Page 9335
1 Thursday, 28 February 2013
2 [Open session]
3 [The accused entered court]
4 --- Upon commencing at 9.31 a.m.
5 JUDGE ORIE: Good morning to everyone. Madam Registrar, would
6 you please call the case.
7 THE REGISTRAR: Good morning, Your Honours. This is case
8 IT-09-92-T, the Prosecutor versus Ratko Mladic.
9 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Madam Registrar.
10 The Chamber was informed that there are no preliminaries, which
11 means that we turn into closed session in order to hear the remainder of
12 the evidence of the present witness. Could the witness be escorted into
13 the courtroom.
14 [Closed session]
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Page 9336
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7 [Open session]
8 THE REGISTRAR: We're in open session, Your Honours.
9 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Madam Registrar.
10 Mr. McCloskey, the Chamber noticed that you arrived in court.
11 What the Chamber intends to do is, after the break, to just read I think
12 there are four or five decisions, and that will bring us so close to a
13 quarter past 2.00 that it might not be a good idea to start the testimony
14 of the next witness but, rather, start that tomorrow morning, and after
15 we have dealt with the examination-in-chief only, as I understand, then
16 to deal with administrative matters.
17 MR. McCLOSKEY: Yes. Good afternoon, Mr. President,
18 Your Honours, everyone. I think that's an excellent idea. I'd prefer to
19 start fresh in the morning.
20 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Then we will take a break. We'll resume at a
21 quarter to 2.00. Yes.
22 --- Recess taken at 1.25 p.m.
23 --- On resuming at 1.46 p.m.
24 JUDGE ORIE: As I said, the Chamber will deliver some decisions,
25 but let me first start with another matter, that is a matter related to
Page 9407
1 the behaviour of Mr. Mladic on the 18th of February. This is a statement
2 by the Chamber.
3 On the 18th of February, Mr. Mladic used abusive language once
4 the witness had left the courtroom and the Chamber was withdrawing for a
5 break. The language used, as was reported later by the Prosecution, was
6 extremely offensive, especially in respect of the witness that was giving
7 testimony, and of a kind to shock whoever may have heard it. Defence
8 counsel, as they stated in response to a question of the Chamber, had not
9 noticed the content of the words spoken but did not challenge the
10 accuracy of the wording as reported either.
11 It was not the first time that this happened.
12 The Chamber will vigorously protect the dignity of the courtroom.
13 No one should be exposed to abusive language by the accused or by anyone
14 else when that person is performing his or her duties in the courtroom or
15 watching the proceedings which are held in public. This extends to the
16 moments immediately preceding or following the formal course of the
17 proceedings when the accused is already, or is still, present in the
18 courtroom.
19 We have shown our determination to respond to such behaviour of
20 the accused by removing him from the courtroom under Rule 80. The
21 Chamber will continue in the same line and decide on a case-by-case basis
22 whether, and for how long, the accused will be removed in case of any
23 form of inappropriate behaviour or on any other appropriate remedy.
24 In addition to this, it may be a burden to those who have heard
25 any abusive language uttered by the accused to report in any detail what
Page 9408
1 they heard. It is further conceivable that a dispute arises as to the
2 words spoken, which may then lead to a further burden for those who feel
3 already offended by such behaviour of the accused. Since the Judges do
4 not understand B/C/S themselves, a need to verify any language brought to
5 its attention as having been abusive may therefore arise. The Chamber
6 has considered installing a microphone for that purpose, which would
7 record any word spoken by the accused and not caught by the official
8 recordings of the proceedings and therefore also not translated. Such
9 recording would exclusively be used for these verification purposes and
10 any permitted communication between counsel and accused would not be
11 recorded.
12 While the Chamber is at this moment not inclined to install such
13 a microphone, it may have to reconsider its position and possibly install
14 the microphone if a similar incident occurs.
15 Despite our instruction for the accused to communicate with
16 counsel in court only through short written notes, the Chamber has
17 tolerated very brief counsel-client communications at a low voice. The
18 Chamber finds no reason yet to change that practice. The Chamber repeats
19 that the accused should refrain from speaking in court at a volume
20 audible to others than Defence counsel in the courtroom.
21 The Chamber further states, not for the first time, that the
22 accused should refrain from any gestures or body language, including
23 silent laughter, which could be understood as an expression of approval
24 or disapproval of testimony of witnesses or the behaviour of other
25 persons. The Chamber further considers the repeated standing up by the
Page 9409
1 accused an undesirable -- as undesirable where it may be perceived as
2 intimidating. Finally, the Chamber emphasises again that inappropriate
3 communication with persons in the public gallery is not acceptable.
