1



  1. Tuesday, 29th April 1997

    2 (4.00 pm)

    3 JUDGE JORDA: I would first like us to wait. Once and for

    4 all I would like my orders to be given before the

    5 accused is brought in, otherwise I find it a difficult

    6 way to operate.

    7 First of all, do all the interpreters hear? Is

    8 everybody ready? Does everybody hear me for this

    9 hearing of the initial appearance? Yes, I hear the

    10 French interpreters. Does the Prosecutor hear me?

    11 MR. NIEMANN: We have no sound.

    12 JUDGE JORDA: Does the Prosecution hear now? Do you hear

    13 me now, Prosecution?

    14 MR. MEDDEGODA: No.

    15 JUDGE JORDA: Mr. Niemann, do you hear me now? Do you hear

    16 me, Mr. Niemann?

    17 MR. NIEMANN: No, I am afraid I do not.

    18 JUDGE JORDA: Does Mr. Aleksovski hear me?

    19 THE DEFENDANT: Yes.

    20 JUDGE JORDA: Does the defence hear me?

    21 MR. MIKULICIC: Yes.

    22 JUDGE JORDA: Do you hear me, Mr. Niemann?

    23 MR. NIEMANN: Yes.

    24 JUDGE JORDA: We can begin the hearing, which is an initial

    25 appearance hearing, given the arrest and presence of one

    1



  2. of the accused. I would first like the appearances for

    2 the Prosecutor.

    3 MR. NIEMANN: If your Honours please, my name is Niemann --

    4 JUDGE JORDA: Turn your microphone on.

    5 MR. NIEMANN: If your Honour pleases, my name is Niemann.

    6 I appear with, on my left, Mr. Marchesiello. On my

    7 right is Mr. Meddegoda. We appear for the Prosecution

    8 in this matter, your Honour.

    9 JUDGE JORDA: Could we have the appearance for the defence,

    10 please?

    11 MR. MIKULICIC: Your Honour, my name is Goran Mikulicic. I

    12 am the defence attorney of Mr. Aleksovski.

    13 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you. Is there any kind of a warrant

    14 that you have with you? It is Mr. Mikulicic; is that

    15 right?

    16 MR. MIKULICIC: Yes, that is right.

    17 JUDGE JORDA: You are from the Zagreb bar?

    18 MR. MIKULICIC: Yes, I am.

    19 JUDGE JORDA: Be seated. I suppose that both the

    20 Prosecutor and the defence are prepared to move

    21 forward. I would like to recall the terms of the

    22 initial appearance hearing. The initial appearance of

    23 an accused is covered by a certain number of provisions

    24 which appear in the text, as well as by the

    25 International Criminal Tribunal's Statute and Rules.

    1



  3. The Statute is covered in 20 and 21. Article 20 states

    2 that the Trial Chamber reads the indictment and makes

    3 sure that the rights of the accused have been respected,

    4 confirms that the accused has understood the indictment

    5 and instructs the accused to enter a plea. The Trial

    6 Chamber will then set a date for trial.

    7 In the same Statute there are a series of rights

    8 which have been provided for your client; among them the

    9 right to be informed as quickly as possible in a

    10 language which he understands in detail of the nature

    11 and cause of the charge against him, and to have time

    12 and facilities for the preparation of the defence, and

    13 there are other rights as well, which are made clear by

    14 your defence. These have to do with those steps which

    15 precede the hearing.

    16 Dealing more specifically with the initial

    17 hearing, which is the reason for our meeting today, the

    18 initial hearing of the accused is provided for in Rule

    19 62 of the Rules. It is a relatively short rule, which

    20 says that the Trial Chamber -- the rights of the accused

    21 are respected, that he has the right to counsel, reads

    22 or has the indictment read to the accused in a language

    23 he speaks or understands, and satisfies itself that the

    24 accused understands the indictment. We will now do

    25 that. We will call the accused to enter a plea of

    1



  4. "guilty" or "not guilty" on each count. Should the

    2 accused fail to do so, enter a plea of "not guilty" on

    3 his behalf and, last, if possible, one sets the date for

    4 the trial. If not possible, we set the date for

    5 whatever schedule can be done now in order to set up the

    6 schedule for the trial.

    7 I note, along with my colleagues, that the accused

    8 has an attorney. I would now like to turn to

    9 Mr. Mikulicic and first -- you may rise, sir. I would

    10 like you to assure us, assure the judges of Trial

    11 Chamber 1, that the accused has received a copy of the

    12 indictment and that it was read to him in a language

    13 which he understands.

