Tribunal Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Page 66

1 Thursday, 17 February 2005

2 [Further Appearance]

3 [Open session]

4 --- Upon commencing at 1.03 p.m.

5 [The accused entered court]

6 JUDGE AGIUS: Yes, Mr. Registrar, could you call the case, please.

7 THE REGISTRAR: Good afternoon, Your Honours. Case number

8 IT-97-25/1-PT, the Prosecutor versus Sava Todovic.

9 JUDGE AGIUS: Good afternoon to you, Mr. Todovic.

10 His microphone, please.

11 Mr. Todovic, I want to make sure that you are receiving

12 interpretation in your own language.

13 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I am, Your Honour.

14 JUDGE AGIUS: I thank you, and good afternoon to you. You may sit

15 down.

16 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you.

17 JUDGE AGIUS: Appearances for the Prosecution.

18 MS. UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Good afternoon, Your Honours. My name is

19 Hildegard Uertz-Retzlaff. I appear today with trial attorney Christina

20 Moeller, and case manager, Sebastian van Hooydonk.

21 JUDGE AGIUS: I thank you, and good afternoon to you and your

22 team.

23 Appearances for the accused.

24 MR. LAZAREVIC: Good afternoon, Your Honour. Aleksandar Lazarevic,

25 counsel for the accused.

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1 JUDGE AGIUS: Thank you, and good afternoon to you too.

2 We had the Initial Appearance a few weeks ago, on the 19th of

3 January - correct me if I'm wrong - and that Initial Appearance could not

4 be concluded in a complete manner because, pursuant to a right that the

5 accused has in terms of our Rules, he chose to postpone entering his plea

6 to the charges brought against him in this indictment within the term of

7 30 days that are allowed to him, a right which, of course, this Trial

8 Chamber needed to respect.

9 The 30 days are coming to an end, so it is my responsibility now,

10 as the Pre-Trial Judge in charge of the Initial Appearance, to inquire

11 whether your client, Mr. Lazarevic, wishes to enter a plea today, in which

12 case we will proceed according to the Rules. If he doesn't wish to enter

13 a plea, there is a provision that I am sure you are aware of and your

14 client is also, I assume, aware of that I will enter a plea on his behalf,

15 of not guilty.

16 So have you discussed with your client what the position is?

17 MR. LAZAREVIC: Yes, thank you, Your Honour. And I am pleased to

18 inform the Court on his behalf that, according to Rule 62, paragraph 4, he

19 will not enter a plea today again, so he decided not to plead today, and

20 the Trial Chamber will consequently decide that he pleaded not guilty on

21 his behalf.

22 JUDGE AGIUS: Yes, but is that -- can I have a calendar, please?

23 Can I have -- do you have a calendar available? I need to count the dates

24 from the 19th of January until today.

25 MR. LAZAREVIC: Unfortunately, I don't have it with me, but I

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1 believe that the Registry has.

2 JUDGE AGIUS: Because I know that the 30 days are at an end, but I

3 want to make sure whether they will lapse today or whether there is still

4 time. I think we're talking of 28 today.

5 THE REGISTRAR: Twenty-nine.

6 JUDGE AGIUS: Twenty-nine today, 29 today.

7 So there is an extra, an additional day, which he can -- he is

8 entitled to make use of. I cannot ask him, I cannot force him to tell me

9 whether his decision basically means that even tomorrow he will not enter

10 a plea. But I think that the right way to go about it is that I can only

11 enter a plea on his behalf after the 30 days have lapsed and he has not

12 entered a plea or if he confirms to me today that, although there is a day

13 or two left, he will not be entering a plea in the remaining time period,

14 in which case, then I will enter a plea on his behalf. I think I will not

15 ask him directly. I'm asking you and you ask him, and then you can tell

16 me, and then I will ask him to confirm.

17 MR. LAZAREVIC: Yes, Your Honour, I will have a very brief

18 discussion with him in a second.

19 JUDGE AGIUS: Okay.

20 [Defence counsel and accused confer]

21 MR. LAZAREVIC: Well, Your Honour, I have had a discussion with

22 the client and he is ready to confirm that he will not enter a plea in any

23 way, I mean tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

24 JUDGE AGIUS: All right. Yes, Mr. Todovic, do you confirm what

25 your counsel, Mr. Lazarevic, has just stated? In other words, that it is

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1 not your intention to enter a plea, neither today, nor tomorrow?

2 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Your Honour, I can confirm what

3 Mr. Lazarevic said, meaning that I have no intention of pleading over the

4 following two days. I will use this opportunity that the Rules provide

5 for.

6 JUDGE AGIUS: All right. I thank you, Mr. Todovic. You may sit

7 down.

8 In view of this, the Pre-Trial Judge, having seen Rule 62(A)(iv),

9 namely, that if the -- "If the accused fails to enter a plea at the

10 Initial or any Further Appearance, the Trial Chamber or the Judge shall

11 enter a plea of not guilty on the accused's behalf." And since the

12 accused has stated open -- in open session today that it is not his

13 intention to enter a plea, neither today, nor tomorrow, which will be the

14 -- when the 30 days will expire, the Judge in charge of the -- as Judge

15 in charge of the Initial Appearance, I am hereby entering a plea of not

16 guilty to each and every one of the 18 counts that are brought against the

17 accused by the relative indictment.

