Tribunal Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Page 293

1 Tuesday, 30 January 2001

2 [Status Conference]

3 [Open session]

4 --- Upon commencing at 4.05 p.m.

5 [The accused entered court]

6 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Good afternoon, everyone. Could

7 the registrar call the case, please.

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

9 IT-98-29-PT, the Prosecutor versus Galic.

10 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Thank you very much. Could we

11 have the appearances, please. The Prosecution.

12 MR. IERACE: Your Honour, my name is Mark Ierace. I appear for

13 the Prosecution together with Michael Blaxill on my left and a third

14 member of the legal team, Stephan Waespi, seated on my far right. Edel

15 Guzman, our case manager, also appears with me.

16 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] And for the Defence, please.

17 MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honour, good afternoon. My

18 name is Mara Pilipovic. I am the Defence counsel for General Galic, and

19 for the moment, I'm alone. The Registry made a decision on the 23rd of

20 January that I should have a legal assistant. Thank you.

21 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Thank you very much,

22 Ms. Pilipovic.

23 So we're going to proceed with our Status Conference. I suggest

24 we review the request of the Prosecution for the Trial Chamber to travel

25 and also the points indicated in the Scheduling Order. You know them, so

Page 294

1 I'm not going to repeat them.

2 With relation to the request, the motion of the Prosecution for

3 the Trial Chamber to travel, to make this discussion useful, I think we

4 need to make a distinction, and the distinction would be the following:

5 Either the parties believe that it is useful and important for the

6 proceedings, after the beginning of trial, that we should travel, in that

7 case, this Chamber, in its present composition, is not going to start the

8 trial. That is a fact. So we're going to waste time discussing something

9 which the Chamber which will actually be trying the case should decide.

10 The other point is to know whether this movement would be useful

11 in achieving agreement between the parties before the beginning of trial,

12 and in that case, yes, I think that we can discuss the matter because the

13 Pre-Trial Judge may prepare this case for another Chamber.

14 Therefore, if we feel that this trip can be useful for the

15 preparation of trial to come to an agreement, to reduce disputed issues,

16 then I think we can have a discussion about it.

17 So that would be my suggestion in response to this motion. I

18 would also like that we discuss the progress that may have been made in

19 this respect, bearing in mind this perspective that I have just

20 presented.

21 So, Mr. Ierace, I give the floor for you to comment on this

22 point. You have the floor, sir.

23 MR. IERACE: Thank you, Your Honour.

24 Your Honour, I do see some utility in this Chamber, as it is

25 presently constituted, dealing with the issue of the proposed travel by

Page 295

1 the Trial Chamber to Sarajevo.

2 My friend Ms. Pilipovic and I, together with members of my team,

3 met for a period of approximately two hours yesterday and discussed many

4 of the issues which are raised in the Chamber's schedule and again today.

5 One of those issues was indeed the proposed view by the Trial Chamber of

6 Sarajevo.

7 Your Honour, I can report that a copy of the draft protocol was

8 provided to the Defence. My friend examined that over night, and we

9 discussed the contents of it this afternoon. I think it is fair to say

10 that we both anticipate, that is, my friend Ms. Pilipovic and I, that

11 there will be agreement within the next four weeks as to the protocol

12 which should apply to the view by the Trial Chamber, but, of course, that

13 then leaves it a matter for the Trial Chamber as to whether it accepts our

14 proposal for that protocol.

15 Your Honour, what we -- we had a particular course in mind which

16 is that the protocol in agreed form be filed with the Trial Chamber within

17 the next four weeks. My friend anticipates there may be one outstanding

18 issue. That is subject to her obtaining further instructions from her

19 client. If indeed there is an outstanding issue, I understand that she

20 intends to inform the Trial Chamber of it at the next Status Conference so

21 that the Chamber then can consider that particular issue.

22 I appreciate that Your Honour has informed us that the composition

23 of the ultimate Trial Chamber will be different to its present

24 composition, but even so, I see merit in the parties advancing their

25 common ground, determining their common ground before the Trial Chamber as

Page 296

1 presently constituted.