    14 MR. MIKULICIC: Yes, I can confirm that my client has read

    15 the indictment and that he understood the indictment.

    16 JUDGE JORDA: Has he himself read it, Mr. Mikulicic?

    17 MR. MIKULICIC: Yes, he did.

    18 JUDGE JORDA: Have you had the occasion to discuss it with

    19 him, although I do know that you only arrived this

    20 morning? Did you have the chance to speak about the

    21 indictment with your client?

    22 MR. MIKULICIC: No, we have very few time to discuss the

    23 indictment, so pretty generally we discussed it.

    24 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you. You may be seated. I will ask

    25 the Registrar to read the indictment and will again be

    1



  5. translated for Mr. Aleksovski. I would like the

    2 Registrar to separate those parts which are relevant to

    3 Mr. Aleksovski. I give the floor to you, Registrar.

    4 THE REGISTRAR: The indictment contains the number

    5 IT-95-15-I and is dated 2nd November 1995.

    6 Indictment.

    7 Richard J Goldstone, Prosecutor of the

    8 International Criminal Tribunal for the former

    9 Yugoslavia, pursuant to his authority under Article 18

    10 of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal

    11 for the former Yugoslavia ("The Statute of the

    12 Tribunal"), charges that:

    13 1. Serious violations of international

    14 humanitarian law took place during the period of May

    15 1992 to May 1993, when the armed forces of the Croatian

    16 Defence Council (hereinafter referred to as HVO) of the

    17 Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna (hereinafter referred

    18 to as HZ-HB) attacked the Muslim civilian population in

    19 the towns, villages and hamlets of the Lasva Valley area

    20 of Central Bosnia generally and specifically in the

    21 municipalitites of Vitez and Busovaca and the civilian

    22 population of the nearby city of Zenica, in the

    23 territory of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    24 7. Zlatko Aleksovski, son of Tale and Eva (nee

    25 Stanko), was born on 8 January 1960 in Pakrac, Pakrac

    1



  6. municipality, in the Republic of Croatia. He completed

    2 studies at the "Veljko Vlahovic" Faculty of Political

    3 Sciences, Department of Sociology, in Sarajevo on 28

    4 September 1983. From 23 February 1987 he was employed

    5 as a counsellor at the "Zenica Correction House" until

    6 on or about 29 January 1993, when he left to become

    7 commander of the prison facility at Kaonik, near

    8 Busovaca. After May 1993 he left Kaonik to become the

    9 Head of the District HVO "Heliodrom" prison in Mostar,

    10 which was also under the administration of HZ-HB.

    11 20. Zlatko Aleksovski was an official at the

    12 Zenica prison from 23 February 1987 until leaving to be

    13 the commander of the detention facility at Kaonik, near

    14 Busovaca, on or about 29 January 1993. He was in charge

    15 of Kaonik Prison and was in a position of superiority to

    16 everyone else in the camp. As commander, he met

    17 International Committee of the Red Cross (hereinafter

    18 referred to as ICRC) and European Community Monitoring

    19 Mission (hereinafter referred to as ECMM) officials and

    20 provided them with lists of detained persons and

    21 acknowledged his position of commander of the facility

    22 and his understanding of the Geneva Conventions in

    23 relation to the detention and treatment of prisoners in

    24 his charge.

    25 21. Zlatko Aleksovski has demonstrated or

    1



  7. exercised his control over the detention facility of

    2 Kaonik Prison in a variety of ways including, but not

    3 limited to, formal meetings with ICRC and ECMM

    4 officials, accepting the custody of arrested persons by

    5 HVO units, allowing the unlawful interrogation of

    6 detained persons and allowing them to be used for

    7 unlawful forced labour (digging trenches) and human

    8 shields.

    9 31. From January 1993 until at least the end ...

    10 an international armed conflict and partial occupation

    11 existed in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in

    12 the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

    13 22.2 All acts or omissions herein set forth as

    14 grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949

    15 (hereinafter "grave breaches"), recognised by Article 2

    16 of the Statute of the Tribunal, occurred during that

    17 international armed conflict and partial occupation.

