Page 1
1 Monday, 4 June 2007
2 [Initial Appearance]
3 [Open session]
4 [The accused entered court]
5 --- Upon commencing at 4.30 p.m.
6 JUDGE PROST: Good afternoon, everyone. Madam Registrar, can you
7 call the case, please.
8 THE REGISTRAR: Good afternoon, Your Honour. This is case number
9 IT-05-88/2-I, the Prosecutor versus Zdravko Tolimir.
10 JUDGE PROST: Thank you very much. This is the initial appearance
11 of Zdravko Tolimir pursuant to Rule 62 of the Rules of Procedure and
12 Evidence of this Tribunal.
13 Mr. Tolimir, I wish to confirm initially that you're hearing
14 these proceedings in a language that you can understand. Can you confirm
15 that for me? If you could just use the microphone.
16 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Good afternoon. Thank you, yes, I
17 can follow the proceedings. I can hear the proceedings in a language I
18 understand.
19 JUDGE PROST: Thank you very much. And please, if at any point in
20 time you're not able to understand or if you're not receiving
21 interpretation, please let me know immediately. Thank you.
22 May I have the appearances, please for the Prosecution?
23 MR. McCLOSKEY: Good afternoon, Peter McCloskey and with me is
24 Nelson Thayer, Kweku Vanderpuye and Julian Nicholls and Janet Stewart who
25 you are familiar with.
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1 JUDGE PROST: Thank you, Mr. McCloskey, and good afternoon to you
2 and to your team, and may I have the appearances for the Defence for
3 Mr. Tolimir, please.
4 MR. SAHOTA: Good afternoon, my name is Roger Sahota, and I'm
5 acting as assigned duty counsel this afternoon.
6 JUDGE PROST: Thank you very much, Mr. Sahota.
7 Mr. Tolimir, I take it you understand that Mr. Sahota is
8 appearing this afternoon as a duty counsel for you for the purposes only
9 of this initial stage of the proceedings. He's been assigned for that
10 purpose. In due course, obviously, the registrar will be liaising with
11 you regarding the issue of your counsel for the proceedings in general but
12 for today, Mr. Sahota is here to assist you for these proceedings. Do you
13 understand that and do you have any comments about him representing you
14 for the purposes of this proceeding? Mr. Sahota?
15 MR. SAHOTA: Your Honour, if it may assist I have spent some time
16 speaking with Mr. Tolimir this afternoon. His unequivocal instructions
17 to me are that he wishes to represent himself during these initial stages
18 until a permanent lawyer is appointed as his counsel.
19 JUDGE PROST: Thank you for that. Is that the case, Mr. Tolimir,
20 you wish this afternoon to represent yourself and I will address matters
21 directly to you?
22 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. That's right.
23 JUDGE PROST: Thank you very much. And I would, however, ask
24 Mr. Sahota, if you will remain for the course of the proceedings in case
25 there are any issues on which you can render some assistance.
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1 MR. SAHOTA: Of course.
2 JUDGE PROST: Thank you.
3 Now, we'll proceed then with the matters at issue for this
4 particular hearing. First, briefly, Mr. Tolimir, I'm going to note for
5 you the -- describe for you the procedural history of the indictment
6 against you in brief terms, since it's somewhat complicated in this case.
7 You were originally charged with two others, Mr. Miletic and Mr. Gvero,
8 under an indictment with case number IT-04-80-I. This indictment was
9 confirmed by Judge Liu on the 11th of February 2005. And it was made
10 public in relation to you a few weeks later on the 25th of February.
11 Subsequently, by an order dated the 21st of September 2005, the
12 case against the three of you was joined with that of the accused Popovic,
13 Beara, Nikolic, Borovcanin, Pandurevic and Trbic. The case subsequently
14 against Mr. Trbic was severed on the 26th of June 2006 and then
15 subsequently on the 15th of August 2006, the case against you was also
16 severed from that joint indictment by order of the Trial Chamber. And as
17 a result of those developments, the operative indictment against you alone
18 was filed on the 28th of August of 2006 as case number IT-05-88/2-I.
19 Do you understand that explanation, Mr. Tolimir?
20 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. Yes. I understand it.
21 JUDGE PROST: Thanks very much.
22 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] You're welcome.
23 JUDGE PROST: Mr. McCloskey, before -- I'm not going to go through
24 the indictment in detail at this time. I'll deal with it with Mr. Tolimir
25 in a few minutes but before that, there was one point that I noticed upon
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1 reviewing Mr. Tolimir's indictment with respect to an inconsistency as
2 between the charges in the particularised counts and the last sentence of
3 the indictment and I wondered if you could clarify that for me. It's in
4 relation to the application or not of Article 7(3).
