Tribunal Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

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1 Thursday, 18 October 2001

2 [Status Conference]

3 [Open session]

4 [The appellant entered court]

5 --- Upon commencing at 3.00 p.m.

6 JUDGE POCAR: The Status Conference is called to order.

7 Madam Registrar, will you please call the case.

8 THE REGISTRAR: Good afternoon, Your Honour. This is case number

9 IT-95-14-A, the Prosecutor versus Tihomir Blaskic.

10 JUDGE POCAR: Thank you. So may I first call for the appearances

11 for Mr. Blaskic. Who is appearing for the accused?

12 MR. NOBILO: Your Honour, I'm sorry, this machine doesn't work,

13 but I will try. I am Anto Nobilo, counsel for the accused.

14 MR. HAYMAN: Also, Your Honour, Russell Hayman and Andrew Paley,

15 appearing for General Blaskic by phone.

16 JUDGE POCAR: Thank you. For the Prosecution.

17 MR. FARRELL: Good afternoon, Your Honour. Norman Farrell and

18 Ms. Sonja Boelaert-Suominen for the Prosecution.

19 JUDGE POCAR: I turn to Mr. Blaskic. Mr. Blaskic, can you hear

20 me? Can you hear me in a language you understand?

21 THE APPELLANT: [Interpretation] Good afternoon, Your Honour. I

22 hear you very well, and I understand you in a language I understand, of

23 course.

24 JUDGE POCAR: Thank you, Mr. Blaskic. You can sit down.

25 Now, the purpose for this Status Conference is well known. I will

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1 just mention that under Rule 16 bis -- sorry, Rule 65 bis of the Rules of

2 Procedure and Evidence, a Status Conference is held every 120 days. The

3 last one was held actually on the 18th of June, 2001.

4 We have a double purpose in this Status Conference. First, to

5 allow the appellant to express any concerns he may have as to his

6 detention and other matters, and to update the parties in respect of the

7 proceedings and the status of the appeal.

8 So first as to the conditions of detention or other concerns that

9 the appellant may have. May I ask whether there is any problem.

10 Mr. Nobilo, is there any problem in this regard?

11 MR. NOBILO: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour. As far as I

12 have been informed by my client, there are no problems regarding his life

13 in detention.

14 JUDGE POCAR: Thank you. Mr. Blaskic, do you have anything to add

15 in this regard to what your counsel has just said?

16 THE APPELLANT: [Interpretation] I have nothing more to add, Your

17 Honour. I have no questions or observations regarding conditions of

18 detention. I am satisfied with the conditions, and they are in accordance

19 with the Rules.

20 JUDGE POCAR: I thank you, Mr. Blaskic.

21 Now, coming to the status of this appeal, I would like to inform

22 the parties that the Appeals Chamber has received and reviewed the

23 submissions of the parties as under Rule 115 concerning the new evidence,

24 the new evidence received so far. I mean the submissions received so far,

25 because today we received a second submission from the appellant of

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1 additional evidence under Rule 115, and of course, this submission has not

2 been considered up to now.

3 As to the submission made so far before today, the Appeals Chamber

4 has considered the case, and in light of the volume of the evidence

5 proffered and the quite broad range of issues to which that evidence

6 relates, it's the view of the -- it was the view of the Appeals Chamber

7 that before making a decision on the admission of evidence, it was

8 necessary to know precisely the grounds of appeal more than they are in

9 the Notice of the Appeal.

10 Therefore, the Appeals Chamber had decided to resume the briefing

11 schedule, and, with an order dated 16 October, has ordered the appellant

12 to file his appeal brief. The deadline has been set by the 30th of

13 November of this year, giving some additional time, actually, because the

14 briefing schedule was suspended after 60 days, and indeed, only 30th would

15 have been available, but the Appeal Chamber in its order thought that it

16 would have been wiser to give some more time for that filing.

17 So this is one thing. That means that the decision, the final

18 decision on the admission of evidence, will be made, will be issued by the

19 Court only after the briefs will be available. So we can count until the

20 end of the year, beginning of the new year. I'm not in the position now

21 to say whether the second request as filed today will be considered

22 together with the first request. That will depend on what is the request

23 that I haven't read until now. But of course, the Chamber will reserve to

24 take the two requests together, make one decision on the evidence, under

25 Rule 115 of the Rules.

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1 So this is for the additional evidence on appeal. I do not think

2 I have other points to make, unless the parties want to make any point in

3 this regard. I'm turning to the appellant. Is there any point to be made

4 as to this status of the appeal?

5 MR. HAYMAN: Your Honour, this is Mr. Hayman. Thank you. Thank

6 you for the opportunity.

7 JUDGE POCAR: Yes.

8 MR. HAYMAN: We have received the Appeals Chamber order, and we

9 are somewhat concerned with respect to whether, under the order in the

10 brief that we are to file, we should refer to evidence in the Rule 115

11 motion we have filed and thus further illuminate for the Appeals Chamber

12 how that evidence would be relevant, in our view, and important to

13 consideration of the appeal, or whether the brief should completely ignore

14 that evidence and not refer to it or further illuminate how that material,

15 we believe, would be important for the appeal.

16 JUDGE POCAR: Well, on this matter, I would consider that, in a

17 way, it's up to the parties to consider also issues relating to the

18 additional evidence or not. But if you consider that it would be useful

19 for your client to refer also to the additional evidence, you are

20 completely free to do it, of course, and perhaps -- I also think the

21 Appeals Chamber would even welcome that, as far as you can make it. I

22 mean, I think that -- my view is that later on, once the decisions on the

23 additional evidence will be adopted, since the briefs are filed now,

24 parties will be allowed to file probably an additional brief, a

25 supplementary brief. But if you wish to anticipate anything in your brief

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1 now, you are free to do it, of course.

2 MR. HAYMAN: Thank you, Your Honour.

3 JUDGE POCAR: So the Prosecutor has anything to say in this

4 respect?

5 MR. FARRELL: No, thank you, Your Honour.

6 JUDGE POCAR: No. Fine. So I don't think there are any other

7 matters I would like to raise here with you, unless the appellant or the

8 Prosecution has any other concern.

9 MR. FARRELL: Not for the Prosecution, Your Honour. Thank you.

10 MR. NOBILO: No, sir.

11 JUDGE POCAR: Well, in that case, I think we can adjourn our

12 Status Conference. The Status Conference stands adjourned.

13 --- Whereupon the Status Conference adjourned at

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