, Serb military forces

10 from Bosnia and elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia

11 seized control of the town of Bosanski Samac.

12 3) Because of its location at the

13 northwestern edge of the Posavina Corridor, control of

14 Bosanski Samac was important to Serb efforts to create

15 a Serb-controlled land bridge between Serbia and the

16 Krajina Serbs in Croatia and western Bosnia and

17 Herzegovina.

18 4) After seizing control in the military

19 takeover, Serb authorities undertook a campaign of

20 terror designed to force most Bosnian Croat and Muslim

21 residents to leave the area.

22 5) Beginning on 17 April, 1992, Serb military

23 and political authorities coordinated and carried out

24 the following actions as part of that campaign of

25 terror:

Page 208

1 a) arrested and detained most of the

2 Bosnian Croat and Muslim men in the municipality,

3 particularly the political, economic, professional,

4 academic, and civic leaders;

5 b) established and operated, primarily

6 under the authority of the Serb police, detention camps

7 where prisoners were killed, beaten, tortured, sexually

8 assaulted, and otherwise mistreated;

9 c) permitted units of paramilitary

10 soldiers from Serbia to enter the detention camps to

11 kill and beat the prisoners;

12 d) forced Bosnian Croat and Muslim

13 residents to leave their homes and permitted Serb

14 residents to move into the vacated houses;

15 e) expelled, through force or

16 intimidation, Bosnian Croat and Muslim residents of the

17 municipality to other countries and other parts of

18 Bosnia and Herzegovina;

19 f) required Bosnian Croat and Muslim

20 men, women, and children to work on forced labour

21 projects, such as digging trenches and other work at

22 military confrontation lines;

23 g) robbed Bosnian Croat and Muslim

24 residents of their cars, cash and valuables, and looted

25 their homes;

Page 209

1 h) looted and dismantled equipment and

2 inventories from Bosnian Croat and Muslim businesses;

3 i) issued orders prohibiting Bosnian

4 Croats and Muslims from congregating in public and

5 requiring Bosnian Croats and Muslims to wear white arm

6 bands to identify themselves as non-Serbs;

7 j) confiscated the bank accounts of many

8 Bosnian Croats and Muslims and blocked the funds in

9 those accounts;

10 k) mobilised Bosnian Croat and Muslim

11 men into the Bosnian Serb army and sent them to the

12 frontlines;

13 i) created such an atmosphere of fear

14 and oppression among the non-Serb population that most

15 Bosnian Croat and Muslim residents fled the area.

16 The accused --

17 JUDGE JORDA: Go directly to this accused.

18 THE REGISTRAR: The Accused:

19 10) Stevan Todorovic, also known as Stiv,

20 Stevo, or Monstrum, born in 1957, from Donja Slatina,

21 Bosanski Samac municipality, was appointed Chief of

22 Police for Bosanski Samac after the 17 April, 1992

23 military takeover. Before then, Stevan Todorovic was

24 an executive in a bamboo furniture factory.

25 General allegations:

Page 210

1 12) Unless otherwise set forth below, all

2 acts and omissions alleged in this indictment took

3 place between about 17 April and 20 November, 1992 in

4 the Bosanski Samac municipality in the Republic of

5 Bosnia and Herzegovina in the territory of the former

6 Yugoslavia.

7 13) At all times relevant to this indictment,

8 a state of armed conflict and partial occupation

9 existed in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

10 14) At all times relevant to this indictment,

11 all persons described in this indictment as victims

12 were protected by the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

13 15) At all times relevant to this indictment,

14 all of the accused in this indictment were required to

15 abide by the laws and customs governing the conduct of

16 war, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

17 16) In each paragraph of this indictment

18 charging torture, the acts were committed by, or at the

19 instigation of, or with the consent or acquiescence of,

20 an official or person acting in an official capacity,

21 and for one or more of the following purposes: To

22 obtain information or a confession from the victim or a

23 third person; to punish the victim for an act the

24 victim or a third person committed or was suspected of

25 having committed; to intimidate or coerce the victim or

Page 211

1 a third person; and/or for any reason based upon

2 discrimination of any kind.

3 17) All acts and omissions charged as crimes

4 against humanity were part of a widespread, systematic,

5 or large-scale attack against the Croat and Muslim

6 residents of the municipality of Bosanski Samac.

7 18) Each of the accused is individually

8 responsible for the crimes alleged against him in this

9 indictment, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Tribunal

10 Statute. Individual criminal liability includes

11 committing, planning, initiating, ordering, or aiding

12 and abetting in the planning, preparation, or execution

13 of any crime referred to in Articles 2 to 5 of the

14 Tribunal Statute.

15 19) Paragraphs 12 through 18 are realleged

16 and incorporated into each of the charges set forth

17 below.