5 MR. McCLOSKEY: Yes. Madam President, you're absolutely right.
6 There is actually a mistake in the last page of the indictment, page 30 in
7 the English, page 32 in the B/C/S. The reference in the last line to
8 Article 7(3) is a mistake. That should not be there. We will correct
9 that mistake in the near future and file an appropriate indictment without
10 7(3). 7(3) is not a part of the general's case.
11 JUDGE PROST: Thank you for that clarification, Mr. McCloskey.
12 Mr. Tolimir, I'm not going to review the indictment at this point
13 in any detail. We'll come to that in a few minutes. But simply for your
14 purposes and for the purposes of any members of the public who may be
15 following these proceedings, I will give just a very brief summary of the
16 indictment itself. Within the indictment you are charged with two counts
17 of genocide under Article 4 of the Tribunal's statute, namely genocide and
18 conspiracy to commit genocide. You're charged with five counts of crimes
19 against humanity, under Article 5 of the Statute, namely extermination,
20 murder, persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds, inhumane
21 acts and deportation, and you are charged with one count of violation of
22 the laws or customs of war under Article 3 of the Statute of the Tribunal,
23 namely murder.
24 In relation to this indictment, Mr. Tolimir, you are charged as
25 being individually responsible for the crimes under Article 7(1) of the
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1 Tribunal's statute. Without dealing in any depth with the details of the
2 counts or of the allegations, in very summary form the indictment alleges
3 that between the 11th of July 1995 and the 1st of November 1995,
4 Mr. Tolimir and others, with intent to destroy part of the Bosnian Muslim
5 people as a national, ethnical or religious group, killed members of the
6 group by summary execution, including both planned and opportunistic
7 summary executions and caused serious bodily or mental harm to both female
8 and male members of the Bosnian Muslim population of Srebrenica and Zepa.
9 The indictment further alleges that Mr. Tolimir and others entered
10 into a conspiracy to commit genocide by agreeing to kill the able-bodied
11 Muslim men from Srebrenica who were captured or surrendered after the fall
12 of the enclave in July 1995, and to remove the remaining Muslim population
13 of Srebrenica and Zepa from the Republika Srpska with the intent to
14 destroy those Muslims. And the indictment further states, Mr. Tolimir and
15 others were members of and knowingly participated in a joint criminal
16 enterprise, the common purpose of which was to force the Muslim population
17 out of Srebrenica and Zepa enclaves to areas outside the control of the
18 Republika Srpska from about March 8th 1995 through the end of August 1995.
19 As indicated, that's just a very brief overview.
20 Mr. Tolimir, before moving to the formal stages of the process, in
21 terms of the issue of a plea, I would like to ask you the following
22 questions for the record. Could you please state your full name for the
23 record, please?
24 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. I'd like to ask you to
25 accept that I don't accept identifying myself until you, as the Court,
Page 6
1 establish that in view of the fact that the circumstances and facts under
2 which I was arrested and brought to the Tribunal are such and wanted to
3 alter my identity and wipe all the records out, where I was registered as
4 the national of a state to which I belong. Would you please accept that?
5 JUDGE PROST: I take it, Mr. Tolimir, that you do not wish at this
6 time to state your full name for the record. Is that correct?
7 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I apologise. Yes, thank you. I
8 want to tell you the following: That I have been forced in this way to
9 establish my full identity before this Tribunal because internationally
10 recognised countries were denied to recognise the right that I have in
11 being a national of the state to which I belong. Whether I acknowledge
12 something or not is worthless, even for these proceedings, or for the
13 trial when it takes place, or for the implementation of the sentence and
14 judgement after the trial. Thank you.
15 JUDGE PROST: Well, let me try it this way, Mr. Tolimir: Putting
16 aside the question of your nationality or the state to which you belong,
17 are you simply prepared to just advise us as to your name itself, without
18 any further details, just your full name? You're not required to but if
19 you are prepared to do at least that, that would confirm that point on the
20 record, without dealing with any of the other issues that you've raised.
21 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. I understand your point
22 and I understand procedure. You have addressed me in the way that you
23 have. I am not denying myself but other people are denying me as a
24 person, and with your permission, I can make a formal statement and say
25 what I want to say, and then the Tribunal can look into this until the
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1 next session in view of the objectivity and fairness of the trial and in
2 view of my state of health as well.
