Tribunal Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

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 1                           Wednesday, 11 March 2009

 2                           [Status Conference]

 3                           [Open session]

 4                           [The accused Brahimaj present]

 5                           --- Upon commencing at 5.30 p.m.

 6             JUDGE POCAR:  Good afternoon.

 7             Mr. Registrar, would you please call the case.

 8             THE REGISTRAR:  Good afternoon, Your Honour.  Good afternoon to

 9     everyone in the courtroom.  This is the case number IT-04-84-A, The

10     Prosecutor versus Ramush Haradinaj et al.

11             JUDGE POCAR:  I thank you.

12             May I now please have the appearances of the parties, for the

13     Prosecution.

14             MR. KREMER:  Yes, Mr. President.  Peter Kremer appearing on

15     behalf of the Prosecution.  I'm assisted by Marwan Dalal, and our Case

16     Manager, Ms. Alma Imamovic-Ivanov.

17             JUDGE POCAR:  I thank you.

18             Now for the Defence.

19             MR. DIXON:  Good afternoon, Your Honour.  Rodney Dixon appearing

20     on behalf of Mr. Ramush Haradinaj.  Thank you.

21             JUDGE POCAR:  Thank you.

22             MS. ROHAN:  Good afternoon, Your Honour.  Colleen Rohan appearing

23     on behalf of Idriz Balaj.

24             MR. HARVEY:  Good afternoon, Your Honour.  Richard Harvey

25     appearing on behalf of Lahi Brahimaj.

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 1             JUDGE POCAR:  I thank you.

 2             Now, may I ask Mr. Brahimaj if can he hear and follow the

 3     proceedings in a language he understands.

 4             THE APPELLANT BRAHIMAJ: [Interpretation] Yes, Your Honour.

 5             JUDGE POCAR:  I thank you.

 6             So this Status Conference is called in accordance with Rule

 7     65 bis of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.  The previous Status

 8     Conference in the present case was held on 24 November 2008.  The -- as

 9     you know, the parties know the purpose of the Status Conference is to

10     allow any person in custody, pending appeal, the opportunity to raise

11     issues in relation to their detention, including the health conditions of

12     the person detained.

13             I would, therefore, like to inquire about Mr. Brahimaj's state of

14     health and conditions of detention, and perhaps Mr. Brahimaj himself

15     would tell us if he has any concerns in relation to the detention

16     conditions or his state of health.

17             So I would invite you, Mr. Brahimaj, to raise any issue you want

18     to raise in this context now.  I wish to remind you that depending on the

19     issues, if any, that you want to raise, you need a private session,

20     please ask it before you raise the issues that should be dealt with in

21     private session.

22             Please, Mr. Brahimaj.

23             THE APPELLANT BRAHIMAJ: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.

24             I don't have any concerns or worries.

25             JUDGE POCAR:  I thank you very much.

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 1             Let me now come into the procedural history of this case.  Let me

 2     recall that the briefings, as to the appeals of the Prosecution and

 3     Mr. Brahimaj, are complete.  So I don't want to go back to the filings

 4     that have been made.

 5             As to the date where the case will be heard, I wish to let the

 6     parties know that, for the time being, due to the schedule of the Appeals

 7     Chamber, there will be no possibility of scheduling hearing prior to the

 8     month of May, but as soon as we will be able to make a decision it will

 9     be communicated to the parties in order that they have the time to

10     prepare for the hearing with the -- so they will know well in advance

11     when the hearing is scheduled.

12             At this point, I don't have any other issue to discuss here, so I

13     would like to ask the parties if they want to raise any issue concerning

14     the case at this point.

15             Prosecution?

16             MR. KREMER:  No, Your Honour, other than the fact --

17             THE INTERPRETER:  Microphone, please.

18             MR. KREMER:  The hearing date is going to be considered, and

19     perhaps the Court could consult with the parties, I know Mr. Dixon

20     addressed this with me before the hearing, just to make sure that we're

21     all available.  The Prosecution is captive in the institution, but I know

22     counsel from private practice or with other cases may have some

23     difficulty in being available without prior consultation.  So I raise

24     that on behalf of all counsel.

25             JUDGE POCAR:  Well, Mr. Kremer, we will take in due consideration

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 1     this comment you have made and certainly we will consult in order to set

 2     an appropriate date for all the parties.

 3             Is the Defence wishing to raise any other issue.

 4             MR. DIXON:  Your Honour, thank you for giving that indication

 5     about informal consultations.  It will certainly assist.  Of course, we

 6     are in the hands of the Court, but if there can be informal consultations

 7     prior to any fixed date, that would be of immeasurable assistance.

 8             If I could also just clarify, if I may, Your Honour, about the --

 9     the date.  Are we to understand that the month of May will not be

10     considered as a time when the appeal could be heard; in other words, that

11     the first possibility would be after the end of the month of

12     May commencing in June?  If I may find out.

13             JUDGE POCAR:  Well, I said it could be May at the earliest, but,

14     of course, we will consult before setting a date.

15             MR. DIXON:  I'm grateful.  Thank you, Your Honour.  That's all I

16     have to raise on behalf of Mr. Haradinaj today.

17             JUDGE POCAR:  Thank you.

18             MS. ROHAN:  Thank you.  There is no issues to raise on behalf of

19     Mr. Balaj.  Thank you.

20             MR. HARVEY:  Your Honour, on behalf of Lahi Brahimaj, I should

21     just add this, thanking also Mr. Kremer and Mr. Dixon for their comments

22     about consultation with the private bar.  It is most helpful when -- for

23     those of us in busy practices elsewhere.

24             I would be remiss if I did not draw to Your Honour's attention

25     today the fact that we have prepared for immediate filing an application

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 1     for provisional release of Mr. Brahimaj pending the hearing of the

 2     appeal.  I have notified the Prosecution of that informally, and those

 3     papers should be filed within the next day or two.  I'm just awaiting the

 4     receipt of guarantors from Kosovo where he would be seeking to return,

 5     which those -- those guarantors' papers should be with me shortly and

 6     that application, therefore, will be filed very soon.

 7             JUDGE POCAR:  I thank you for this indication and, of course, the

 8     Appeals Chamber will deal with the application as soon as the motion will

 9     be filed.

10             MR. HARVEY:  I'm most grateful.  Thank you, Your Honour.

11             JUDGE POCAR:  Thank you.

12             I believe that this concludes our business today.

13             So I thank the parties for their attendance and call this hearing

14     to a close.

15                           --- Whereupon the Status Conference adjourned

16                            at 5.39 p.m.

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