4 The Chamber finally expresses its confidence that the accused
5 will behave in such a way as to avoid the necessity of installing the
6 microphone it has envisaged.
7 And this concludes the statement of the Chamber on this matter.
8 I'll now continue with an oral decision on the Prosecution's motion for a
9 site visit.
10 On the 12th of February, 2013, the Prosecution filed its
11 "Proposal for Site Visit" in which it requests that the Chamber order a
12 site visit to locations in and around Sarajevo, Srebrenica, and the
13 municipalities. The Prosecution submits that the purpose of the proposed
14 site visit would be to assist the Chamber in contextualising the evidence
15 presented at trial. The Prosecution indicated in its motion that the
16 Defence did not object, and the Chamber notes that the Defence did not
17 file a response.
18 The Chamber notes that Rule 4 of the Rules of Procedure and
19 Evidence gives the Chamber the possibility of exercising its function at
20 a place other than the seat of the Tribunal if authorised by the
21 President in the interests of justice. However, having carefully
22 reviewed the Prosecution's submissions, the Chamber considers that the
23 locations and landmarks referred to in the indictment can be sufficiently
24 comprehended from the evidence available to the Chamber at trial. The
25 Chamber therefore denies the motion, and this concludes the Chamber's
Page 9410
1 decision.
2 The Chamber will now deliver its decision on the admission of the
3 remaining associated exhibits in relation to Witness Rose.
4 In its Rule 92 ter motion concerning Witness Michael Rose of the
5 17th of December, 2012, the Prosecution tendered 36 associated exhibits.
6 Following the testimony of Witness Rose on the 18th of January, 2013, the
7 Chamber instructed the Prosecution to provide the Registry with a list of
8 the remaining associated exhibits that it still seeks to tender into
9 evidence and instructed the Registry to provisionally assign exhibit
10 numbers. This can be found at transcript page 7003. Such a list
11 containing a remainder of 30 associated documents was provided by the
12 Prosecution on the 18th of January. An internal memorandum filed by the
13 Registry on the 24th of January of 2013 assigned provisional exhibit
14 numbers to those 30 documents. On the 30th of January, the Registry
15 filed a correction to the internal memorandum, informing the parties and
16 the Chamber that due to a double assignment of three exhibit numbers,
17 these numbers have been replaced. Rule 65 ter number 03488 was
18 reassigned Exhibit P819 MFI'd, Rule 65 ter 07855 was reassigned
19 Exhibit P820 MFI, and Rule 65 ter number 08135 was reassigned
20 Exhibit P821 MFI'd.
21 Following the Chamber's approach as set out in the
22 22nd of November, 2012, oral decision with respect to Witness Tucker
23 concerning the admission of associated exhibits, the Chamber admits the
24 following ten documents currently marked for identification into evidence
25 as associated exhibits for Witness Rose: Exhibit P819, Exhibit P821,
Page 9411
1 Exhibit P761, Exhibit P763, Exhibit P772, Exhibit P774, Exhibit P779,
2 Exhibit P781, and Exhibit P784.
3 Exhibit P764 will be admitted pending its verified translation as
4 requested on the 7th of February, 2013, in court, at transcript pages
5 T-8272 through to 8273, and 8278. Until such verification is received,
6 the exhibit shall stay marked for identification.
7 With regard to the remaining associated exhibits tendered by the
8 Prosecution which were provisionally assigned exhibit numbers, the
9 Chamber denies admission into evidence without prejudice. The Registry
10 is requested to mark those documents as not admitted, and those documents
11 are P820 MFI'd, P758 through 760 MFI'd, P765 through P771 MFI'd, P773,
12 P775 and 776, all MFI'd, P778, P780, and P782 and 783. Again, they were
13 all MFI'd.
14 And this concludes the Chamber's decision on this matter.
15 I will now deliver the Chamber's decision on the admission of two
16 outstanding MFI'd documents tendered through Witness Thomas and on the
17 admission of the remaining associated exhibits in relation to said
18 witness.
19 First, with regard to Witness Thomas's amalgamated statement, the
20 Chamber recalls an informal communication from the Prosecution of the
21 22nd of November, 2012, in which it informed the Chamber and the Defence
22 that it undertook to redact the statement to remove references to
23 documents that it was not seeking to have admitted through
24 Witness Thomas. The Chamber admits this redacted version into evidence
25 and directs the Court Officer to replace the current statement in
Page 9412
1 e-court, currently MFI'd as P503, with the redacted version.