3 JUDGE PROST: Okay. Thank you very much for that, Mr. Tolimir.
4 What I would suggest we are going to do then is I will go through some of
5 the other formalities that are necessary for this particular hearing,
6 which is your first appearance, and these matters are mandated by the
7 Statute and the rules, and then at the end I will certainly give you an
8 opportunity to make a statement as to the issue that you wish raised, and
9 it can be followed up at subsequent proceedings. So if -- that's the
10 manner in which I propose to proceed.
11 I take it, then, that similarly, you're not prepared at this time
12 to confirm on the record your date and place of birth. Would that be the
13 case?
14 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. Yes. You've understood
15 me correctly. I wish to tell you everything. However, I wish you to
16 assist me so that my position can be viewed objectively and the
17 circumstances under which I find myself in this courtroom, which is
18 something that is being denied by those who, as international legal
19 subjects, took part in my extradition and in bringing me here before this
20 International Tribunal. Thank you.
21 JUDGE PROST: Thank you, Mr. Tolimir. One other matter I wish to
22 confirm with you is whether your family has been informed of your transfer
23 to and detention in the United Nations Unit of the Tribunal in The Hague,
24 or is there any action on this account you would like taken by the
25 Tribunal at this time?
Page 8
1 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. My family has been
2 informed through my family lawyer, and he also works in this International
3 Tribunal. So I don't think it's necessary for the Court to inform them
4 separately. Thank you.
5 JUDGE PROST: Thank you very much. Now, Mr. Tolimir, there is one
6 further matter I want to address to you, particularly in light of the fact
7 that you've asked to be -- to represent yourself during these initial
8 proceedings. I want to ensure that you understand that for your
9 appearance today and throughout the proceedings before this Tribunal, you
10 have certain rights which I'm sure your counsel, duty counsel, may have
11 discussed with you. These are reflected in various statute provisions and
12 in the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of this Tribunal.
13 Most notably, though, are Articles 20 and 21 of the Statute and I
14 wanted you to be aware, because of the responsibilities I have under the
15 rules relating to this appearance, of some particular ones that are of
16 relevance to you. That is, you have the right to be informed promptly and
17 in detail in a language you understand of the nature and cause of the
18 charge against you; you have the right to have adequate time and
19 facilities for the preparation of your defence and to communicate with
20 counsel of your choosing; you have the right to be tried in your presence
21 and to defend yourself in person or through legal assistance of your
22 choosing, to have legal assistance assigned to you where the interests of
23 justice so require, and without payment, if do you not have sufficient
24 means to pay for it. And, of course, you have the right not to be
25 compelled to testify against yourself or to confess guilt.
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1 As I say, there are many such rights enshrined in the statute and
2 rules, but I wanted to highlight these particular ones to you at this
3 time. Do you understand those and is that a sufficient, summary? Or do
4 you need the provisions of the Articles to be read to you which we can do
5 if you deem it necessary.
6 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. I don't think that will
7 be necessary. Mr. Roger explained it to me during our preliminary
8 discussions. Thank you.
9 JUDGE PROST: Thank you for that confirmation.
10 Now, I would like at this time to deal with the issue of your
11 plea, Mr. Tolimir. First of all, can I confirm with you that you have
12 received a copy of the indictment in a language that you understand, in
13 your language, and that you've had an opportunity to review that
14 indictment? Can you advise me on that, please?
15 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. Yes. I have received a
16 copy in a language I understand, two days ago, and I have had time to read
17 it and look through it, thank you.
18 JUDGE PROST: Now, as was probably explained to you as well, you
19 have the right this afternoon to have that indictment read out to you in
20 full in court in this hearing. You may, however, choose to waive that
21 right and to confirm that waiver on the record for us. So at this time I
22 would ask you whether you would like the indictment to be read to you or
23 are you prepared to waive the reading of the indictment and confirm that
24 on the record?
25 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. I would like to say for
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1 the record that I would like to waive my right to have the indictment read
2 because I read it out before I appeared in court. Thank you.
3 JUDGE PROST: Thank you for your confirmation then and we will not
4 then read out the indictment in full but I do wish to confirm with you
5 that you've understood the indictment. You've indicated you've reviewed
6 it and you've had an opportunity to read it over the past couple of days.
7 Do you understand the indictment against you?
8 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. Yes, I have understood
9 the indictment in all its parts. Thank you.
