Please note that this is not a verbatim transcript of the Press Briefing. It is merely a summary.

Date: 22.02.2006
Time: 12:20h

Office of the Prosecutor:

Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor of the ICTY, made the following statement:

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,

The false rumors spread yesterday from Belgrade about the arrest of Mladic have absolutely no basis whatsoever. There is no indication at all that negotiations about his surrender are currently being conducted. I was in contact with the authorities in Belgrade yesterday and I was assured that there is no truth in all this. Mladic remains at large.

Mladic and Karadzic must be brought to justice in The Hague so that the genocide of 8000 Muslims in Srebrenica is not left unpunished.

Ratko Mladic is in Serbia, there is no doubt about this. He has been there since 1998. During all this time he has been, and he remains, within reach of the Serbian authorities. He can and must be arrested immediately, and I expect all Serbian authorities to work much more intensely towards that objective.

The conditionality imposed by the European Union in the context of the negotiations on a stabilization and association agreement is of key importance. Serbia knows that negotiations may be suspended or may never conclude if Belgrade fails to cooperate fully with the ICTY. I always could count on the support of the European Union. But now the role of the European Union is crucial. I need now a stronger support of the European Union to have Mladic in The Hague very soon. Clear deadlines associated with clear sanctions will produce early results.

Registry and Chambers:

Alexandra Milenov, Liaison Officer for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:

Good afternoon.

Milan Lukic will have his first appearance before the court on Friday 24 February at 14:15 in court room I. Milan Lukic is alleged to have been the leader of a Bosnian Serb paramilitary unit, and stands accused of murdering dozens of Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly on several occasions in the municipality of Visegrad, eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, among other crimes. As many of you may already know, yesterday Milan Lukic was transferred to the Tribunal’s custody from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was arrested on 8 August 2005. Argentinian authorities recognized the Tribunal’s primacy over domestic jurisdictions, one of which had filed a request for his extradition. The Tribunal would like to thank the Argentinian authorities for their cooperation with his arrest and transfer. Journalists will find on our website in English and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian a press kit that contains various pieces of information in relation to the case against Milan Lukic.

In terms of the courtroom schedule, the trial against former Yugoslav and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic will be continuing in courtroom I this week on Thursday and Friday, and next week from Monday to Wednesday at 9:00am.

The trial against Yugoslav Army officers Mile Mrksic, Miroslav Radic and Veselin Slivancanin continues this afternoon, tomorrow at 14:15 in courtroom I and on Friday it will sit in court room II from 9:00am. It will sit next week from Monday to Wednesday at 14:15 in courtroom I.

The trial against Momcilo Krajisnik, a former high-level leader of the Bosnian Serb political entity, will continue this week on Thursday 23 February at 9:00, on Monday 27 February at 14:15 and Tuesday 28 February and Wednesday 1 March at 9:00 in courtroom II.

The trial against former Bosnian Muslim army officer Naser Oric will continue next week from Tuesday 28 February to Thursday 3 March at 14:15 in courtroom II.

Finally, there will be a regular status conference in the case against Radoslav Brdjanin, a former high-level leader of the Bosnian Serb political entity on Wednesday 1 March at 8:00 in courtroom II. The Trial Chamber convicted Radoslav Brdjanin of various crimes against Bosnian Muslims, including persecution, willful killing, torture, and wanton destruction and sentenced him to 32 years in prison. His case is currently under appeal.

Questions:

A journalist asked what lay behind the rumors of Mladic’s arrest and whether it was possibly an attempt to make it more difficult for him to surrender. In response, Hartmann stated that she did not know. She added that nothing particular in relation to the fugitive had happened in The Hague yesterday – it was no different to any other day. The Tribunal had been saying since the beginning of the year that Mladic was in Serbia and within the reach of the Serbian authorities and that the government should act upon the international arrest warrant. As the Serbian government was not co-operating, despite the fact that Mladic has been in Serbia for many years, the Tribunal had asked the EU to be very cautious and to use its influence on the government. She added that the Tribunal could not accept waiting years and years for the arrest of someone indicted for genocide. Other people had already been brought to the Tribunal; Mladic, Karadzic and the remaining 6 fugitives also had to be brought to The Hague.

In answer to a question whether she thought the Serbian authorities were getting closer to Mladic, Hartmann responded that she did not know: it was another case of a fugitive being within reach of the authorities and the authorities not arresting him. Asked to clarify what she meant by “within reach” and whether she believed that the Serb authorities know where Mladic was, Hartmann stated that she would not get into details. She added that the Tribunal had no police force to make arrests but had to rely on local police. In saying that Mladic was in Serbia, the Tribunal was saying that the authorities in Serbia were the only ones responsible for his arrest as there were no international troops in the territory. She added that political will was essential for compliance with the arrest warrant; the Serb authorities could and must comply.

When questioned about the Prosecutor’s 21 February deadline for the arrest of Mladic, Hartmann stressed that no such deadline had been given by the prosecutor and that speaking about deadlines created misunderstanding. She explained that the arrest warrant was valid until it was fulfilled – there was no deadline or date by which if Mladic was not arrested proceedings would finish, because there was no statute of limitation for such crimes. She pointed out that the Prosecutor was calling all institutions, such as the EU, to use their leverage to remind Belgrade of its international obligations. The EU negotiations on SSA, scheduled today, had brought back again the issue of deadlines. She added that the question of when Mladic would be arrested should not be addressed to the Tribunal but to the government which had the authority to arrest him – only Belgrade could say when Mladic would be arrested. The Tribunal could not answer that question but would continue insisting on apprehending all fugitives, including Mladic, as it had been for the last ten and a half years. She reminded journalists that Mladic was indicted in 1995.

Asked whether the events of the past couple of days brought Mladic’s arrest closer or further away, Hartmann stated that only when Mladic was in Scheveningen would he be close to justice and answer to the crimes for which he had been indicted. This was the only way to bring justice to the victims of the genocide. Any other options, rumors or maybes were not an answer.