Date: 24.11.2010
Time: 12:00
Registry and Chambers:
Nerma Jelačić, Spokesperson for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:
Good afternoon,
Turning straight to the courtroom schedule:
Regarding the Closing Arguments and the final briefs in the case of Prlić and others, the Chamber on Monday requested all parties to submit their final briefs by 4 January 2011. Closing Arguments will be heard from 31 January 2011 onwards. Each Defence team has been given five hours for their closing arguments. The OTP retains its originally allotted 15 hours.
In the Karadžić case, a hearing will be held on Monday 29 November at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 1 to hear the testimony of a protected witness. The trial will then adjourn to resume on Tuesday, 7 December.
An administrative hearing in the Šešelj case will be held on Wednesday, 1 December 2010 at 2:30 p.m. in Courtroom 1. Separately, on Monday, President Robinson assigned Judge Güney, Judge Pocar, Judge Vaz, Judge Meron and Judge Morrison to an Appeals bench which will rule on the Registrar’s submission on the Trial Chamber’s decision to partially fund the Šešelj’s defence.
Hearings in the cases of Mićo Stanišić and Stojan Župljanin, Zdravko Tolimir as well as Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović continue this week and next as scheduled.
I would also like to give you a brief update on the War Crimes Justice Project, a joint ICTY, OSCE-ODIHR and UNICRI initative funded by the European Union:
The Tribunal has completed two training sessions with legal and support staff of the judiciaries in Bosnia and Serbia. The trainings have been set up to help transfer the Tribunal's institutional knowledge and specialised skills to jurisdictions in the region, so as to enhance their capacity to handle complex war crimes cases.
Last week, on Thursday and Friday, the Tribunal held its first “Training of Trainers” session with staff from the Witness Support Section of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the aim of assisting them in developing the skills necessary to train other witness support personnel from cantonal and district courts throughout the country.
Yesterday, the Tribunal completed a two-day training session for legal professionals from the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office and the Higher and Appellate Courts in Belgrade. The purpose of this traning was to equip legal professionals with skills necessary to assist local judges in adjucating war crimes cases.
Further training sessions with legal and support staff will take place in the course of the 18-month long War Crimes Justice Project in the region of the former Yugoslavia.
And finally, I would like to inform you of a special event taking place this Friday at the Tribunal. The Tribunal will be sending off its football team across the English Channel for a five-day tour in the United Kingdom to play a series of friendly games in an effort to eradicate stigma against people living with HIV/AIDS and who play sports. They will play against UK members of parliament, the UK Trade Union Congress team, and football squads from Cambridge and Oxford Universities. This UK Tour is the first event of the ICTY Staff Union’s recently launched social campaign S’porting Lives. The team is composed of 14 nationalities representing all organs of the Tribunal and the defence who have come together, volunteering their own time and money for a common cause.
The Tribunals’ Registrar, John Hocking, will send off the team at 2 p.m.. The media are invited to cover the event and help the ICTY in this notable cause on the eve of World AIDS Day on December 1. Footage of the team’s practice games, Friday’s event and consequent activities will be made available by the Media Office upon request.
Office of the Prosecutor:
Frederick Swinnen, Special Adviser of the Prosecutor, made the following statement:
Prosecutor Serge Brammertz is in London today where he will meet with Mr. David Lidington, Minister of State for Europe and other senior officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom. The purpose of the visit is to discuss progress in the trials and appeals, the completion strategy and cooperation of States, in particular, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia, with the Office of the Prosecutor. Mr. Brammertz has submitted his report to the UN Security Council last week and will address the Council on 6 December.
I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that Mr. Aleksandar Kontić, member of the Prosecutor’s Immediate Office, will assist me in handling media issues pertaining to the work of the Office of the Prosecutor.
Questions:
Asked whether he could comment on the Prosecutor’s report to the Security Council, which has been leaked out to the media in Serbia and elsewhere, and especially on the reports that cooperation with Serbia is still problematic and that the Prosecution case in the trial of Karadžić is expected to conclude in Spring 2012, Frederick Swinnen responded that he could not discuss its contents, as the report is now with Members of the Security Council, which has not issued it as an official UN document yet. The report could be issued and become public a few days before the Prosecutor addresses the Security Council on 6 December.