10 JUDGE PROST: Now, Mr. Tolimir, I'm going to formally deal with
11 you now at this point with reference to the plea to the charges and I
12 would ask you if you could, please, for this stage, albeit I understand we
13 may not be dealing with actual pleas but I would request if you could
14 please stand at this particular juncture in order that I may formally
15 address you regarding the indictment.
16 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. May I say something
17 before that? That is that I don't wish to enter a plea before you decide
18 as a court on the basis of the official statement that I would like to
19 give to go ahead afterwards.
20 JUDGE PROST: Okay. In light of that indication, then,
21 Mr. Tolimir, you can remain seated. I will explain to you, however, as
22 I'm required to do, the circumstances surrounding your plea. Our rules
23 provide that you may choose to enter a plea to each of the counts today,
24 or, as you're indicating, you may request to delay entering your plea to
25 another occasion, which is what I understand you're doing. However, if
Page 11
1 you are requesting, as it appears you are, not to enter your plea today
2 but to deal with it at a future appearance, we will require that a plea be
3 entered within 30 days of this appearance so that there will be another
4 hearing scheduled within that 30-day period for the purposes of taking
5 your plea to the indictment.
6 Should you choose not to enter a plea today or within that 30-day
7 period, then a plea of not guilty will be entered in relation to each
8 count on your behalf. Otherwise, as indicated though, another hearing
9 date will be set within that 30-day period in order to formally deal with
10 the issue of the pleas. So I'm confirming, Mr. Tolimir, that do you not
11 wish to enter your plea today, that you would prefer to do so at a later
12 date and we will therefore make arrangements to schedule another hearing
13 within the 30-day period. Is that understand? And is that the case?
14 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. You have stated
15 precisely what I wish to say. I have no other possibility, in view of the
16 facts and the circumstances under which I would be required to enter a
17 plea. The important thing is that you clarify out of court some of the
18 circumstances before we come to our next session and that will establish
19 my real position. Thank you.
20 JUDGE PROST: Thank you, Mr. Tolimir.
21 I'm going to, before raising with both the Prosecution and
22 yourself, any final issues, given particularly in light of your request to
23 represent yourself at this stage, I just want to review a few matters with
24 you so you'll be aware of them. First of all, under Rule 65 bis(A) a
25 Pre-Trial Judge is going to be appointed who will schedule a Status
Page 12
1 Conference. This will be in addition to the procedures for a plea and the
2 responsibility of the Pre-Trial Judge and the Status Conferences is both
3 to facilitate the preparations for trial but secondly and importantly to
4 ensure that you're being treated properly and to be made aware of any
5 complaints or requests that you may have. So the Pre-Trial Judge will be
6 appointed in due course and you will have that regular appearance for
7 those reasons.
8 Secondly, and Mr. McCloskey, I'm sure I have no need to remind you
9 of the obligation of the Prosecution, under Rule 66(A)(i) of the Rules of
10 Procedure and Evidence, to make available, within 30 days, in a language
11 the accused understands, the supporting material which accompanied the
12 indictment when confirmation was sought and any statements of the accused.
13 I assume that will be done in accordance with the rule.
14 MR. McCLOSKEY: Yes, Madam President. We have the supporting
15 material in binders but we normally prefer to have an attorney to provide
16 it to so that it doesn't go missing or end up having to be worried about
17 transferring back and forth to the jail.
18 JUDGE PROST: I'm certain you can discuss the matter with duty
19 counsel and with Mr. Tolimir and make the proper arrangements to see to it
20 being delivered within the time frame. Thank you for that.
21 And I would also like to advise you, Mr. Tolimir, as I'm sure your
22 counsel may have made you aware as well, that pursuant to Rule 72(A), you
23 will have a 30-day period for filing any preliminary motions once you have
24 received the supporting material that I just discussed with the
25 Prosecution. So you will need to be mindful of that 30-day period,
Page 13
1 particularly if your arrangements for counsel take some time. So please
2 bear that in mind.
3 Now, I believe those were the essential matters that I wanted to
4 cover in the hearing. At this time, I would ask first if the Prosecution
5 has any matters it wishes to raise at this time. Mr. McCloskey?
6 MR. McCLOSKEY: Yes, Madam President. We have nothing in
7 particular, though I would -- I did want to inform you and the General
8 that it is our intention to file, hopefully on Wednesday, a motion to join
9 General Tolimir's case to the ongoing case of Popovic et al.
10 JUDGE PROST: Thank you, Mr. McCloskey. We'll certainly look
11 forward with interest to that filing. And Mr. Tolimir, you will take note
12 of that point raised by the Prosecution as to an expected filing with
13 reference to a possible joinder of cases.