    18 22.3 In each paragraph charging crimes against

    19 humanity, a crime recognised by Article 5 of the Statute

    20 of the Tribunal, the alleged acts or omissions were part

    21 of a widespread, large-scale or systematic attack

    22 directed against a civilian population, specifically the

    23 Bosnian Muslim population of the Lasva Valley region of

    24 the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    25 22.4 All of the victims referred to in the

    1



  8. charges contained in this indictment were, at all

    2 relevant times, persons protected by the Geneva

    3 Conventions of 1949.

    4 22.5 All of the accused in this indictment were

    5 required to abide by the mandate of the laws and customs

    6 governing the conduct of war, including the Geneva

    7 Conventions of 1949.

    8 22.6 The general allegations contained in

    9 paragraphs 8 through to 22.5 are realleged and

    10 incorporated into each of the related charges set out

    11 below.

    12 Charges.

    13 31. From January 1993 until at least the end of

    14 May 1993, Zlatko Aleksovski accepted hundreds of

    15 detained Bosnia Muslim civilians from the HVO or their

    16 agents into his custody at the detention facilities in

    17 Kaonik. The detainees were from a widespread area

    18 including, but not exclusive to, Vitez and Busovaca

    19 municipalitites. Many of the detainees under his

    20 control were subjected to inhumane treatment, including,

    21 but not limited to, excessive and cruel interrogation,

    22 physical and psychological harm, forced labour (digging

    23 trenches), in hazardous circumstances, being used as

    24 human shields and some were murdered or otherwise

    25 killed.

    1



  9. Counts 8-10.

    2 Grave Breaches and Violation of the Laws or

    3 Customs of War.

    4 Unlawful treatment of Bosnian Muslim detainees.

    5 37. Dario Cordic, Tihofil Blaskic, Mario Cerkez,

    6 Ivan Santic, Pero Skopljak and Zlatko Aleksovski,

    7 between 1 January and 31 May 1993, and as otherwise

    8 described in paragraphs 23 and 26-31 of this indictment,

    9 all of which are incorporated in full herein,

    10 individually, and in concert with others, planned,

    11 instigated, ordered or otherwise aided and abetted in

    12 the planning, preparation or execution of the unlawful

    13 treatment of Bosnian Muslim detainees in the Lasva

    14 Valley area of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

    15 and, or in the alternative, knew, or had reason to know,

    16 that subordinates were about to do the same, or had done

    17 so, and failed to take the necessary and reasonable

    18 measures to prevent such acts or to punish the

    19 perpetrators thereof.

    20 By these acts and omissions Dario Kordic, Tihofil

    21 Blaskic, Mario Cerkez, Ivan Santic, Pero Skopljak and

    22 Zlatko Aleksovski committed:

    23 Count 8: a GRAVE BREACH as recognised by Articles

    24 2(b) (inhuman treatment), 7(1) and 7(3) of the Statute

    25 of the Tribunal;

    1



  10. Count 9: a GRAVE BREACH as recognised by Articles

    2 2(c) (wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury

    3 to body or health), 7(1) and 7(3) of the Statute of the

    4 Tribunal;

    5 Count 10: a VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF

    6 WAR (outrages upon the personal dignity) as recognised

    7 by Articles 3, 7(1) and 7(3) of the Statute of the

    8 Tribunal.

    9 This indictment was amended by a Decision of 22

    10 November 1996.

    11 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you, Registrar. Thank you for reading

    12 this. Mr. Zlatko Aleksovski, would you rise, please?

    13 Would you state your name, your first name, any

    14 relations that you have, any other identifying

    15 characteristics, your profession today? We are

    16 listening to you.

    17 THE DEFENDANT: My name is Zlatko Aleksovski, the son of

    18 Tale Aleksovski. My mother's name is Eva Stanko.

    19 I was born on 8 January 1960 in Pakrac in the Republic

    20 of Croatia.

    21 JUDGE JORDA: You studied political science; is that

    22 correct? What is your profession today?

    23 THE DEFENDANT: Until I was indicted, I worked as Manager

    24 of the District Court in Busovaca. I graduated in

    25 political sciences in Sarajevo, Department of Sociology.

    1



  11. JUDGE JORDA: Thank you. Mr. Aleksovski, you are being

    2 prosecuted under the indictment which has been drafted

    3 by the Prosecutor against you, which explains the

    4 reasons for your arrest and presence here today. You

    5 have heard those parts of the Statute which relate to

    6 you. You heard the indictment. Your counsel has

    7 explained it to you. I would like you to tell me

    8 whether you understood what was read, whether it was

    9 read to you in a language which is yours, and for you to

    10 tell me as well whether you plead "guilty" or "not

    11 guilty" to each of the three counts in the indictment,

    12 two having to do with graves breaches of the Geneva

    13 Convention, and one count of violation of the laws and

    14 customs of war.

