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,
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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1 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at
2 11.37 a.m., to be reconvened sine die
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