Tribunal Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Page 31

1 Tuesday, 31st August, 1999

2 [Initial Appearance]

3 [Open session]

4 --- Upon commencing at 4.43 p.m.

5 JUDGE HUNT: Yes. Call the case, please.

6 THE REGISTRAR: [Interpretation] Case number

7 IT-99-36-I, the Prosecutor of the Tribunal versus Momir

8 Talic.

9 JUDGE HUNT: Yes. Appearances for the

10 Prosecution, please?

11 MR. STEWART: Good afternoon, Your Honour.

12 My name is James Stewart. I am appearing on behalf of

13 the Prosecutor with co-counsel, Mr. Michael Keegan,

14 with legal officer, Ann Sutherland, and case manager,

15 Adele Erasmus.

16 JUDGE HUNT: Thank you very much. For the

17 accused?

18 MR. PETROVIC: [Interpretation] I am Vladimir

19 Petrovic. I am defence counsel from Belgrade. The

20 Registry of the Tribunal has asked me to act as defence

21 counsel for Mr. Talic at this initial appearance. I

22 work for the Fila Law Office in Belgrade. Thank you.

23 JUDGE HUNT: Thank you very much. Have you

24 had the opportunity of discussing this indictment with

25 your client, Mr. Petrovic?

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1 MR. PETROVIC: [Interpretation] Yes.

2 Yesterday, I visited Mr. Talic at the detention unit of

3 the United Nations, and we looked into all the legal

4 and factual aspects of the indictment, and I believe

5 that Mr. Talic today is in a position to state his

6 position as regards the charges brought against him in

7 the indictment.

8 JUDGE HUNT: Are you satisfied that he

9 understands the nature of the charges against him?

10 MR. PETROVIC: [Interpretation] I believe that

11 he fully understands the nature of the charges brought

12 against him and that he can make his plea. I think

13 that he fully understands the indictment and that there

14 will be no problems whatsoever in this regard.

15 JUDGE HUNT: Thank you very much.

16 Mr. Talic, are you able to hear the

17 proceedings in a language which you understand?

18 THE ACCUSED TALIC: [Interpretation] Yes.

19 Yes, I can, and I fully understand the entire dialogue

20 that has been carried on so far.

21 JUDGE HUNT: Thank you. Can you give us your

22 full name?

23 THE ACCUSED TALIC: [Interpretation] Momir.

24 JUDGE HUNT: Momir Talic?

25 THE ACCUSED TALIC: [Interpretation] "Talic"

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1 is my last name.

2 JUDGE HUNT: Thank you. What is the date

3 upon which you believe you were born?

4 THE ACCUSED TALIC: [Interpretation] The 15th

5 of July, 1942.

6 JUDGE HUNT: Can you tell us what your

7 address was, your residence, before you were arrested?

8 THE ACCUSED TALIC: [Interpretation] The Hotel

9 Sico, Republika Srpska.

10 JUDGE HUNT: Thank you. Please sit down.

11 Mr. Petrovic, it's common practice within

12 this Tribunal for the accused to waive his right to

13 have the indictment read out in full before entering a

14 plea. Have you had the opportunity of discussing that

15 with your client?

16 MR. PETROVIC: [Interpretation] I had an

17 opportunity of discussing this with Mr. Talic. I

18 presented both options to him. Mr. Talic read the

19 entire indictment in the Serbian language several

20 times, and together we reached the conclusion that it

21 was not necessary to have the indictment read in its

22 entirety before this Court but only the actual count

23 that is brought against Mr. Talic.

24 JUDGE HUNT: Thank you very much.

25 Mr. Talic, stand up, if you would, please.

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1 The charge against you is that you committed

2 persecutions on political, racial, or religious

3 grounds, a crime against humanity. I'm now going to

4 ask you to plead to that charge. Your response should

5 be "guilty" or "not guilty," as the case may be.

6 How do you plead, guilty or not guilty?

7 THE ACCUSED TALIC: [Interpretation] Not

8 guilty.

9 JUDGE HUNT: Thank you. You may sit down.

10 The Registrar will be instructed to set a

11 date for trial, subject to any further order of the

12 Trial Chamber. Are there any other matters that can be

13 dealt with at this stage?

14 Yes, Mr. Stewart?

15 MR. STEWART: Thank you, Your Honour. There

16 are just two matters.

17 First of all, I would like to inform the

18 Chamber that we are in a position to make immediate

19 Rule 47 supporting material disclosure in both English

20 and B/C/S once permanent counsel is appointed for the

21 accused.

22 Secondly, I'll simply state for the record

23 that this accused is jointly charged with Radoslav

24 Brdjanin, and we have filed a document reflecting this

25 in accordance with certain orders made by the

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1 confirming judge in March of this year, and in due

2 course, that document, that indictment will be conveyed

3 to the Defence. We've filed it with the Registry.

4 JUDGE HUNT: You've got it in the Bosnian

5 Serbo-Croatian language as well, have you?

6 MR. STEWART: We have it in English at this

7 stage, and it will be rendered into French and B/C/S.

8 JUDGE HUNT: The Rule 72 application, if

9 there be one, will no doubt depend upon the date of

10 your filing or serving the one in the language which

11 the accused understands.

12 MR. STEWART: We appreciate that, Your

13 Honour. Thank you.

14 JUDGE HUNT: Have you got anything that you

15 want to raise, Mr. Petrovic?

16 MR. PETROVIC: [Interpretation] First of all,

17 I would just like to correct the translation that we

18 heard in the Serbian language. It said that General

19 Talic was condemned. He was not condemned. He was

20 indicted.

21 That is the only thing I wish to mention, in

22 addition to one more thing. I was asked by the

23 Registry to appear at this initial appearance.

24 Together with Mr. Keegan, I discussed this matter, and

25 I had to inform him that I could not take over this

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1 material because Mr. Talic has not made his final

2 decision yet as to who he's going to entrust with his

3 defence. Therefore, I believe that the supporting

4 materials should remain pending until the final

5 decision is made by Mr. Talic, that is, who is going to

6 be his defence counsel in this trial.

7 JUDGE HUNT: I understand. You have, no

8 doubt, advised him that he should make up his mind as

9 soon as possible about obtaining legal representation.

10 MR. PETROVIC: [Interpretation] That is what

11 the Registry of the Tribunal did.

12 JUDGE HUNT: All right. Is there anything

13 else?

14 MR. PETROVIC: [Interpretation] No. Thank

15 you.

16 JUDGE HUNT: Thank you very much for your

17 assistance.

18 We will adjourn.

19 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at

20 4.59 p.m.

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