    15 First question: do you confirm that you read the

    16 indictment, read it in a language which you understand?

    17 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I have read the indictment in a

    18 language I understand. That was last night, when the

    19 Registrar gave it to me in the original officially,

    20 because that was the first time I received it

    21 officially.

    22 JUDGE JORDA: Therefore, you can with all lucidity state

    23 whether or not you are pleading "guilty" or "not

    24 guilty". This is the question which myself and the

    25 other judges are asking you. The indictment provides

    1



  12. under Count 8 grave breach of the Geneva Convention

    2 recognised by Articles 2(b) (inhuman treatment) and 7(1)

    3 and 7(3), referring to individual responsibility. As

    4 to Count 8, serious breach of the Geneva Convention, do

    5 you plead "guilty" or "not guilty"?

    6 THE DEFENDANT: Your Honour, I have understood what the

    7 Registrar read as well as this count that you are

    8 referring to. I have read it but I deny all

    9 culpability for the charges and I do not feel

    10 responsible. Therefore I plead "not guilty".

    11 JUDGE JORDA: This will be recorded in the transcripts of

    12 this hearing by the Registrar. As to Count 9, which

    13 also relates to a serious breach of the Geneva

    14 Convention, specifically Article 2(c) of the Statute,

    15 the fact of having intentionally caused serious harm to

    16 the person, whether psychological or physical, under

    17 Article 7(1) and 7(3), do you take the same position,

    18 that you plead "not guilty"?

    19 THE DEFENDANT: I confirm what I have already said.

    20 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you. This will also be recorded.

    21 Last, having to do with Count Number 10, the violation

    22 of laws and customs of war, those having to do with

    23 causing great suffering or serious injury to body or

    24 health, outrages on the person's dignity, as recognised

    25 by Articles 3, 7(1) and 7(3), as to this count, what is

    1



  13. your position? Do you plead "guilty" or "not guilty" to

    2 that count?

    3 THE DEFENDANT: As I said a moment ago, I plead "not

    4 guilty" to all the counts. I consider myself

    5 absolutely innocent.

    6 JUDGE JORDA: This will also be recorded in the transcript

    7 of today's hearing. You may be seated, Mr. Aleksovski.

    8 THE DEFENDANT: Thank you.

    9 JUDGE JORDA: I would now like to turn to the

    10 Prosecution. Starting today, a certain number of

    11 required time periods begin to run. The first

    12 obligation, which is the Prosecutor's, pursuant to Rule

    13 66 of the Rules, is that, starting today, Prosecution,

    14 the Prosecutor must make available to the defence, as

    15 soon as practicable after the initial appearance of the

    16 accused, copies of the supporting material which

    17 accompanied the indictment when confirmation was sought,

    18 as well as all prior statements obtained by the

    19 Prosecutor for the accused or from Prosecution

    20 witnesses. The final version of this statement,

    21 translations of this material must be made into the

    22 language of the accused, which he understands.

    23 Turning to the Prosecutor, where are you? What

    24 time period are you giving yourself in order to disclose

    25 all these documents to the defence?

    1



  14. MR. NIEMANN: If your Honour pleases, the position of the

    2 Prosecution on this matter is that we require, with your

    3 Honour's leave, time to at least consult with the

    4 principal witnesses that are disclosed in the material,

    5 in order to just ascertain whether there are any

    6 security matters which we would need to address in the

    7 event of discovery under that provision. We are

    8 embarking on that exercise forthwith, and we will

    9 endeavour to make discovery in as short a practicable

    10 time as possible.

    11 Subject to the convenience of the court, we would

    12 today be seeking an adjournment of the matter until --

    13 for a status conference, and I think that we would be in

    14 a much better position to inform the court of our

    15 progress in this matter in a period of three to four

    16 weeks. In that time we would hope to have progressed

    17 the issue of discovery, if not in whole, in part.

    18 JUDGE JORDA: Mr. Niemann, I understand that you cannot

    19 disclose all of the documents right now, but do you

    20 already have documents which you can disclose to the

    21 defence?

    22 MR. NIEMANN: I am not in a position right at this moment,

    23 your Honour, to say exactly what we can disclose and

    24 what we cannot, but my understanding is that there is

    25 some material that we believe we could make available in

    1



  15. a very short time. We are working on that and will

    2 endeavour to make that material available as soon as

    3 possible.