2 I could anticipate that an issue which is likely to be agreed,

3 indeed has been agreed between the parties, but which may be a point of

4 concern for the ultimately-composed Trial Chamber is when the visit should

5 take place; in other words, whether it should take place after the

6 commencement of the trial, in particular, after the Prosecution's opening,

7 or beforehand. The advantage in it taking place after the opening is that

8 there is then no doubt that the visit constitutes evidence in the trial

9 itself and, also, my friend, and indeed the Chamber, has the advantage of

10 conducting the view in the context of the Prosecution case as outlined.

11 We have in mind a fall-back position if that is not acceptable to the

12 Trial Chamber as ultimately composed.

13 So, Your Honour, by way of summary, I do see merit and anticipate

14 that we will have something filed in the next four weeks. Thank you.

15 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Thank you very much,

16 Mr. Ierace. I think there appears to have been some progress on the part

17 of the Prosecution.

18 Let us now see the positions of the Defence. Ms. Pilipovic, you

19 have the floor.

20 MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour. I would

21 not like to repeat what my learned friend has just said at this Status

22 Conference, informing you, Mr. President, about the progress made. The

23 substance is that we have agreed that in the next four weeks we work

24 together on a protocol whereby we would notify the Chamber.

25 It is also our common position that it would be very useful to

Page 297

1 make the trip to Sarajevo, the dilemma being whether this should be prior

2 to the commencement of trial, the beginning of the Prosecution case, or in

3 the pre-trial stage. If the decision is made to make the trip after the

4 commencement of trial, do we need to decide now whether General Galic

5 needs to travel or not? So, a question that remained outstanding, one

6 that my learned friend and I did not discuss today.

7 And the second point that we discussed and agreed upon was that

8 this would be useful, and that in the next four weeks we inform the Trial

9 Chamber about the schedule, indicating all the specific points as

10 instructed by you that we should do.

11 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Thank you very much,

12 Ms. Pilipovic. So we'll wait for this to be completed in the ensuing four

13 weeks, and in the meantime, I hope that we will have occasion to meet here

14 again to take stock of the situation as we progress.

15 I'm saying this because I wish to go on to the second point, and

16 that is the Status Conference itself. So instead of going point by point,

17 perhaps we could consider the matter as a whole. I think that Mr. Ierace

18 and Ms. Pilipovic were not here, so maybe we need to tell you what the

19 position of the Chamber was.

20 Our position was that we should meet several times to discuss

21 matters which needed to be resolved in the pre-trial brief of the

22 Prosecution with a contribution by the Defence saying what its position

23 is, what documents it contests, which are the points that the Defence

24 cannot accept and why.

25 Therefore, the pre-trial brief of the Prosecution, instead of

Page 298

1 being a point of departure for the Status Conference, was, according to

2 our perspective, the result of a certain amount of work, that is, the

3 upshot of all these discussions, the point of facts and law that are at

4 dispute, those that are undisputed, the nature of the Prosecution case,

5 the list of witnesses as a result of agreement, and a list of exhibits.

6 Those were more or less the more important points of the pre-trial

7 brief of the Prosecutor. However, we are faced with a slightly different

8 situation, and that is that the Prosecutor has more or less prepared its

9 case dealing with another Defence counsel. We established the date of the

10 7th December, as you will remember, for the filing of the pre-trial

11 brief. However, now we're almost back at the beginning, having to start

12 all over again. But we mustn't forget the work that has been done.

13 So I should like to make a suggestion, a proposal which might suit

14 the Defence more, and that is the Prosecution brief is still not a

15 definitive document, but it does exist. So instead of treating it as the

16 final objective, we will treat it as a transitional document. From the

17 standpoint of the Defence, which is just about to begin its work, really,

18 it will be a point of departure. In other words, the document is not

19 final, but it is a working tool.

20 Therefore, the suggestion I would like to make to you is that the

21 Prosecution gives us this working tool. Once the Chamber and the

22 Pre-Trial Judge has reviewed that document, we will prepare a Scheduling

23 Order with the dates and with the topics of discussion between the

24 parties, taking up again the philosophy we adopted before, that is, to

25 establish dates so as to facilitate meetings between parties. So the

Page 299

1 parties would meet to discuss a particular subject, then the parties would

2 come before the Pre-Trial Judge to inform him of the results of our work,

3 and with the guidance of the Pre-Trial Judge, they may meet. So after

4 having a certain period of time to reflect upon things, to make filings,

5 to reorganise their work in such a way that we reach July, the month of

6 July, by when we will have completed the pre-trial stage.

7 I think I understood that Ms. Pilipovic told the Chamber that she

8 would need at least five months of preparation. My proposal would be

9 instead of having five months on her own but in a more organised and more

10 active manner, this time should be spent so that questions can be

11 prepared, responses given, the results of those meetings communicated, and

12 so on in relation to the main issue that we have to address, the

13 Prosecution case, the points of fact and law that are disputed and

14 undisputed.