18 JUDGE JORDA: Mr. Registrar, leave out the

19 counts that do not directly affect the accused, except

20 those that affect him indirectly.

21 THE REGISTRAR: Counts 27 to 29: Killing of

22 Anto Brandic:

23 28) On about 29 July, 1992, in the hallway of

24 the SUP building in Bosanski Samac, Stevan Todorovic

25 and others killed Anto Brandic, also known as Antesa,

Page 212

1 by repeatedly beating and kicking him with police

2 batons and heavy boots. By these actions, Stevan

3 Todorovic committed or otherwise aided and abetted:

4 Count 27: a grave breach recognised by

5 Article 2(a) (willful killing) of the Tribunal Statute;

6 Count 28: a violation of the laws or customs

7 of war recognised by Article 3 of the Tribunal Statute

8 and Article 3(1)(a) (murder) of the Geneva Conventions;

9 Count 29: a crime against humanity

10 recognised by Article 5(a) (murder) of the Tribunal

11 Statute.

12 Counts 30 to 32: Beatings in the SUP

13 Building:

14 29) On about 29 July, 1992, in the hallway of

15 the SUP building in Bosanski Samac, Stevan Todorovic

16 and others repeatedly beat and kicked Enver Ibralic,

17 Hasan Jasarevic, Omer Nalic, and Father Jozo Puskaric

18 with police batons and heavy boots, thereby causing the

19 victims physical injury. By these actions, Stevan

20 Todorovic committed or otherwise aided and abetted:

21 Count 30: a grave breach (willfully causing

22 great suffering) recognised by the Article 2(c) of the

23 Tribunal Statute;

24 Count 31: a violation of the laws or customs

25 of war recognised by the Article 3 of the Tribunal

Page 213

1 Statute and Article 3(1)(a) (cruel treatment) of the

2 Geneva Conventions;

3 Count 32: a crime against humanity

4 recognised by Article 5(i) (inhumane acts) of the

5 Tribunal Statute.

6 Counts 33 to 35: Beating of Silvestar

7 Antunovic:

8 30) On about 15 July, 1992, in the gymnasium

9 of the Bosanski Samac primary school, Stevan Todorovic

10 and others repeatedly beat Silvestar Antunovic with a

11 large wooden club. As a result of the beating,

12 Silvestar Antunovic suffered partial paralysis and

13 other serious physical injury. By these actions,

14 Stevan Todorovic committed or otherwise aided and

15 abetted:

16 Count 33: a grave breach recognised by

17 Article 2(c) (willfully causing great suffering) of the

18 Tribunal Statute;

19 Count 34: a violation of the laws or customs

20 of war recognised by Article 3 of the Tribunal Statute

21 and Article 3(1)(a) (cruel treatment) of the Geneva

22 Conventions;

23 Count 35: a crime against humanity

24 recognised by Article 5(i) (inhumane acts) of the

25 Tribunal Statute.

Page 214

1 Counts 36 to 38: Sexual Assault:

2 31) On about 13 June, 1992 in the hallway of

3 the Bosanski Samac SUP building, Stevan Todorovic

4 forced Witness A and Witness B to perform sexual acts

5 upon each other in the presence of several other

6 prisoners and guards. By these actions, Stevan

7 Todorovic instigated, ordered, and committed:

8 Count 36: a grave breach recognised by

9 Article 2(b) (inhumane treatment) of the Tribunal

10 Statute;

11 Count 37: a violation of the laws or customs

12 of war recognised by Article 3 of the Tribunal Statute

13 and Article 3(1)(c) (humiliating and degrading

14 treatment) of the Geneva Conventions;

15 Count 38: a crime against humanity

16 recognised by Article 5(g) (rape, which includes other

17 forms of sexual assault) of the Tribunal Statute.

18 Counts 39 to 41: Torture of Omer Nalic:

19 32) On about 19 June, 1992 at the Bosanski

20 Samac primary school, while questioning Omer Nalic

21 about a radio transmitter, Stevan Todorovic ordered

22 three men to beat Omer Nalic. By these actions, Stevan

23 Todorovic instigated, ordered, committed or aided and

24 abetted:

25 Count 39: a grave breach recognised by

Page 215

1 Article 2(b) (torture) of the Tribunal Statute;

2 Count 40: a violation of the laws or customs

3 of war recognised by Article 3 of the Tribunal Statute

4 and Article 3(1)(a) (torture) of the Geneva

5 Conventions;

6 Count 41: a crime against humanity

7 recognised by Article 5(f) (torture) of the Tribunal

8 Statute.

9 Counts 42 to 56 --

10 JUDGE JORDA: Excuse me, Mr. Registrar.

11 These counts do not directly affect your client,

12 Mr. Neskovic, but I would like paragraphs 33 and 34 to

13 be read, because the Prosecutor is alleging certain

14 links of authority and, at this stage, they should be

15 read.

