Case No. IT-04-80-I

BEFORE A JUDGE OF THE TRIBUNAL

Judge:
Judge Liu Daqun

Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis

Decision of:
25 February 2005

PROSECUTOR

v.

ZDRAVKO TOLIMIR
RADIVOJE MILETIC
MILAN GVERO

________________________________________

DECISION ON MOTION OF THE PROSECUTION TO FURTHER VACATE THE ORDER FOR NON-DISCLOSURE

________________________________________

The Office of the Prosecutor:

Ms. Carla Del Ponte
Mr. Peter McCloskey

I, Judge Liu Daqun, Judge 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"),

BEING SEIZED of the "Motion of the Prosecution to Further Vacate the Order for Non-Disclosure issued on 10 February 2005", filed confidentially and ex parte on 25 February 2005 ("Motion"), in which the Office of the Prosecutor ("Prosecutor") seeks an "Order to further vacate the order of 10 February 2005 and allow the Prosecutor to publicly disclose the Indictment in its entirety", and to keep under seal the supporting material,

NOTING that with the "Decision on Review of Indictment and Order for Non-Disclosure", filed confidentially and ex parte on 10 February 2005 ("order of 10 February 2005"), the indictment against Zdravko Tolimir, Radivoje Miletic and Milan Gvero ("Indictment") was confirmed and it was ordered that "there shall be no public disclosure of the Indictment and supporting materials until it is served on the accused, unless ordered otherwise", as requested by the Prosecutor,

NOTING that in its "Motion of the Prosecution to Vacate in Part the Order for Non-Disclosure issued on 10 February 2005", filed confidentially and ex parte on 22 February 2005, the Prosecutor stated that its request for non-disclosure "was based, in part, on a belief that if the Indictment was made public, it might have jeopardised an early arrest and/or voluntary surrender of the three named accused", and since the Indictment and the Warrants of Arrest were transmitted to the authorities of Serbia and Montenegro, who, in turn, served them on the accused Radivoje Miletic and Milan Gvero, it requested an order to vacate the order of 10 of February 2005 pertaining to non-disclosure of the Indictment with specific reference to Radivoje Miletic and Milan Gvero only,

NOTING the "Decision on Motion of the Prosecution to Vacate in Part the Order for Non-Disclosure", filed confidentially and ex parte on 23 February 2005, by which it was ordered that the Prosecutor file a version of the Indictment in which all references to the accused Zdravko Tolimir are redacted ("redacted Indictment"), and that the order of 10 February 2005 be vacated in those parts pertaining to non-disclosure of the Indictment with regard to Radivoje Miletic and Milan Gvero, and thereafter it was allowed to disclose the redacted Indictment to the public,

NOTING that in its Motion the Prosecutor states that it has been advised that the authorities of Serbia and Montenegro have served the Indictment and Warrants of Arrest on the accused Zdravko Tolimir, and have announced this fact to the press,

CONSIDERING that the ground for the order of 10 February 2005 for non-disclosure of the Indictment no longer exists since all three named accused have been served the Indictment and Warrants of Arrest,

ORDER that the order of 10 February 2005 be vacated in full in those parts pertaining to non-disclosure of the Indictment, and thereby allow the public disclosure of the Indictment in its entirety.

 

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

__________________________
Judge Daqun Liu

Dated this twenty-fifth day of February 2005
At The Hague
The Netherlands