15 Once we know which are the disputed facts, then the list of

16 witnesses can be prepared, as well as the exhibits. We have already

17 discussed various types of witnesses, those for responsibility, others, et

18 cetera. Then for the disputed facts there will be witnesses coming to the

19 courtroom. There will be witnesses that will be here through their

20 written statements, then witnesses who may be heard by videolink or

21 video-conference, others by depositions. And after we know what is the --

22 which are the main disputed issues, then we can discuss between the

23 parties how the evidence can be presented here.

24 So that would be my suggestion. So to sum up, the Prosecutor is

25 going to disclose the materials that have already been prepared. You know

Page 300

1 that a practical instruction has been given which fits within the numbers

2 that we gave originally. We said that the number of pages should be about

3 five. Then we will study this carefully, and within the frameworks I have

4 mentioned, we will organise our pre-trial proceedings until July for the

5 reason that I have given.

6 I should like now to hear the viewpoints of the parties, beginning

7 with Mr. Ierace.

8 MR. IERACE: Your Honour, at the outset, might I clarify a comment

9 that you just made. The translation of what Your Honour said to English

10 was that, "The Prosecutor is going to disclose the materials that have

11 already been prepared," and then a little further on, "We said that the

12 number of pages should be about five."

13 Your Honour, I take that to be a reference to the pre-trial brief,

14 and I think that on the last occasion, Your Honour indicated that the

15 guideline length was 50 pages. Assuming that that was a reference to the

16 pre-trial brief, I think I informed Your Honour that at that stage it was

17 128 pages, and Your Honour requested that the Prosecution aim for under

18 100. That process has been taking place, and I am confident that the

19 pre-trial brief, in its final form, will be within 100 pages.

20 Your Honour, moving to the broad proposal that has -- that you

21 have made, I do not anticipate any difficulty on the part of the

22 Prosecution in complying with that process over the next seven months, six

23 months. Indeed, I think it has already commenced. Now that Ms. Pilipovic

24 has the brief material from Mr. Kostic, supplemented by some further

25 material from the Prosecution that she was missing and which she alerted

Page 301

1 us to yesterday, that process has already commenced.

2 Kostic had been served by the Prosecution with a list of proposed

3 agreed facts, and yesterday Ms. Pilipovic provided us with a response to

4 the first 13 of those proposed agreed facts. That is not to say that they

5 have been agreed to, but that process of determining an agreed list is

6 underway.

7 Your Honour, I anticipate that the pre-trial brief will be

8 available in the next four weeks and will be filed in that period of time.

9 By that I mean the document itself rather than the various documents which

10 are to be filed by the Prosecution. I say that mindful of what Your

11 Honour has just said and has said at previous Status Conferences, to the

12 effect that the view of the Trial Chamber is that the pre-trial brief

13 encompasses and embodies the various steps which are required to be

14 undertaken by the Prosecution at this stage.

15 With reference to those other specific documents such as the list

16 of witnesses, the list of exhibits and so on, they have been either

17 already served on the Defence or are -- and as well, are in the process of

18 being updated, alternatively, shortly to be served.

19 Your Honour on the last occasion stated that you required the

20 Prosecution to categorise the witnesses so that the Trial Chamber could be

21 assisted by going directly to the list of witnesses that related to

22 particular subjects such as sentencing, the personality of the accused,

23 overview of witnesses, and so on. That process is taking place as well.

24 In other words, we are rearranging the lists to comply with that

25 requirement.

Page 302

1 Your Honour, I should also inform you that Ms. Pilipovic and I

2 have already put in process, in effect, or committed ourselves to a

3 process of continued -- continuing meetings. I understand that

4 Ms. Pilipovic intends to be back in The Hague in three weeks' time, and we

5 have this afternoon discussed meeting on that occasion to continue our

6 discussions. For my part, and indeed for the Prosecution's part, we

7 already have a good working relationship, and for my part I'm confident

8 that Ms. Pilipovic and I will be able to expedite this process of

9 preparing the matter for trial.

