IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER

Before: Judge Antonio Cassese, Presiding

Judge Richard May

Judge Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba

Registrar: Mrs. Dorothee de Sampayo Garrido-Nijgh

Decision of: 11 March 1998

 

PROSECUTOR

v.

MILE MRKSIC
MIROSLAV RADIC
VESELIN SLJIVANCANIN
SLAVKO DOKMANOVIC

______________________________________

DECISION ON THE PROSECUTOR’S MOTION FOR DEPOSITION EVIDENCE

______________________________________

The Office of the Prosecutor:

Mr. Grant Niemann
Mr. Stefan Wäspi
Mr. Clint Williamson
Ms. Ann Sutherland

Counsel for the Accused:

Mr. Toma Fila and Mr. Vladimir Petrovic, for Slavko Dokmanovic

 

THE TRIAL CHAMBER

NOTING the Motion for Deposition Evidence filed by the Office of the Prosecutor ("Prosecution") on 10 February 1998 seeking permission for the evidence of a witness, identified as Witness D, to be taken by way of deposition ("the Motion for Deposition Evidence"), pursuant to Rule 71 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the International Tribunal ("the Rules"),

NOTING that the Prosecution also seeks protective measures for this witness pursuant to Rule 79 of the Rules,

HAVING HEARD oral argument on the Motion for Deposition Evidence on 11 February 1998

CONSIDERING that the Prosecution has established that the testimony of this witness is sufficiently important as to make it unfair to proceed without it and that the witness is unable or unwilling for good reason to come to the International Tribunal,

CONSIDERING that the Trial Chamber prefers that witnesses be heard directly whenever possible or by video-conference link if that is not possible,

CONSIDERING that guidelines for the giving of evidence by video-conference link have been laid down in the Decision on the Defence Motions to Summons and Protect Defence Witnesses, and on the Giving of Evidence by Video-Link, dated 25 June 1996, issued by Trial Chamber II in Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic ("the Tadic Decision"),

CONSIDERING that the Defence has no objection to the protective measures sought or to the testimony of witness D being given in this fashion,

AFTER CONSULTING with the Registry,

PURSUANT TO RULES 75 and 79

AND WITH THE AGREEMENT OF THE PARTIES

HEREBY ORDERS as follows:

    1. witness D may give testimony through video-conference link provided that the necessary equipment can be made available to the International Tribunal,
    2. the name, address, whereabouts and other identifying data concerning the person given pseudonym D shall not be disclosed to the public or to the media;
    3. the name, address, whereabouts and other identifying information concerning witness D shall be sealed and not included in any of the public records of the International Tribunal;
    4. to the extent the name of, or other identifying data concerning witness D is contained in existing public documents of the International Tribunal, that name and other identifying data shall be expunged from those documents;
    5. documents of the International Tribunal identifying this witness shall not be disclosed to the public or the media;
    6. the pseudonym D shall be used whenever referring to this witness in proceedings before the International Tribunal and in discussions among parties to the trial;
    7. the accused, the defence counsel and their representatives who are acting pursuant to their instructions or requests shall not disclose the name of this witness or other identifying data concerning this witness to the public or to the media, except to the limited extent such disclosure to members of the public is necessary to investigate the witness adequately;
    8. any such disclosure shall be done in such a way as to minimise the risk of the witness's name being divulged to the public at large or to the media;
    9. the public and the media shall not photograph, video-record or sketch the protected witness while the witness is in the precincts of the International Tribunal; and

 

HEREBY DIRECTS the Registrar to take all reasonable steps in the circumstances of the present case to ensure that the guidelines established in the Tadic Decision are followed.

 

Done in English and French, the English text being authoritative.

_____________________

Antonio Cassese

Presiding Judge 

Dated this eleventh day of March 1998

At The Hague

The Netherlands

[Seal of the Tribunal]