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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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