16 Mr. Registrar, do not read 42 to 56, but only

17 paragraphs 33 and 34 for the benefit of the Defence.

18 THE REGISTRAR: 33) After about 17 April

19 1992, Blagoje Simic was the highest ranking civilian

20 official in the municipality of Bosanski Samac and, as

21 such, was in a position of superior authority to Stevan

22 Todorovic, the newly-appointed Serb Chief of Police.

23 34) With respect to the acts and omissions of

24 Stevan Todorovic set forth in this indictment, Blagoje

25 Simic knew or had reason to know that Stevan Todorovic

Page 216

1 was about to commit such acts or had done so, and

2 Blagoje Simic failed to take the necessary and

3 reasonable measures to prevent such acts or to punish

4 Stevan Todorovic. By these acts or omissions, Blagoje

5 Simic was criminally responsible for the actions of

6 Stevan Todorovic.

7 This is an indictment signed by Richard

8 Goldstone on the 21st of June, 1995 and confirmed by

9 Judge Vohrah on the 25th of June, 1995.

10 JUDGE JORDA: Mr. Neskovic and Mr. Todorovic,

11 we are now going to adjourn. The Tribunal is now

12 assured that the reading that should have been done in

13 the previous days has been done. The initial

14 appearance, at which your client will be called upon to

15 plead guilty or not guilty, after the possible medical

16 treatment which will be arranged by the registry, when

17 your client will be capable of pleading guilty or not

18 guilty on each count, in principle, we will not be

19 rereading the indictment, except if Mr. Todorovic

20 wishes the indictment to be reread.

21 For the moment, Mr. Registrar, I would like

22 it to be noted that, at the present stage,

23 Mr. Todorovic pleads not guilty, but it should also be

24 recorded that he wanted to abstain, but this is for the

25 full implementation of the relevant Articles of the

Page 217

1 Rules of Procedures and Evidence.

2 We will be hearing Mr. Todorovic's plea after

3 consulting with his Defence counsel, and then we will

4 organise the continuation of the proceedings, taking

5 into account what has already been done. In this

6 particular case, the three other accused that are in

7 detention in the detention unit in Scheveningen, I wish

8 to remind you that I have already appointed a Pre-Trial

9 Judge, which will be Judge Rodrigues. According to the

10 new rules, this instance will ensure the more

11 expeditious preparation of trial. We will, of course,

12 organise all the other dates and schedules regarding

13 disclosure and everything else.

14 We would have had a Status Conference today

15 concerning Simic, Tadic, Zaric but, in agreement with

16 Judge Rodrigues and Judge Riad, we preferred to

17 postpone that Status Conference until after the initial

18 appearance of the new accused, who is here present,

19 Mr. Todorovic.

20 Before closing, I turn to Mr. Neskovic. Have

21 you any comments to make regarding what has been said

22 or anything else?

23 MR. NESKOVIC: Mr. President, for the

24 present, I have no questions. I see that you have

25 taken note of everything that we have said so far, and

Page 218

1 I hope that Mr. Todorovic will be able to plead the

2 next time when his condition improves.

3 In view of the fact that you've mentioned the

4 other three accused linked to this indictment, I hope

5 that the schedule of trial will not affect the quality

6 of the defence of Mr. Todorovic, that is, that he will

7 have sufficient time to prepare his defence.

8 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you. Mr. Prosecutor, do

9 you have anything to add?

10 MR. NIEMANN: No, Your Honour.

11 JUDGE JORDA: Mr. Todorovic, I should like to

12 give you the floor last. I hope you're not feeling too

13 unwell. You will be taken care of by the doctors.

14 Have you anything to add to this Trial Chamber and to

15 what has been said by your counsel?

16 THE ACCUSED: I have nothing to add. I wish

17 to thank you for your understanding about my condition,

18 and I hope that it will improve after medical

19 treatment.

20 JUDGE JORDA: Very well. In that case, the

21 hearing is adjourned. A date will be set in accordance

22 with the Prosecutor, the Defence counsel, and the state

23 of health of the accused. The registry will notify us,

24 all of us, of that new initial appearance. The hearing

25 is adjourned.

Page 219

1 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at

2 11.37 a.m., to be reconvened sine die

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25