2 The second MFI'd document, P512, contains a series of maps
3 showing locations of shelling in Sarajevo that are cited in the daily
4 situation reports tendered as associated exhibits with Witness Thomas.
5 Following the issuance of this decision with regard to the associated
6 exhibits of Witness Thomas, the Prosecution is requested to revisit P512
7 to only reflect those maps linked to daily situation reports that are
8 admitted into evidence by this decision. Once the Prosecution has done
9 so, it should inform the Chamber and the revised MFI'd document P512 can
10 then be admitted into evidence.
11 The Chamber will now turn to its decision on the associated
12 exhibits of Witness Thomas. The Chamber has received and examined the
13 parties' submissions after it had set the deadline for submissions to the
14 27th of November, 2012, for the Prosecution, and to the 4th of December,
15 2012, for the Defence respectively. Both parties were informed about
16 these deadlines through an informal communication which is hereby put on
17 the record.
18 At the outset, the Chamber notes the Prosecution's submission
19 with regard to 13 daily situation reports enumerated in the comments
20 chart admitted as Exhibit P510. The Prosecution submits that those
21 situation reports were discussed with Witness Thomas in court and
22 requests their admission "through the witness." The Chamber notes first
23 of all that none of the reports listed in P510, apart from two documents
24 with Rule 65 ter number 10563 admitted as P511 and Rule 65 ter number
25 18762 admitted as P509, were in fact directly tendered through the
Page 9413
1 witness in court. Further, the Chamber could only identify one other
2 document from the comments chart, namely, Rule 65 ter number 10562, which
3 was shortly discussed with the witness. The Chamber will therefore only
4 consider the Prosecution's alternative request with regard to the
5 13 daily situation reports, which is their admission as associated
6 exhibits to the amalgamated statement of Witness Thomas, admitted as
7 P503.
8 Following the Chamber's approach used in the Tucker oral decision
9 of the 22nd of November, 2012, on the admission of associated exhibits,
10 the Chamber admits the following 19 documents into evidence as associated
11 exhibits of Witness Thomas, and I'll refer to them by their 65 ter
12 number: 65 ter 10022, 10028, 10550, 10553, 10560, 10561, 10562, 10566,
13 10568A, page 3 of 65 ter number 10571 only, 65 ter number 13786, further
14 13788, 13797, 13803, 13818, 14901, page 1 of 65 ter number 14964 only,
15 65 ter number 14965, and the last one, 65 ter number 19064.
16 With regard to the remaining associated exhibits tendered by the
17 Prosecution through Witness Thomas, the Chamber denies their admission
18 into evidence without prejudice.
19 The Registry is invited to assign exhibit numbers and the
20 Prosecution to upload the two documents partially admitted under a new
21 65 ter number.
22 This concludes the Chamber's decision.
23 The last item I'd like to deal with is the following: The
24 Chamber has given a decision on a camera which will constantly record the
25 accused in this case. In our decision it's stated that it extend to any
Page 9414
1 period when the accused is in the courtroom, even before the start of the
2 proceedings or after the proceedings are concluded, up to the moment
3 where the accused leaves the courtroom. The Chamber informs hereby the
4 parties and all those present in this courtroom that for very practical
5 reasons it may not always and often is not possible to switch off that
6 camera during the breaks.
7 Now, if the camera would still be active during the breaks, this
8 will not affect the accused, who will then have already left the
9 courtroom, but the Chamber informs all others in this courtroom that that
10 camera may still be active during the breaks. Not to say that the
11 Chamber is going to review anything of what is recorded on video during
12 the breaks, but the Chamber considered it appropriate to inform the
13 parties about it.
14 We will adjourn, and we will resume tomorrow, the 1st of March,
15 at 9.30 in the morning in this same Courtroom I.
16 Mr. Mladic apparently, although, wants to briefly consult with
17 counsel, which he is allowed to do at this moment. If there's any matter
18 outstanding, we can deal with it tomorrow, Mr. Lukic. Perhaps you'll
19 read the little note and then you inform the Chamber whether there's any
20 matter so urgent that it cannot wait until tomorrow.
21 Mr. Lukic, unless I hear otherwise from you, we will adjourn, and
22 you have an opportunity to consult with your client.
23 We adjourn.
24 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at 2.12 p.m.,
25 to be reconvened on Friday, the 1st day
Page 9415
1 of March, 2013, at 9.30 a.m.
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