140409SC

Page 14

1 Wednesday, 9 April 2014

2 [Status Conference]

3 [Open session]

4 [The appellants entered court]

5 --- Upon commencing at 3.00 p.m.

6 JUDGE MERON: Please be seated.

7 Registrar, will you please call the case.

8 THE REGISTRAR: Good afternoon, Your Honour. This is case

9 IT-08-91-A, the Prosecutor versus Mico Stanisic and Stojan Zupljanin.

10 JUDGE MERON: Thank you, Registrar.

11 Before I start, I would like to note that all parties can hear

12 the proceedings in a language they understand.

13 Mr. Stanisic, it's all right? You can hear me?

14 THE APPELLANT STANISIC: [Microphone not activated].

15 JUDGE MERON: It's all right. Thank you.

16 Mr. Zupljanin.

17 THE APPELLANT ZUPLJANIN: [Microphone not activated]

18 THE INTERPRETER: The microphone is off.

19 JUDGE MERON: Thank you very much.

20 Appearances by the parties, please.

21 The Prosecution.

22 MR. CROSS: Good afternoon, Your Honour. Appearing for the

23 Prosecution, my name is Matthew Cross, together with Ms. Laurel Baig, and

24 our case manager is Colin Nawrot.

25 JUDGE MERON: Thank you, Mr. Cross.

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1 Defence of Mr. Stanisic, please.

2 MR. ZECEVIC: Good afternoon, Your Honours. Slobodan Zecevic and

3 Relja Radovic appearing for Mr. Stanisic this afternoon. Thank you very

4 much.

5 JUDGE MERON: Thank you, Mr. Zecevic.

6 For Mr. Zupljanin.

7 MR. KRGOVIC: Good afternoon, Your Honours. Dragan Krgovic

8 appearing for the Zupljanin Defence.

9 JUDGE MERON: Thank you, Mr. Krgovic.

10 This is Status Conference is called in accordance with

11 Rule 65 bis of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. Rule 65 bis(B)

12 requires a Status Conference to be convened within 120 days after the

13 filing of a Notice of Appeal and, thereafter, within 120 days after the

14 last Status Conference to allow any person in custody pending appeal the

15 opportunity to raise issues in the relation thereto, including the mental

16 and physical condition of that person.

17 In the present case, parties filed their Notices of Appeal on

18 13 May 2013. The first Status Conference was held on 4 September 2013,

19 and the second Status Conference on 11 December 2013. Today's

20 Status Conference is the third in this case and was scheduled by an order

21 issued on 10 March 2014.

22 I come to discussing detention conditions and health of

23 Mr. Stanisic and Mr. Zupljanin. So let me inquiry into the status of

24 detention conditions and health situations of these two persons.

25 Mr. Stanisic, do you have any concerns in relation to the

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1 detention conditions or your state of health? If so, I would invite you

2 to raise them now. If you wish, this discussion can take place in

3 private session.

4 THE APPELLANT STANISIC: [Interpretation] No, there is no need. I

5 have nothing to raise. No complaints.

6 JUDGE MERON: Thank you, Mr. Stanisic. No need to raise

7 anything.

8 So I turn to Mr. Zupljanin. Do you have any concerns,

9 Mr. Zupljanin, in relation to detention conditions or your state of

10 health? If you do, I would invite you to raise them now. If you wish,

11 this discussion can take place in a private session.

12 Mr. Zupljanin.

13 THE APPELLANT ZUPLJANIN: [No interpretation]

14 JUDGE MERON: Why don't I have interpretation?

15 THE APPELLANT ZUPLJANIN: [Interpretation] There is nothing to

16 raise. There is no need to go into private session.

17 JUDGE MERON: Thank you very much.

18 THE APPELLANT ZUPLJANIN: [Interpretation] If I need to repeat, I

19 may do so.

20 JUDGE MERON: No, no, it's fine. The interpretation came.

21 Let me refer to recent procedural history. Since the last

22 Status Conference held on 11 December 2013, as I mentioned during the

23 last Status Conference, the case was fully briefed on 11 November 2013.

24 I will now continue with an overview of the pending motions and the

25 decisions rendered in this case since 11 December 2013. Where I already

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1 set out the details of a pending motion previously, I will not repeat

2 that information today.

3 Prior to the last Status Conference, Mr. Stanisic and

4 Mr. Zupljanin had both filed a number of motions. These included the

5 following four motions on the part of Mr. Stanisic: A motion seeking

6 admission of additional evidence, pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of

7 Procedure and Evidence; a motion seeking leave to amend his Notice of

8 Appeal; a motion requesting a declaration of mistrial; and a motion

9 requesting provisional release.

10 Mr. Zupljanin had also filed four motions: A second request to

11 amend his Notice of Appeal and to supplement his appeal brief; a motion

12 to vacate the trial judgement; a motion requesting the recusal of

13 Judge Liu from deciding the motion to vacate; and a motion requesting

14 provisional release. I assigned Judge Agius to consider each of these

15 eight motions. He denied Mr. Zupljanin's motion requesting the recusal

16 of Judge Liu by a decision of 3 December 2013.

17 During the last Status Conference I had indicated to the parties

18 that the decisions concerning the remaining seven motions were expected

19 to be issued before the judicial recess or shortly thereafter.

20 On 19 December 2013, the Appeals Chamber issued two decisions

21 denying the request by Mr. Stanisic and Mr. Zupljanin for provisional

22 release.

23 As regards the other five motions, the Appeals Chamber delayed

24 its decision thereon following a request by Mr. Zupljanin, filed on

25 13 December 2013, seeking the appointment of a panel to conduct a de novo

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1 examination of the request for disqualification of Judge Liu Daqun.

2 Mr. Stanisic joins the request for the appointment of a panel by a motion

3 of 23 December 2013.

4 Judge Agius granted the request by decision of 7 February 2014

5 and appointed a panel of three judges; namely, Judge Christoph Fluegge,

6 Judge Howard Morrison, and Judge Melville Baird. On 24 February 2014,

7 the panel issued a decision denying the motion requesting recusal.

8 Subsequent unto April 2014, the Appeals Chamber issued a combined

9 decision dismissing Mr. Zupljanin's motion to vacate the trial judgement

10 and Mr. Stanisic's motion requesting a declaration of mistrial.

11 With regard to the parties' motions requesting amendment of the

12 Notices of Appeal and Mr. Stanisic's motion seeking admission of

13 additional evidence, pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure and

14 Evidence, Judge Agius has informed me the decisions will be issued in due

15 course.

16 At this point let me ask the parties whether they have any other

17 issues that they would like to raise. I will turn first to the

18 Prosecution.

19 MR. CROSS: Nothing for us, Your Honour. Thank you.

20 JUDGE MERON: Thank you, Mr. Cross.

21 Counsel for Mr. Stanisic.

22 MR. ZECEVIC: Thank you, Your Honour. We have no issues to raise

23 at this point. Thank you very much.

24 JUDGE MERON: Thank you, counsel.

25 The counsel for Mr. Zupljanin, please.

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1 MR. KRGOVIC: Nothing for us, Your Honour.

2 JUDGE MERON: Thank you very much.

3 This, I believe, concludes today's Status Conference. I thank

4 the parties for their attendance and call the proceedings to a close.

5 --- Whereupon the Status Conference adjourned

6 at 3.10 p.m.