18 I will go through the counts one by one for formality.

19 In the first count, the accused is being charged with persecution

20 on political, racial, and/or religious grounds, this being a crime against

21 humanity. I am entering a plea of not guilty for -- on behalf of the

22 accused in relation to this first count.

23 In relation to the second count, which is a charge of torture as a

24 crime against humanity, I am also entering a plea of not guilty on behalf

25 of the accused.

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1 The third count is one of torture, being a grave breach of the

2 Geneva Conventions of 1949. As the Judge in charge of the Initial

3 Appearance, and in terms of the Rule mentioned earlier, I am entering a

4 plea of not guilty on behalf of the accused in relation to this third

5 count.

6 I am also entering a plea of not guilty on behalf of the accused

7 in relation to the fourth count, which is a charge of torture as a

8 violation of the laws or customs of war.

9 In relation to the fifth count, which is one of inhumane acts as a

10 crime against humanity, I, as the Judge in charge of the pre-trial -- of

11 the Initial Appearance, I am entering a plea of not guilty on behalf of

12 the accused.

13 The same applies to the sixth count, to which I am entering a plea

14 of not guilty on behalf of the accused, this count being one consisting of

15 a charge of wilfully causing serious injury to body or health, this being

16 a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

17 I am also entering a plea of not guilty to the seventh count on

18 behalf of the accused, this being a charge of cruel treatment as a

19 violation of the laws or customs of war.

20 As regards the eighth count, I am also entering a plea of not

21 guilty on behalf of the accused, this being a charge of murder, being a

22 crime against humanity.

23 I am also entering a plea of not guilty to the ninth count, on

24 behalf of the accused, this being a charge of wilful killing as a grave

25 breach of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

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1 The same applies to Count 10. I am entering a plea of not guilty

2 to Count 10, this being a charge of murder as a violation of the laws or

3 customs of war.

4 As regards the eleventh count, which contains a charge of

5 imprisonment as a crime against humanity, I, as the Judge in charge of the

6 Initial Appearance, am entering a plea of not guilty on behalf of the

7 accused.

8 The same applies to the twelfth count, which consists of a charge

9 of unlawful confinement of a civilian as a grave breach of the Geneva

10 Conventions of 1949. On behalf of the accused, and in terms of the

11 sub-Rule mentioned earlier, I enter a plea of --

12 THE INTERPRETER: Your Honour, would you please read a bit slower.

13 I thank you very much.

14 JUDGE AGIUS: I apologise to the interpreters for going so fast.

15 The same applies to the thirteenth count, which comprises a charge

16 of inhumane acts, these being a crime against humanity. As the Judge in

17 charge of the Initial Appearance, and as charged by the sub-Rule mentioned

18 earlier, I am entering a plea of not guilty to this count on behalf of the

19 accused.

20 We come to the fourteenth count. To this count, I am entering

21 also a plea of not guilty on behalf of the accused. This count consists

22 of a charge of wilfully causing great suffering, this being a grave breach

23 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

24 I am further entering a plea of not guilty to the fifteenth count

25 of the indictment, which is a charge of cruel treatment as a violation of

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1 the laws or customs of war. I am entering this plea on behalf of the

2 accused and pursuant to what I am charged with doing by the sub-Rule

3 mentioned earlier.

4 I am also entering a plea of not guilty to the sixteenth count,

5 which is a charge of enslavement, this being a crime against humanity.

6 Again, I am entering this plea of not guilty on behalf of the accused as

7 empowered and directed by the said sub-Rule.

8 As regards the seventeenth count, which is a charge of inhumane

9 treatment, this being a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, I

10 am, on behalf of the accused, entering a plea of not guilty.

11 And finally, as regard the eighteenth count, which is a charge of

12 slavery, this being a violation of the laws or customs of war, I am

13 entering a plea of not guilty on behalf of the accused as empowered by the

14 sub-Rule mentioned by me earlier on.

15 Before I adjourn, I would like to ask the Prosecution if there is

16 any matter that they would like to raise.

17 MS. UERTZ-RETZLAFF: No, Your Honour, thank you.

18 JUDGE AGIUS: And the Defence?

19 MR. LAZAREVIC: Nothing, Your Honour, thank you.

20 JUDGE AGIUS: All right. And the accused himself, now that you

21 have been here for almost a month, or a month, do you -- would you like to

22 address me on any complaint that you might have in relation to your status

23 at the Detention Unit?

24 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] No, Your Honours, I have no

25 complaints. I have been treated fairly, and I have no further objections

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1 or remarks to make.

2 JUDGE AGIUS: Okay. I thank you. You may sit down.

3 I bring to an end this continued Initial Appearance, and of course

4 I will, in the coming weeks, appoint a Pre-Trial Judge to be seized with

5 the pre-trial proceedings. You will, of course, be informed in due

6 course, Mr. Lazarevic. And there will be a Status Conference which will

7 be convened within the 120 days from January the 19th, which was the date

8 of the Initial Appearance, okay?

9 Thank you, and good afternoon to everyone.

10 --- Whereupon the Further Appearance

11 adjourned at 1.20 p.m.

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