14 Now, Mr. Tolimir, you've made reference to the fact that there are
15 certain matters you wish to bring to our attention, so, please, at this
16 time, if there's any points you wish to make, please proceed and advise me
17 of those. Thank you.
18 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. I want to present the
19 circumstances under which my identity is being denied as well as my rights
20 and the state as well. And this is essential as far as my position is
21 concerned, and the position of the Tribunal vis-a-vis myself and the
22 proceedings in this Court. I just want to present the facts and you will
23 be able, for a fair and just trial, to investigate until we come to the
24 next session and next proceedings. Thank you.
25 JUDGE PROST: Is there any particular facts that you wish to put
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1 forward at this time, Mr. Tolimir, or do you plan to submit them
2 subsequently, either through your duty counsel or otherwise?
3 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I wish to present the facts briefly
4 now and they will provide a basis for your decision during these
5 proceedings, and in conformity with Rule 84 bis(A) and (B), I can give a
6 fuller statement under the control of the Trial Chamber which will be an
7 out-of-court statement adopted subsequently by the parties in question and
8 based on false testimony to the public, false information giving out to
9 the public, after the solemn declaration, and you will see whether this
10 is, under Rule 91, to see what I'm saying and to see what the people who
11 deny this and say quite the opposite to what I'm saying, thank you.
12 JUDGE PROST: Well, then, Mr. Tolimir, if you could proceed, just
13 briefly, to highlight the points you want to highlight today and it would
14 probably be of better use to us to have something subsequently in writing
15 but please go ahead, if you wish to highlight some facts to me briefly
16 today, that's fine. Please proceed.
17 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. I wanted to do this now
18 so that my statement can be considered as an objection, in view of the
19 fact that I have limited possibility for the compiling of documents. So I
20 would just like to say something briefly. First of all, I want to point
21 out to this Tribunal that Rule 62(A) was not respected during my arrest
22 and extradition, and bringing me here before this International Tribunal,
23 on the part of the people who took part in this, and the staff of the
24 Prosecution, the OTP, who took part in the process of arrest and
25 extradition. That is my first point.
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1 Secondly, I was arrested on the territory of Serbia, whose citizen
2 I am. I was transferred to the territory of Republika Srpska, whose
3 citizen I am not, without my will and without the right to a lawyer and
4 the presence of a lawyer. And I was taken subsequently to a location, the
5 location of Bratunac, in fact, which is mentioned as a location in all the
6 indictments and all the counts and charges against me, for reasons unknown
7 to me, and Bratunac is in completely the opposite direction from the place
8 that I was transferred to here, and also from Banja Luka and Belgrade.
9 So I was taken to this locality without any reason, for the period
10 which is relevant to the indictment, not during the events or after the
11 events or never before or up until now. Now I wouldn't consider this to
12 be important had I not been filmed on that location by military facilities
13 which is where the Bratunac Brigade had its headquarters and staff and the
14 police units had their headquarters too. I was astonished that I was
15 filmed both secretly and publicly at those locations when I was arrested
16 and when I was taken into custody and brought here so I would like this
17 Tribunal to bear that in mind for a fair trial later on so that they
18 should -- the Tribunal should not allow this to be used and abused later
19 on in the proceedings.
20 The representatives of the OTP took part in this and members of
21 NATO as well. So what I'm saying is this: I was taken from the Republic
22 of Serbia to Bijeljina and from Bijeljina I was returned 100 kilometres
23 back to be taken to the location of Bratunac, which is outside the basic
24 direction and route of my extradition. I was filmed there from moving
25 vehicles and from other facilities, secretly and publicly, and I was
Page 16
1 filmed in a vehicle as well, and I pointed this out and I wanted to
2 consult my lawyer about that, but that was not possible. I was returned
3 from Bratunac to Bijeljina and from Bijeljina to Banja Luka.
4 In Banja Luka, I was interviewed by the Ministry of the Interior
5 and the Ministry of Justice, with the intention of having me accept the
6 fact that I am a citizen of Republika Srpska. I was offered certain
7 inducements. My family and I were offered inducements and I was offered
8 an agreement. I don't want to go into that but you'll establish later on
9 why, for what reason, and what this was about. Furthermore, or rather at
10 that time I was not given the right to consult a lawyer and I was not
11 allowed to go back to the Republic of Serbia so that the authorities of
12 the country of which I'm a national should extradite me, and I have the
13 right to that. And I also saw that there was a warrant for my arrest and
14 for taking me into custody which was sent out at the same time which means
15 that I need not have been in the Republika Srpska, I could have remained
16 in the Republic of Serbia and have been extradited from there.
