| Please note that this is not a verbatim transcript of the Press Briefing. It is merely a summary. ICTY Weekly Press Briefing REGISTRY AND CHAMBERS Good afternoon, On behalf of the Tribunal’s Outreach Programme: Last weekend, ICTY Outreach and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska hosted a three-day conference for prosecutors from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Bjelasnica Mountain near Sarajevo. The topic of the conference was the investigation and prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide at the ICTY and is part of the Tribunal's effort to assist with the transfer of its expertise to the local judiciaries in the former Yugoslavia in order to improve their capacity to deal with complex war crimes cases. The conference was attended by over 40 prosecutors from across BiH who were addressed by senior OTP officials on various aspects of investigating and prosecuting war crimes at the International Tribunal. The conference was funded by the OSCE and the US Embassy in Sarajevo. ICTY and BiH prosecutors, OHR representatives and local legal experts addressed numerous issues related to the handling of war crimes cases in BiH, as well as the possible transfer of ICTY cases to Bosnian courts. Discussions focused on such areas as the admissibility of ICTY evidence in local war crimes trials, the legal framework and jurisdiction of BiH courts and witness protection measures. The successful conference was seen by all participants as a good foundation for future training activities which are planned as part of the effort to set up a War Crimes Chamber within the BiH State Court. On 9 March, the Deputy Registrar, David Tolbert, issued a Decision to extend for a further 30 days the communications restrictions on Vojislav Seselj. In effect, this means that Mr. Seselj is prohibited from communicating with anyone except his legal counsel (if applicable), diplomatic and consular representatives and his immediate family, provided that his contact with his family is subject live monitoring. With regard to the court schedule and in addition to the ongoing trials: The Sentencing Judgement in The Prosecutor v. Miodrag Jokic will be rendered next Thursday, 18 March 2004 at 3 p.m. in Courtroom III. The Trial Chamber also ordered that "(i) the Order on Miodrag Jokic’s Request for Continued Provisional Release of 4 December 2003 be vacated on Tuesday, 16 March 2004; (ii) Miodrag Jokic return to the Tribunal on Tuesday, 16 March 2004." The Sentencing Judgement in The Prosecutor v. Ranko Cesic will be rendered tomorrow by Trial Chamber I at 3 p.m. in Courtroom III. There will be a status conference in The Prosecutor v. Meakic, Gruban, Fustar and Knezevic on 11 March starting at 12 noon. The hearing on appeal in The Prosecutor v. Kvocka, Radic, Zigic and Prcac will start on 23 March 2004. There will be a status conference in The Prosecutor v. Naletilic and Martinovic before the Pre-Appeal Judge, Judge Pocar, on 30 March starting at 3 p.m. There will be a status conference in The Prosecutor v. Milomir Stakic before the Pre-Appeal Judge, Judge Meron, on 5 April starting at 9.30 a.m in Courtroom II. In The Prosecutor v. Limaj, Bala and Musliu, the Defendants have been ordered by the Pre-Trial Judge to file their pre-trial briefs on 10 May 2004. Office of the Prosecutor: Florence Hartmann, Spokeswoman for the Office of the Prosecutor, made no statement. Questions: A journalist wondered if there were any materials from the ICTY Outreach and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights conference and if so, whether they could be obtained. Landale promised to check whether anything was available. Landale was also asked to confirm that the attending prosecutors were from across BiH, that is that they were from both the Federation and the Republika Srpska. Landale said that he believed that this was the case. A journalist said that two Croatian generals had been seen boarding a plane in Zagreb and wanted to know whether they had already arrived in The Hague. Landale answered that he was not aware that they had. Asked whether there was any more information regarding a replacement for Judge May, Landale replied that there was not, but he was confident that the situation would be resolved relatively soon. The next question related to Milosevic’s health and whether he was working on his defence on a full-time basis. Landale replied that he believed Milosevic’s health had improved and that he was working on his defence, though he had no more specific information than that. Asked whether Milosevic was using the new facilities provided to him, Landale answered that he believed he was. A journalist asked whether the Tribunal had any comment on the start of the Vukovar trial yesterday in Belgrade. Landale answered that the Tribunal was watching the developments closely. He added that the court in Belgrade had received some considerable assistance from parts of the Tribunal. He said the Tribunal was hopeful that the trial would be conducted in accordance with the highest legal standards and that it would complement the work being carried out at the Tribunal, namely the investigation and trial of those as high up the chain of command as the evidence allowed and concentrating on the most senior alleged perpetrators. Asked whether the Tribunal had monitors in Belgrade following the trial, Hartmann answered in the negative. She added that there were other organizations fulfilling this role; NGOs and maybe the OSCE. The Tribunal was in contact with international organizations experienced in such monitoring. Documents: The Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaskic 8 March 2004 "Decision on Prosecution’s Motion for Clarification of the Appeals Chamber’s Decision Dated 4 December 2002 on Pasko Ljubicic’s Motion for Access to Confidential Material, Transcripts and Exhibits in the Blaskic Case." The Prosecutor v. Pavle Strugar 4 March 2004 "Defence Response: Prosecution’s Submission of Expert Report Pursuant to Rule 94bis (Lieutenant Colonel Jozef Poje)." 4 March 2004 "Defence Response: Prosecution’s Submission of Expert Report Pursuant to Rule 94bis (General Milovan Zorc)." The Prosecutor v. Zeljko Mejakic, Momcilo Gruban, Dusan Fustar and Dusko Knezevic 5 March 2004 "Zeljko Mejakic’s Request for Removing his Photograph from the ICTY Website." 8 March 2004 "Order Assigning a Judge to a Case before a Trial Chamber". The Prosecutor v. Slobodan Milosevic 4 March 2004 "Prosecution Filing of Amended Annex 1 to Croatia Indictment." The Prosecutor v. Naser Oric 4 March 2004 "Defence Pre-Trial Brief." The Prosecutor v. Dusko Jovanovic 8 March 2004 "Order Assigning a Judge to a Case Before a Trial Chamber." The Prosecutor v. Momcilo Krajisnik 5 March 2004 "Prosecution’s Fourth Motion for Judicial Notice of Adjudicated Facts". The Prosecutor v. Vojislav Seselj 9 March 2004 "Decision". The Prosecutor v. Mile Mrksic 9 March 2004 "Decision on Defence Request for Review of the Registrar’s decision on Partial Indigence of Mrksic". ***** |