    4 JUDGE JORDA: Since Mr. Aleksovski was supposed to be at the

    5 Tribunal several weeks ago already -- I believe that the

    6 International Criminal Tribunal has been expecting him

    7 ever since the indictment was issued, that is November

    8 1995, if I can recall -- again I recall the date,

    9 November 1995. However, Prosecutor, you do intend, do

    10 you not, to set a date quickly? . Could you give us a

    11 period, amount of time, how much you need for disclosing

    12 the documents? If I am insisting on this, it is because

    13 experience in other cases leads me to think that very

    14 often a great deal of time is needed in order to get

    15 going before a trial can begin.

    16 The texts provide for our setting the date of the

    17 trial as of today. Of course, we will not be able to

    18 do so, but in so far as Mr. Aleksovski was supposed to be

    19 here since December, I do suppose that certain documents

    20 already could be communicated. If I ask you this, it

    21 is because you know and the defence knows as well that

    22 you have 60 days starting from today to decide whether

    23 you will file preliminary motions or not within the

    24 scope of this trial. Today we will set the date for

    25 the end of that period, which will be 28th June, but

    1



  16. perhaps it would be proper for you to say to us what

    2 period of time you expect to be able to give to us a

    3 certain number of documents. You understand my

    4 concern, do you not?

    5 MR. NIEMANN: Precisely, your Honour. Indeed, we will be

    6 endeavouring to make available material as soon as we

    7 possibly can. With respect to witness statements, there

    8 are genuine and sensitive concerns that we have, which

    9 we just simply need to check out. It is not a question

    10 of just not being in a position to alternately discover

    11 it. It is just a question of do we need to take steps

    12 in order to afford protection, if that is required.

    13 Indeed, it would be remiss of us, your Honour, if we did

    14 not at least pursue that exercise. These things,

    15 because you need to locate various witnesses and speak

    16 to them in order to ascertain their position, do take

    17 some time. That is why I suggested a period of one

    18 month, which I thought would be reasonable for this

    19 purpose.

    20 There is other material, which is not affected in

    21 this way, and I would imagine, your Honours, that this

    22 could be made available in a shorter period than that

    23 one month period. I would expect that we would be

    24 embarking on the process of discovery within the next

    25 ten days, when we have sorted the material which we feel

    1



  17. can be readily separated from the body of the material

    2 which was discovered -- which was made available for the

    3 whole of the indictment.

    4 Your Honours are aware, of course, that this

    5 indictment relates only in part to the accused,

    6 Mr. Aleksovski, and there is a whole lot, a mass of

    7 material which relates to other accused, which may not

    8 fall within the scope of the Rule, but it is not our

    9 intention to delay this exercise. It is not our

    10 intention to be difficult in respect of discovery. It

    11 is our intention to be as open and to be as efficient as

    12 possible in making this material available.

    13 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you, Prosecutor. If I have understood

    14 you well, from now -- ten days from now -- Mr. Triscos,

    15 about ten days the Prosecutor has said. That would be

    16 10th May. Shall we say 10th May? From now until 10th

    17 May you will be able to submit a series of documents,

    18 which do not directly require protection of witnesses,

    19 also witness statements, hoping that these will be

    20 corroborated, and that protection measures will not

    21 represent an insurmountable problem, or simply other

    22 declarations, which need not be witness statements,

    23 pieces of evidence, agendas, various other documents.

    24 Therefore, we are taking note that by May 10th you

    25 will have disclosed to the defence a series of

    1



  18. documents, and that within one month, that is by the

    2 beginning of June, we can meet again to see what

    3 progress you have made with your witnesses, which

    4 measures you wish to take, protection measures, for your

    5 witnesses, and perhaps we will also know what the

    6 preliminary motions will be.

    7 Therefore, Mr. Prosecutor, by May 10th a certain

    8 number of documents will be submitted to the defence.

    9 We will not specify which documents those will be, and

    10 then within a time period of one month we should meet

    11 again to see what steps the Prosecutor requires

    12 regarding protection of witness, and the defence also

    13 can convey to us their first observations regarding the

    14 documents which will be disclosed to them by May 10th.

    15 I now ask Mr. Mikulicic -- thank you, Mr. Prosecutor

    16 -- Mr Mikulicic, considering what the Prosecutor has

    17 said, I would like to see whether this planning is

    18 acceptable to you. You have the floor.

    19 MR. MIKULICIC: If I am allowed to use my own native

    20 language, it will be much easier for me.