10 I'm mindful of the fact that she has only recently received the

11 material, and it seems to me that given Your Honour's proposal that we

12 deal with the aspects of the evidence in a discreet manner, that is,

13 subject by subject, that that is a convenient way to structure the next

14 six months, and with that in mind, perhaps a convenient starting point is,

15 indeed, the adjudicated -- is the agreed facts. That would be convenient

16 because it also provides an overview and background to the specific

17 conflict itself.

18 Thank you, Your Honour.

19 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Yes. Thank you very much,

20 Mr. Ierace. I have some comments. Yes, the pre-trial brief. I meant the

21 pre-trial brief, but I didn't want to use the word because as I said, it

22 is still at a transitory stage because it still can be modified after to

23 various discussions that will take place between the parties. I therefore

24 see it at the moment as a kind of a working tool rather than a finished

25 document, a document which has already acquired its final shape.

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Page 304

1 It was in a phase, of course, to file it on the 7th of December in

2 a more or less finished form, but we need help to make this transition and

3 we need -- together with the Defence, because as I told you, the

4 philosophy that governs this Chamber is that the pre-trial brief is a kind

5 of a finish line after discussions, after debates. And after all that, it

6 is then that one arrives at the pre-trial brief.

7 But now I should like to ask the Defence as a starting point,

8 because for the Prosecutor there is also the point of arrival. It is also

9 a kind of a finish line, but it is at the same time a transitory and

10 provisional finish line, this brief of 100 something pages. You remember

11 that I advised you to make 50 pages. When you said that you had 127

12 pages, then I said, well, you should make your best not to go beyond 100

13 pages.

14 I believe if you want, and I'll come back to this and ask you

15 this, if you want to give us this document as it is at the moment within

16 the next 15 days, we shall consider it and then use it in order to conduct

17 the pre-trial proceedings; that is, it will be treated separately and

18 differently for one issue to the other.

19 The first thing that I agree with you would be the facts on which

20 an agreement had been reached, that is, legal points on which there is an

21 agreement, because there we can immediately say which are the legal

22 points, the legal issues, which are in dispute and which do not make part

23 of an agreement. And after that, we should proceed to the list of

24 witnesses, the list of exhibits, with the contribution from the Defence

25 which is envisaged under Article 65 ter (F). That is when we shall have

Page 305

1 the end of the pre-trial proceedings.

2 Now, Mr. Ierace, are you ready to submit the document within the

3 next fortnight so that it could be used as a working tool for the next

4 Status Conference which will be scheduled? You'll receive the date

5 subsequently when we shall have everything in order. Yes?

6 MR. IERACE: Your Honour, I would not be ready to do so within 15

7 days for two reasons. Firstly, I will be in Sarajevo for eight of the

8 next 15 days, and I would like to finalise the document myself. I'm

9 prevented by doing before I go to Sarajevo by an internal timetable in

10 relation to that document. However, I am confident I could do so within

11 21 days, in other words, given the opportunity of a week following my

12 return.

13 Your Honour, that document as you propose could then be the

14 working -- a convenient working document for the next six months. It will

15 crystallise the Prosecution case in terms of the facts and also the law.

16 The law I anticipate you will find is quite unusual in this case. There

17 are many novel questions of law.

18 Thank you, Your Honour.

19 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Very well. Before I answer you,

20 Mr. Ierace, I should like to hear the view of Ms. Pilipovic on this matter

21 and we shall rule after that. But before you do, I should like to hear

22 from you what is the situation which you now -- have you received all the

23 documents? Where are we in this regard Ms. Pilipovic? After that, I will

24 want to ask your opinion on the matter we've just discussed.

25 MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour. We

Page 306

1 complied with your order of the 22nd of January this year. We met on the

2 29th of January. We considered various issues related to your order, and

3 I can inform you, with regard to the proposal under item 1, that 66(A)(i),

4 I received some of the material, and I received the second part of the

5 material before I arrived in The Hague, which I never had time to go

6 through, and today I was turned over yet another batch of material which

7 I -- and I hope I will be able to go through it, and I shall like to hear

8 from the Prosecution whether these are all the documents which the

9 Prosecution is expected to disclose to the Defence.

10 The second question, we also raised the matter of Rule 68. My

11 learned friends have notified me that under Rule 60 -- the documents under

12 Rule 68 are being prepared and the Defence can expect to receive those

13 documents in July.

