IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER

Before: Judge Adolphus G. Karibi-Whyte, Presiding

Judge Elizabeth Odio Benito

Judge Saad Saood Jan

Registrar: Mrs. Dorothee de Sampayo Garrido-Nijgh

Order of: 25 June 1998

PROSECUTOR

v.

ZEJNIL DELALIC
ZDRAVKO MUCIC also known as "PAVO"
HAZIM DELIC
ESAD LANDZO also known as "ZENGA"

_______________________________________

ORDER GRANTING SAFE CONDUCT
TO DEFENCE WITNESSES

_______________________________________

The Office of the Prosecutor:

Mr. Grant Niemann

Ms. Teresa McHenry

Mr. Giuliano Turone

Counsel for the Accused:

Ms. Edina Residovic, Mr. Ekrem Galijatovic, Mr. Eugene O’Sullivan, for Zejnil Delalic

Mr. Zeljko Olujic, Mr. Tomislav Kuzmanovic, for Zdravko Mucic

Mr. Salih Karabdic, Mr. Thomas Moran, for Hazim Delic

Ms. Cynthia McMurrey, Ms. Nancy Boler, for Esad Landzo

 

THIS TRIAL CHAMBER of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 ("International Tribunal");

HAVING CONSIDERED the Confidential "Motion for Safe Conduct for Defence Witnesses" filed on 12 June 1998 by the accused Esad Landzo (Official Record at Registry Page Number ("RP") D6626-D6631) (the "Motion"), in which the Defence for Mr. Landzo requests that safe conduct be granted to protect eight of its witnesses;

HAVING CONSIDERED the "Prosecutor’s Response to Defendant Esad Landzo’s Motion for Safe Conduct for Defence Witnesses" filed on 22 June 1998 (RP D6670-D6673), in which the Office of the Prosecutor ("Prosecution") defers to the Trial Chamber on the question of whether the witnesses requested should be granted safe conduct, notes that a number of these witnesses are regarded as suspects by the Prosecution and have been interviewed as such, and requests that these witnesses be specifically cautioned that such safe conduct does not grant them immunity concerning the testimony that they may give, which may be later used in evidence against them;

HAVING HEARD oral argument on the Motion at the hearing of 23 June 1998;

NOTING that the Motion seeks safe conduct in the same terms as were granted in the "Decision on the Defence Motions to Summon and Protect Defence Witnesses, and on the Giving of Evidence by Video-Link", rendered on 25 June 1996 by Trial Chamber II in Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic, Case No. IT-94-1-T (RP D9148-D9162) (the "Tadic Decision") and in particular that the safe conduct be granted for a period of fifteen days prior to and fifteen days after the giving of evidence by the witnesses;

NOTING that the "Order on Defence Motion for Safe Conduct", issued on 12 June 1998 by Trial Chamber II in Prosecutor v Slavko Dokmanovic, Case No. IT-95-13a-T (RP D7717-D7719) granted safe conduct to a witness for a period of seven days prior to and seven days after the giving of evidence by that witness;

NOTING that the Tadic Decision established that safe conduct, although not provided for in the Statute of the International Tribunal, can be ordered under the general power of Rule 54 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (the "Rules");

FURTHER NOTING that "an order for safe conduct grants only a very limited immunity from prosecution" and only "with respect to crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Tribunal committed before coming to the International Tribunal and only for the time during

which the witness is present at the seat of the International Tribunal for the purpose of giving testimony" (Tadic Decision at paragraph 12);

CONSIDERING that the physical presence of witnesses before the International Tribunal is of fundamental importance to the administration of justice;

PURSUANT TO Rule 54 of the Rules,

HEREBY GRANTS the Motion in the terms set out below and ORDERS as follows:

(1) the witnesses named in the Annex to the Motion shall not be prosecuted, detained or subjected to any other restriction on their personal liberty while in the Netherlands, or in transit, for the purpose of testifying in the present case, by or on behalf of the Prosecution, in respect of acts within the jurisdiction of the International Tribunal and allegedly committed prior to their departure from their home country;

(2) the summonses served on the witnesses shall contain the clause that safe conduct does not bar prosecution for offences which the witnesses might commit after their departure from their home country and during their stay in the Netherlands and a further clause which stipulates that no immunity is granted concerning their testimony before the Trial Chamber and that any statement which they give will be recorded and may later be used in evidence against them, subject to the provisions of Sub-Rule 90(F) of the Rules;

(3) the safe conduct shall be limited in time to seven days prior to and seven days after the giving of testimony by each witness, subject to the witnesses no longer being required by the International Tribunal. In case of illness which prevent them from leaving the Netherlands, the witnesses will retain the safe conduct until they are able to travel again and for a period of seven days thereafter, which is required for their return to their home country. If any of the witnesses are detained for a crime which they allegedly committed while in the Netherlands, the safe conduct will run from the date they are released from prison for a period of seven days thereafter, which are required for their return to their home country;

    1. the witnesses shall be restricted to travelling between the port of entry or of exit and their lodgings, limited movements around the vicinity of their place of lodging, and between their lodgings and the International Tribunal.

 

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

 

_______________________________

Adolphus G. Karibi-Whyte

Presiding Judge

Dated this twenty-fifth day of June 1998

At The Hague

The Netherlands

[Seal of the Tribunal]