    21 JUDGE JORDA: Yes, you have permission.

    22 MR. MIKULICIC: Thank you, your Honour.

    23 (In interpretation): I wish to welcome the court

    24 ruling, fixing a deadline for disclosure of documents.

    25 The defence would like, most of all, to have all the

    1



  19. documents that are referred to in the indictment, to

    2 have insight into them as soon as possible, for it is in

    3 the interest of the defence for this trial to be

    4 efficient and effective so as not to have any

    5 unnecessary delays. Therefore, the defence agrees to

    6 this deadline of 10th May for the submission of

    7 documents, as well as the date for another hearing of

    8 the Trial Chamber regarding progress made.

    9 JUDGE JORDA: Thank you. Thank you. So if you are

    10 agreeable, we will bear in mind and take note in the

    11 minutes of this initial appearance hearing that by 10th

    12 May the Prosecutor will disclose a number of documents

    13 in conformity with Article 66. On the other hand, we

    14 will set a date for a status conference, which will be

    15 held in about one month, and which would allow us to

    16 establish how we stand with the files. That will be

    17 halfway of the period of 60 days allowed for preliminary

    18 motions. The end of those 60 days is 29th June.

    19 Therefore, I propose that we meet -- let me see. Let

    20 me consult my colleagues for a minute. (Pause.)

    21 Very well. I propose that we meet again on

    22 Wednesday, June 4th, the morning or the afternoon,

    23 depending on your other obligations. Do you prefer the

    24 afternoon, Mr. Mikulicic? Is that easier for you in view

    25 of the air transport and other considerations? Do you

    1



  20. prefer the morning or the afternoon?

    2 MR. MIKULICIC: Thank you, your Honour. An afternoon

    3 hearing would suit the defence more.

    4 JUDGE JORDA: We will give you the time, but in any event a

    5 status conference will be held on June 4th in the

    6 afternoon. Mr. Prosecutor, will that give you enough

    7 time regarding the question of witness protection? Is

    8 that date suitable?

    9 MR. NIEMANN: It is suitable, your Honour, so that the

    10 Prosecution can be in a position to report on where it

    11 is in terms of any requests it might be making with

    12 respect to witness protection. Thank you.

    13 JUDGE JORDA: Very well. Mr. Registrar? (Pause.)

    14 I have a small correction to make. The Registry

    15 have noted that in mid-June we will still be involved

    16 with the Celebici case and that on Fridays there are no

    17 hearings. Therefore, perhaps the status conference

    18 could be fixed for Friday, June 6th, at the end of the

    19 morning. Would that suit you? Would that give you

    20 enough time to get here, Mr. Mikulicic? About 11 o'clock

    21 on June 6th?

    22 MR. MIKULICIC: Yes, your Honour. I will adjust my

    23 timetable to the needs and decision of the Trial

    24 Chamber.

    25 JUDGE JORDA: Mr. Prosecutor, Friday, 11 o'clock, June 6th,

    1



  21. is it acceptable to you?

    2 MR. NIEMANN: That is acceptable, your Honour.

    3 JUDGE JORDA: Very well. In that case the Tribunal has

    4 decided that, first of all, by 10th May all the

    5 documents under Rule 66 which are not covered by special

    6 protection will be disclosed to the defence. Secondly,

    7 the Trial Chamber decides that on Friday, June 6th, at

    8 11 o'clock, a status conference will be held, which will

    9 have a two-fold object. First, the Prosecutor will

    10 present the results of all its enquiries that have taken

    11 place over more than a month, that is during five weeks,

    12 whether he will keep certain witnesses, reject them or

    13 ask for special protection measures. Also we will hear

    14 the views of Mr. Mikulicic on the basis of the documents

    15 he has seen, whether he will have any preliminary

    16 motions to make within the delay of 60 days, but that

    17 date will have to be fixed on that occasion and let it

    18 not be delayed beyond the deadline. At that point we

    19 will fix the date for the beginning of trial.

    20 I now turn my attention to Mr. Aleksovski. Do you

    21 have any statement to make, Mr. Aleksovski, on the basis

    22 of what you have heard regarding the dates and the

    23 schedules?

    24 A. Your Honour, I have nothing to state at this moment.

    25 I have followed carefully the proceedings and I agree

    1



  22. with all that has been decided. Thank you.

    2 JUDGE JORDA: You may be seated. Thank you. The meeting

    3 is adjourned.

    4 (4.40 pm)

    5 (Hearing adjourned)

    6 --ooOoo--

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