14 Now, I have a question to ask here. This would be rather late for

15 a disclosure of these materials, and perhaps it will preclude the

16 preparation of the Defence in compliance with the Rules. For these -- for

17 this reason, I shall like to discuss these matters with my learned

18 friends, that is, about the disclosure under Rule 68. Perhaps it could be

19 done sooner rather than in July.

20 At these meetings, we also discuss the disputed and non-disputed

21 facts and legal issues related to them. I should like to point out once

22 again that my learned friends have not yet submitted the translation of

23 the disputed and undisputed facts to General Galic in a language which he

24 speaks and in which he is entitled to receive those documents.

25 For the sake of efficiency, I went through 13 points, and within

Page 307

1 those 13 points I provided my own definitions, rather, I suggested my own

2 definitions, and I am quite ready to discuss these matters at the -- at

3 our future meetings. So this will be the contribution of the Defence

4 regarding the efficiency of work and the efficiency of our more efficient

5 cooperation.

6 So also discussed matters which have to do with Rule 94 and 94(B),

7 but only in so many words. The Defence has its position in this regard,

8 and it will notify the Prosecution about this, and that is facts under

9 Rule 94, that is, facts which are common knowledge, and we will make our

10 opinion known to the Prosecution.

11 As for item 4 in the Chamber's order, I should like to notify the

12 Chamber that the Defence has not decided yet, and if the Defence

13 decides -- opts for this form of Defence, it will be an alibi in part for

14 some periods of time, but in line with Rule 67(A)(ii)(a), we shall notify

15 about that the Prosecution and the Chamber.

16 Also with regard to Rule 67(C), may I inform you I submitted to

17 the Prosecution some of the documents which were collected by the team of

18 the -- team of investigators put together by the former General Galic's

19 counsel, Mr. Kostic.

20 These are the basic issues that we discussed at the two meetings

21 that we held.

22 We also considered item 6, that is, the possibility of different

23 testimonies by witnesses. However, under the circumstances, since I have

24 had no opportunity to go through all the documents, at present I am unable

25 to say how many witnesses we shall be calling, but be that as it may, in

Page 308

1 line with Rule 71, we shall also have some witnesses who will be

2 testifying by videolink or again by deposition pursuant to 71.

3 As to the Rule 92 bis, which figures under item 5 of the Chamber's

4 order, the Defence will decide when it will act upon this Rule. The

5 problem with this Rule, which we tackled briefly with my learned friends,

6 is that such a -- statements are certified by authorities under the

7 legislation and regulations in Republika Srpska. There is no authority in

8 the territory of Republika Srpska who can -- which can certificate the

9 contents of the statement as mentioned in Rule 92 bis. And within that

10 Rule, therefore, we have left room for a possibility that -- to discuss

11 this Rule at one of the future meetings.

12 I believe these were all the matters we discussed.

13 Yes. There is yet another issue which is under item 7. The

14 Chamber requests the submission of reports by expert witnesses pursuant to

15 Rule 94 bis.

16 My learned friends and I, at the two meetings that we had, also

17 considered the question of how many expert witnesses both parties intend

18 to call. The Defence notified its colleagues in the Prosecution that it

19 intends to call an expert on military strategic matters, a ballistic

20 expert who will also give his opinion and his findings about snipers and

21 artillery. The Defence also wishes to call a forensic expert. The

22 Defence voiced its concern because of the absence of post-mortem findings,

23 at least in those documents which I have had time to go through by now,

24 and my objection was that there was a certain shortage of documents,

25 especially photographs. I told that to my colleagues yesterday, and my

Page 309

1 learned friends said that alongside the documents which have already been

2 disclosed to me, that they will also submit those documents so that they

3 be of use both to the Defence and the expert witnesses in their work.

4 So these were the matters we discussed at these two meetings, and

5 I have had the privilege of informing the Chamber about the views of the

6 Defence on them.

7 I should also like to add that I'm, needless to say, very ready to

8 meet, if need be, every month in order to expedite the work and in order

9 to ensure a fair trial for General Galic.

10 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Ms. Pilipovic, do I understand

11 you well, that you accept my suggestion that the Prosecutor will file his

12 pre-trial brief, we shall consider it together, and after that we shall

13 plan further discussion for a per month or per day or whatever? You agree

14 with that?