17 Furthermore I was taken once again without my agreement to an
18 unknown location where a helicopter arrived, a NATO helicopter, and I was
19 turned over to a NATO unit. And after some time had elapsed, a
20 representative of The Hague OTP arrived. I wasn't allowed the right even
21 then, when I was taken over by The Hague Prosecutor and NATO, to have a
22 lawyer present. I was denied that right.
23 Furthermore, under the competence of NATO, I was filmed for 50
24 hours while I was under NATO custody and custody of The Hague Tribunal,
25 and I think you'll find that everything I have stated so far is the truth.
Page 17
1 I do not wish to expound on what I am said thus far. I can do so
2 in a statement. All I want to say is this: Because of my health, I would
3 like, until the next appearance, that these circumstances be made known,
4 be made public, because they are essential if I am to enter a plea and
5 especially since you wish to join my indictment and my case to the other
6 persons accused for these events. And this can have repercussions on them
7 if the situation is not cleared up or if I am not allowed to clear up the
8 circumstances under which I was arrested and to the situation that I have
9 described now. And I'm asking you, as a court of law, on the basis of
10 your authorisation and competence, and pursuant to Rule 67(C) and (A), you
11 take statements out of court from the representatives of the countries
12 that carried out my extradition to this International Tribunal. That is
13 to say, Serbia and Republika Srpska, and also from the representatives of
14 The Hague Tribunal and the representatives of the NATO command in Sarajevo
15 and the porte-parole, the spokesman for the OTP who has not informed the
16 public. They -- although he would have had to have known the truth. He
17 spoke on behalf of the Prosecutor. I meant the spokesman for the OTP; I
18 misspoke and said the Tribunal.
19 So on the basis of statements out of court, which you will
20 establish after I expound on the situation, you can then decide on further
21 proceedings, and through these out-of-court statements you will be able to
22 establish which country will be ready to take on all the
23 responsibilities -- the responsibilities of a country whose citizen I am.
24 I think that is essential because I have not been accused here personally,
25 for personal responsibility, but it is the state and people who are being
Page 18
1 accused because the charges are of genocide, so the consequences won't be
2 on an individual but on an entire nation, on an entire peoples, and I
3 don't want that to happen if something happens to me, in view of the
4 circumstances under which I find myself.
5 Thank you.
6 I also wish to add that you should bear in mind, because of the
7 next proceedings out of court, that my health is very bad, I have had
8 three attacks, strokes, and I have lost a lot of weight. I used to weigh
9 84 kilograms and now I weigh 50-odd and since I am losing weight rapidly,
10 I would like you to look into the circumstances which will affect a fair
11 trial in the days to come especially in view of the other participants in
12 the proceedings. Thank you.
13 JUDGE PROST: Thank you, Mr. Tolimir. Your statements are here on
14 the record and I won't make any further comment on them at this time,
15 other than with respect to your last issue that you've raised, and if any
16 point in time you wish to go into private session to discuss this, I do
17 wish to confirm that since your arrival at the Detention Unit, you have
18 been receiving sufficient medical care and that the authorities at the
19 Detention Unit are taking into account and discussing with you your
20 medical issues. Is that the case? Are you satisfied with the
21 circumstances at the Detention Unit, particularly in reference to your
22 health?
23 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. I can state that they
24 have treated me very properly, all of the staff of the UN Detention Unit,
25 including the medical staff. They have directed all their attentions to
Page 19
1 me, even over and above what I expected. And I believe that they will
2 enable me to recover fully and that I will be able to speak before this
3 Tribunal about the allegations and circumstances contained in the
4 indictment and that I will be in a good state of health at that point.
5 Thank you.
6 JUDGE PROST: Thank you. And as indicated, we will certainly
7 bring to the attention of the units the specific point you raised
8 regarding your health earlier on.
9 Well, unless there is anything further, then, from Mr. Tolimir or
10 from the Prosecution, I'm seeing shaking of heads, so as indicated we will
11 arrange for a subsequent appearance, Mr. Tolimir, within that 30-day
12 period, for the taking of your formal pleas to the indictment. But other
13 than that, I believe that that's all the matters for today, and this
14 hearing is adjourned.
15 --- Whereupon the Initial Appearance
16 adjourned at 5.12 p.m.
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