Case No. IT-04-81-PT
IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER
Before:
Judge Patrick Robinson, Presiding
Judge O-Gon Kwon
Judge Iain Bonomy
Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis
Decision of:
20 January 2006
PROSECUTOR
v.
MOMCILO PERISIC
_________________________________________________
DECISION GRANTING MOMCILO PERISIC’S
MOTION TO MODIFY CONDITIONS OF PROVISIONAL RELEASE
__________________________________________________
The Office of the Prosecutor
Mr. Chester Stamp
Ms. Sureta Chana
Counsel for Momcilo Perisic
Mr. James Castle
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
(the "Tribunal") is seized of a motion filed by Momcilo Perisic (the "Accused") seeking a modification of the terms of his provisional release and hereby renders a decision ("Decision")
thereon.
- On 15 December 2005, the Accused filed a motion
seeking modification of the Trial Chamber’s "Decision
on Momcilo Perisic’s Motion for Provisional Release” issued
on 9 June 2005 (“Motion").
In his Motion the Accused seeks to modify the condition
of release that requires him to remain within the
confines of the municipality of Belgrade. Specifically,
he requests permission to travel to Kostunici, a
town in Serbia approximately 130 km south of Belgrade,
on the following dates: (i) 15-28 February 2006,
(ii) 15-30 March 2006, and (iii) 15-30 April 2006.1 According
to the Motion, the Accused intends to stay at his "brother’s
home where he can visit his family and the graves
of his family members" and where he can provide personal
assistance to his brother, who is seriously ill and
in need of the Accused’s help to secure medical treatment
at a local hospital.2
- The Accused points out that in a previous, almost
identical, request for modification of the terms
of his provisional release, he provided correspondence
from two departments – the Ministry of Justice and
the Ministry of Internal Affairs – of the government
of the Republic of Serbia. This correspondence, according
to the Accused, provides a "guarantee" that the government
of the Republic of Serbia "has the capacity and the
willingness to provide the resources and means to
supervise the [proposed] visits to Kostunici."3
The Accused also points out that he "has fully complied
with the Court’s previous orders in regard to visiting
his family home in Kostunici."4
- The Office of the Prosecutor has not filed a response to the Motion.
- The Trial Chamber considers that sufficient
reasons have been given and sufficient guarantees
have been provided to warrant a temporary modification
of the provisional release conditions of the Accused
on the terms requested in the Motion. However, the
Trial Chamber notes that the government of the Republic
of Serbia has not complied with the Chamber’s prior
decision that during the period in which the Accused
is allowed to travel to Kostunici, the government of the Republic of Serbia shall submit a report on the Accused’s compliance with the modified terms of his release every two weeks (and not on a monthly basis, as required under the original terms of his release). The Trial Chamber expects this condition of its Decision to be strictly adhered to.
- For these reasons, the Trial Chamber, pursuant to Rules 65 and 54 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Tribunal, GRANTS the Motion and ORDERS that:
- The Accused has permission to visit his brother
at 32308 Pranjani, Kostunici, Gornji Milanovac, Republic
of Serbia on (i) 15-28 February 2006, (ii) 15-30
March 2006, and (iii) 15-30 April 2006.
- The Accused shall provide details of each visit (including the dates of travel and a copy of this Decision granting permission for the visit) to the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia at least seven days in advance of the departure date of each visit.
- The government of the Republic of Serbia shall (i) between 15 February 2006 and 30 April 2006 submit a written report to the Trial Chamber every two weeks on the compliance of the Accused with his provisional release conditions as set forth in this Trial Chamber’s Decision of 9 June 2005 and this Decision; (ii) immediately arrest and detain the Accused if he should breach any of his provisional release conditions as set forth in this Trial Chamber’s Decision of 9 June 2005 and this Decision, and (iii) immediately report to this Trial Chamber any breach of his provisional release conditions as set forth in this Trial Chamber’s Decision of 9 June 2005 and this Decision.
- This Decision does not affect the continued application of the terms and conditions of the Accused’s provisional release contained in the Trial Chamber’s decision of 9 June 2005, except to the extent provided in paragraph 5, above.
- The Trial Chamber requests that the Registrar serve this Decision on the government of the Republic of Serbia.
Done in English and French, the English text being authoritative.
________________
Judge Patrick Robinson
Presiding
Dated this 20th day of January 2006
At The Hague, The Netherlands
1. The Motion requests permission to travel to Kostunici
from 15-28 February, 15-30 March and 15-30 April 2005 but this is presumed to be a typographical error. See Motion,
para. 4(b).
2.
Motion, pp. 2-3.
3.
Id. at para. 5. The Motion states
that the guarantees are provided by the "Government
of Serbia and Montenegro",
but the letters are in fact from ministries of the
government of the Republic of Serbia. Specifically,
the prior motion attached a letter from the Ministry
of Justice of the Republic of Serbia to Mr. Perisic
stating that the answer “to the question whether the
government organs of the RS [Republic of Serbia]
can ensure full security during your [proposed] stay
in Kostunici, Gorjnji Milanovac municipality, is affirmative.
This means that our Ministry and the Ministry of the
Interior of the RS, pursuant to the relevant decision
taken by the International Criminal
Tribunal, will act in full compliance with the said
decision regarding your security and safety." The prior
motion also attached a letter from the Ministry of
the Interior of the Republic of Serbia stating that
the Accused’s request "to
stay in the village of
Kostunici for intervals of 15 days each pending the
commencement of the trial … should be granted” but
only “on condition that the decision on each individual
trip … be
forwarded to this Ministry at least seven days in advance
to allow for the necessary organisation and
preparation."
4.
See Motion, para. 3 and confidential Annex.