15 MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Yes. Yes, we do.

16 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Thank you very much. You

17 reported to us covering practically 100 per cent of all the items in our

18 order and that is what we intended to do. Thank you very much for this

19 information, even though we were about to embark on the consideration of

20 all these items.

21 Now I should like to turn to some practical points, and that is

22 that we agree about the methodology, that is, the Prosecutor will submit a

23 provisional pre-trial brief within -- after 21 days - I accept your

24 suggestion, Mr. Ierace - and after that, we shall consider thoroughly this

25 document in order to adopt our programme of work.

Page 310

1 However, I have to say, if you meet before that and if you discuss

2 matters which already have been open and that you know which are, very

3 good. If we have reached another agreement on something, very good. But

4 what the Chamber says, rather, what the Pre-Trial Judge says, that when we

5 get your brief, we shall then plan our work together so as to prepare the

6 trial and so that the trial can start after July. This is the Chamber's

7 objective. However, it is quite true that it will not be this Chamber,

8 that this, the Chamber -- the Chamber will not sit in this composition.

9 I should like to encourage you, but perhaps I should address

10 myself to the Prosecutor now. Perhaps you could draw up a list which

11 could make the subject of judicial notice. If you agree on that, very

12 good, but I should like to have the facts so that we could discuss them.

13 Another matter are facts which could be the subject of judicial

14 notice, that facts which can be the subject of an agreement, what we call

15 submissions, the submissions.

16 Another matter is what Ms. Pilipovic mentioned, and that is expert

17 witnesses. In another case, we adopted the following procedure: We

18 answered in writing, that is, there are expert witnesses on the part of

19 the Prosecution. The Defence does not agree with them, and it then comes

20 with its own expert witness in response, but this is all done in writing.

21 So will you perhaps consider this rather than have to call them

22 in, to examine them and then cross-examine them. Perhaps one could have

23 an expert opinion and the other party can respond with its own expert but

24 in writing. And I believe the Chamber can also read their reports. So in

25 this way, we could avoid having to call persons who are usually very busy

Page 311

1 elsewhere.

2 Now, to sum it up, I believe what we have to do now is to see

3 where -- at which stage are we regarding the protocol. Then we shall have

4 the opportunity of discussing this matter at a next meeting. And now we

5 have to wait for the Prosecutor to file this document that we discussed,

6 that is, the pre-trial brief, and the Chamber will issue its Scheduling

7 Order with all the pre-trial matters which need to be discussed before

8 July and until July.

9 I do not know if the parties have other matters to raise before we

10 adjourn. Mr. Ierace.

11 MR. IERACE: Not on the part of the Prosecution, Your Honour.

12 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Thank you. Very well.

13 Ms. Pilipovic.

14 MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour. We do not

15 have any other matter.

16 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Very well. I should now like to

17 turn to General Galic.

18 General Galic, will you stand up, please. Do you have anything to

19 tell us regarding your physical health, your mental health, the conditions

20 of detention? You know that we have to ask you this to see how things

21 stand, so will you tell us? Do you have anything to tell us, please?

22 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Your Honour, I should like to thank

23 you for permitting me to tell you something about my health. There are no

24 major changes insofar as my health is concerned. I am doing my best to

25 overcome the effects which ensued after my arrest, and I think they will

Page 312

1 not affect lastingly my health. I'm doing my best to make it so.

2 Secondly, the conditions in the Detention Unit are the same, so I

3 have nothing new to say in this regard. They are good, and they could be

4 better, of course.

5 I should like to thank you for a novelty, and that is that at the

6 state -- that the accused also receive well in advance the agenda of the

7 Status Conferences so that we can prepare better and therefore help better

8 our counsel.

9 Thank you very much.

10 JUDGE RODRIGUES: [Interpretation] Thank you very much. You may be

11 seated. We shall bear in mind what you told us.

12 Well, I do not know when we shall be sitting again, but I am quite

13 sure that will be sometime next month after we receive the pre-trial brief

14 of the Prosecutor so as to continue the preparation of this case, but this

15 is all for today. We can call it a day, therefore. We shall adjourn now

16 and a lot of success in your work. Thank you.

17 --- Whereupon the Status Conference adjourned

18 at 4.56 p.m.

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