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Please
note that this is not a verbatim transcript of the Press Briefing. It is merely
a summary.
ICTY Weekly
Press Briefing
Date: 7 July 1999
Time: 11:30 a.m.
REGISTRY
AND CHAMBERS
Today,
Jim Landale, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers, made the following announcements:
Following the
completion, on 21 April 1999, of the appeals proceedings in the Tadic case,
the Appeals chamber issued on 2 July 1999 an Order scheduling the delivery of
its Judgement on Thursday 15 July at 9 a. m.
The Judgement
will be delivered by the Appeals Chamber composed of the following: Judge Mohamed
Shahabuddeen (Presiding), Judge Antonio Cassese, Judge Wang Tieya and Judge
Florence Mumba.
On 2 July, pursuant
to an Order of the Appeals Chamber dated 12 February 1999, Cross-Appellant,
Zejnil Delalic, and Appellants, Zdravko Mucic, Hazim Delic (who is also a Cross-Appellant)
and Esad Landzo, filed their respective Appellant and Cross-Appellant Briefs.
On 6 July 1999
Judge Lal Chand Vohrah issued his decision rejecting the Prosecutors request
to add Dragan Kolundzija to "the Kvocka and Others" indictment. In
the decision, Judge Vohrah considered that, "the case against the accused
Miroslav Kvocka, Mladen Radic, Milojica Kos and Zoran Zigic has reached the
stage where a pre-trial conference has been held and a pre-trial brief has been
filed pursuant to Rule 73bis, and that the initial appearances of all four accused
were held over a year ago,"
We have copies
of all the relevant documents for you after this, including the Brdjanin indictment
and the press release on Judge Patricia Wards appointment by the UN Secretary-General,
Kofi Annan, to succeed Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald.
OFFICE
OF THE PROSECUTOR
Mr.
Paul Risley, Spokesman for the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) made the following
announcement:
The Chief Prosecutor,
Justice Louise Arbour, would be visiting countries within the former Yugoslavia
this weekend, continuing into next week. She would visit Albania, the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia. During her
visit when relevant, she would be speaking to Ministers of Justice and Ministers
of Foreign Affairs. In Kosovo, she would also meet with the KFOR Commander,
General Jackson, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG),
he added.
QUESTIONS:
Asked whether
there would be someone to handle press inquiries during the Prosecutors
trip, Risley replied that there would be press opportunities during the
visit.
When asked
for the itinerary of her visit, Risley responded by saying that the tentative
plan was for the Prosecutor to be in Albania on Sunday, Macedonia on Monday,
Kosovo on Tuesday and Wednesday and Bosnia on Thursday and Friday. During
this time she would probably be visiting grave sites in northern and central
Bosnia and she would end her trip in Croatia on Saturday.
Asked about
the press reports from Mostar regarding the alleged indictment of five Bosnian
Croats, Risley replied that some indictments were sealed and so he was in
no position to comment. He added that the Prosecutor was aware of the reports.
When asked
about problems that might arise from the departure of the Prosecutor on
15th September, Risley confirmed that the matter of signing of
new indictments was being looked into. In the past, the Deputy Prosecutor
had signed new indictments in the absence of the Prosecutor.
When asked
about new developments in Kosovo, Risley replied that a German team would
arrive next week to join the six teams already in Kosovo. There were now
around 100 people from six nations working in Kosovo. Belgian, Austrian
and Danish teams should be arriving in the next few weeks. In addition to
the 100 staff there were also around 10-30 ICTY staff present on any one
day.
Asked whether
they were approaching full staff capacity, Risley answered that they were
reaching the necessary staff figures to be able to complete the bulk of
the work.
When asked
whether that meant that some sites would not be visited, Risley answered
that all sites relevant to the OTPs investigations should in some
way be visited and documented, however this was time consuming and that
they required only enough documentation to ensure that the judges had sufficient
evidence.
Asked if this
showed that the Tribunal had chosen not to go after certain perpetrators,
Risley answered that it was up to the Prosecutor who to prosecute and the
focus had been to prosecute from the top. The hope was that local judicial
systems would eventually take the burden of cases involving lower level
perpetrators.
When asked
in which legal framework the UN and KFOR were working, in the case of Albanians
giving names and evidence against Serbs, Risley answered that the UN and KFOR
were responsible for law and order in Kosovo and were in the process of developing
legal institutions who would eventually take on those responsibilities.
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