Please
note that this is not a verbatim transcript of the Press Briefing. It is merely
a summary.
ICTY Weekly
Press Briefing
Date: 14 April 1999
Time: 11.30 a.m.
REGISTRY AND
CHAMBERS
Today, Jim Landale, the ICTY Spokesman, made the following announcements:
Firstly, apologies
from the OTP: both the Prosecutor and Deputy Prosecutor are at NATO Headquarters
in Brussels today. Justice Arbour will be meeting with Secretary-General Solana
this evening and is planning to give a press conference after that, tentatively
scheduled for 6.45 pm.
On 12 April, Trial
Chamber III, Judge May presiding, issued its written decisions on four defence
preliminary motions alleging defects in the form of the indictment in the Kvocka
and Others case. The Trial Chamber rejected the application by Zoran Zigic for
a separate trial, and, secondly, directed the Prosecution to specify a number
of points in the indictment. This included, among other things, that the Prosecution:
-identify, to
the extent possible, the names of the victims in the crimes alleged against
all four accused;
-identify, to
the extent possible, the manner in which the crimes alleged against all four
accused were committed;
-and, provide
more information as to the specific acts of the accused, Mlado Radic and Miroslav
Kvocka, that would establish their criminal responsibility under Article 7
paragraph 1, and Article 7, paragraph 3.
On 9 April, Croatia
submitted a merits brief to the Appeals Chamber in respect of its pending appeal
against Trial Chamber IIIs order for the production of documents in the
Kordic and Cerkez case. Croatia accepts the Appeals Chambers judgement
of 29 October 1997, which identifies requirements for binding orders for the
production of documents addressed to a State, and argues in addition that an
addressed state should be given notice of application for such an order and
also should be given the opportunity to respond.
We also have copies
of the documents relating Judge Richard Mays decision of 31 March "to
vacate in part an order for non-disclosure" of the indictment of Zeljko
Raznjatovic.
And, for those
interested, there are also copies of the Prosecutors pre-trial brief in
the Kvocka and Others case, which was filed on 9 April.
QUESTIONS:
Asked if he
could elaborate on Justice Arbours trip to NATO, Brussels, Landale answered
that he did not wish to pre-empt what the Prosecutor might say at her press
conference this evening, after her meeting with Secretary-General Solana.
Asked if he
could comment on allegations that mass graves had been identified in Kosovo,
Landale answered that the Office of the Prosector (OTP) was aware of the existence
of information that might be relevant to the Prosecutors investigations
and was keen to see it. Landale added that discussion were taking place in
order to organize the best way to transfer such information in a secure and
efficient manner to the OTP.
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