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ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 17 July 2013

Date: 17.07.2013
Time: 12:30

Registry and Chambers:

Magdalena Spalińska, Spokesperson for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:

Good afternoon,

The Judgement in the trial for contempt of the Tribunal of Radislav Krstić, former Commander of the Drina Corps of the Bosnian Serb Army, will be rendered on tomorrow at 16:00 in Courtroom I.

Krstić, who was convicted by the Tribunal in April 2004 for aiding and abetting the genocide committed at Srebrenica in July 1995, is charged with contempt of the Tribunal for failing to comply with, or to show good cause why he could not comply with, a subpoena in which he was ordered to testify in the case of Radovan Karadžić. At his initial appearance on 4 April 2013, Krstić pleaded not guilty to the charge of contempt. His trial was held on 28 May 2013. The Judgement will be carried live on the Tribunal’s website.

This afternoon, a Status Conference will be held in the appeals case of Vlastimir Đorđević. Đorđević, former senior Serbian police official, was found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against Kosovo Albanian civilians in 1999, and sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment on 23 February 2011.

Hearings in the trials of Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić continue this week and next as scheduled. Proceedings in the case of Goran Hadžić are scheduled to adjourn on Thursday and resume after the summer recess, on Monday, 19 August at 9:00 in Courtroom II.

In the case of Radovan Karadžić, the Chamber is currently hearing the testimony of Radovan Radinović, a military expert. He is the 167th witness to be called by the Defence. 

A special hearing in the case will be held next Tuesday, 23 July in relation to Karadžić’s motion to sever count 1 from his indictment, which the Accused filed yesterday following the Appeals Chamber’s decision to reinstate the count.

In the Mladić case, Ljubomir Obradović, former officer in the Main Staff of the Republika Srpska Army, is currently testifying. He is the 124th witness to be called by the Prosecution.

In the case of Goran Hadžić, the Chamber is currently hearing the testimony of Blandina Francis Negga, former UNPROFOR Civil Affairs coordinator in the UN “Sector East” in Croatia. She is the 67th witness to be called by the Prosecution.

The Tribunal’s Outreach Programme yesterday welcomed five war crimes judges and a group of war crimes trial monitors from Croatia on a two-day visit to the ICTY. The visit is organised by the Croatian NGO Dokumenta in association with the Office of the Secretary General of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The group has been meeting senior representatives from the ICTY to discuss a number of issues pertaining to the Tribunal’s jurisprudence and its support to national judiciaries.

The Tribunal yesterday opened an exhibition marking its 20th anniversary at the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. The opening reception attracted over 60 guests, including experts on transitional justice issues, academics, and representatives from civil society, the national judiciary, and the diplomatic corps. The exhibition, which was previously shown in The Hague, will be on display until 31 August.

Office of the Prosecutor:

Aleksandar Kontić, member of the Prosecutor’s Immediate Office, made no statement.

Questions:

Asked whether any measures had been taken after the complaints of witness Dragan Andan that Milan Lukić had used the Detention Unit’s telephone to threaten him and his family and also threatened him personally when he came to the Detention Unit, Magdalena Spalińska responded that she would enquire and get back to the journalist with further information.

Asked whether the Tribunal has had to deal with similar issues in the past, Spalińska said that she was not aware of any similar issues with respect to Milan Lukić but that the Tribunal has in the past faced the challenge of witnesses being threatened. She added that all threats to the security of witnesses is an issue that is taken extremely seriously and are followed up through the Tribunal’s Victims and Witnesses Unit. She explained that because theses issues concern the security of witnesses they are handled confidentially but that she would get back to the journalist with further information if possible.