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ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 5 December 2012

Date:  5.12.2012
Time: 12:00

Registry and Chambers:

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

Good afternoon,

Yesterday the Appeals Chamber affirmed the sentence of life imprisonment for Milan Lukić, and reduced, Judge Pocar and Judge Liu dissenting, the sentence for Sredoje Lukić from 30 to 27 years of imprisonment. Both accused were convicted for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war committed in the eastern Bosnian town of Višegrad in 1992 and 1993.

Another judgement, this time in the trial of Zdravko Tolimir, a former high ranking officer of the Bosnian Serb Army charged with crimes committed in Srebrenica and Žepa in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, will be rendered next Wednesday, 12 December at 15:00 in Courtroom III. The accreditation procedure for journalists and members of the public wishing to attend the Trial Chamber Judgement opened this morning. Further information can be found on the Tribunal’s website.
   
Last Friday, President Meron issued a decision denying Dragan Zelenović’s request for early release.  Zelenović, a former Bosnian Serb soldier, was transferred to Belgium on 27 February 2008 to serve his 15 year sentence of imprisonment for torture and rape of women and girls in the town of Foča in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1992. In rendering his decision, the President found that Zelenović’s good behaviour during his detention demonstrated some rehabilitation, but that his psychosocial report raised some concerns, including his ambivalent attitude towards his crimes. The full text of the decision is available online.

Turning to the developments in the courtrooms:

In the trial of Radovan Karadžić, witness Goran Sikiraš is testifying about the events in Vogošća, part of Sarajevo, during the war. He is the 36th witness to be called by the Defence.

This morning, another Defence witness Milan Pejić, who was a doctor in Sarajevo during the war, started and completed his testimony.

The Chamber ordered Karadžić yesterday to file a revised list of witnesses by Friday, 14 December, urging him to make a serious attempt at including only those witnesses who are to give evidence relevant to the charges in the indictment and who are not unnecessarily repetitive. The Chamber added that should Karadžić fail do to so, it would consider imposing a limit on the number of witnesses he may call.

In the trial of Ratko Mladić, the Chamber is currently hearing the testimony of a protected witness RM-019 who is the 53rd witness to be called by the Prosecution. His testimony is in closed session.

Finally, proceedings in the trial of Goran Hadžić will resume tomorrow at 14:15 in Courtroom II with the testimony of Tomislav Rukavina, whose testimony deals with the events in the village of Bapska, not far from Ilok, in Croatia.

The ICTY President Judge Theodor Meron will present today the Tribunal’s bi-annual completion strategy report to the UN Security Council at 15:00 New York time – 21:00 in The Hague. The President will also take this opportunity to brief the Security Council on the progress made by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, of which he is also President. His address will be followed by that of the Tribunal’s Prosecutor, Serge Brammertz. The President’s and Prosecutor’s addresses will be sent to the media and posted online shortly after the delivery of the speeches.

Office of the Prosecutor:

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

Questions:

No questions were asked.

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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

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