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

Date: 10.05.2006
Time: 12:00

Registry and Chambers:

Christian Chartier, Senior Information Officer, made the following statement:

Good Afternoon,

Let me first tell you that the Tribunal was disappointed to learn of the apparent release of Dragan Zelenovic from a Russian prison through the media.

Upon learning of this development, the Registry sought clarifications from the Russian authorities.

Following a meeting, on Monday night, with a representative of the Russian Embassy, the Registry is now waiting for a full report.

Last Friday and Saturday, Judge Wolfgang Schomburg and Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte participated in an international conference in Sarajevo titled "Establishing the Truth in the Aftermath of Conflict: Current Initiatives and Perspectives in the west Balkans".

The event was jointly organised by three non-governmental organisations from the region: the Sarajevo-based Research and Documentation Center, the Humanitarian Law Center from Belgrade, and Documenta from Zagreb.

TURNING TO COURT PROCEEDINGS

The courtrooms will again be busy in the coming days, with 10 accused standing trial.

Indeed, the proceedings against Jadranko Prlic, Bruno Stojic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petkovic, Valentin Coric and Berislav Pusic, former high-ranking political and military officials of the then Herceg-Bosna, will continue this week on Thursday in courtroom III at 9:00. There will no hearing on Friday. Next Monday the trial will sit in the afternoon at 14:15 on Monday and revert back to the morning session on Tuesday and Wednesday, starting at 9:00.

The Vukovar trial against former Yugoslav Army high-ranking officers Mile Mrksic, Miroslav Radic and Veselin Sljivancanin, will sit tomorrow from 9:30 to 12:30. On Friday it will sit only in the morning, starting at 9:00, again in courtroom I. The trial will sit next Monday in the same courtroom from 12:00 to 17:00 and on Tuesday and Wednesday all day starting at 9:30 and ending at 16:30 with a one hour break for lunch at 12:30.

Momcilo Krajisnik will continue on the witness stand for the rest of this week in the afternoons in courtroom II. Next week the proceedings will continue in the same courtroom but in the morning.]

As you already know the trial of Milan Martic, former President of the war-time Croatian Serb entity, has been provisionally adjourned due to the ill-health of the accused.

WITH REGARD TO COURT FILINGS,

From the list made available to you, including parties’s filing, I would like to single out a Decision of 3 May, by Trial Chamber II, denying the Motion for Provisional release filed by Lahi Brahimaj: The Trial Chamber finds that the accused did not prove "that, if released, he would not pose any danger to victims, witnesses or other persons."

Office of the Prosecutor:

Anton Nikiforov, Advisor to the Prosecutor and acting Spokesperson of the Office of the Prosecutor, made no statement.

Questions:

Asked why the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) filed a Rule 11bis motion for the Trbic case while it has always been the position of the OTP to have joint trials for judicial economy. The journalist added severing the Trbic trial would mean that a separate trial will have to take place in Sarajevo and having the witnesses testify twice while this is very stressful for them.

The same journalist continued his question and asked why the OTP has decided to join Mladic with the Srebrenica joint trial. Since Mladic is also charged for crimes in relation to Sarajevo to which the other Srebrenica accused have nothing to do with and when could we expect the trial to start if Mladic was arrested tomorrow? Would it then be realistic to have the trial start in August or September as the OTP has suggested?

Nikiforov replied that both questions were related and were not simple; because there were issues in the question which are not in our hands like the arrest of Ratko Mladic and his arrival. Obviously it has always been the idea of the OTP to have a joined trial for Srebrenica. In regard to the Trbic case there are reasons in the motion which are open for interpretation but there are also other reasons to transfer his case to Bosnia and Herzegovina which at this moment couldn’t be commented on. Nikiforov promised to check what can be said on this issue and come back to the journalist. He added that the concern about the burden on witnesses is well understood however, the prosecution had good reasons to refer this case to Sarajevo.

In regard to Mladic, Nikiforov continued that again his arrest is not in our hands it is correct that the OTP wants to join Mladic with the Srebrenica joint trial but he said that if the arrest will come very late it will then be impossible to join him and he will have to be tried separately.

Chartier said that with regards to the witness issue there might be some overlap of witnesses called in The hague and Sarajevo but that one should not assume that all witnesses will necessarily be the same. It might that the OTP calls other witnesses for the Trbic case pertaining to a number of counts which will not be called for the other accused in this case. He added that of course he was not familiar with the witnesses to be called in this case but wanted to make sure that the question is not based on mere assumptions.

Asked if Mladic will be tried for judicial economy reasons with the Srebrenica trial does this mean that he will not be tried for Sarajevo and if that was not the case would the OTP then consider to hold two trials which will also not add to the judicial economy? Nikiforov said that the OTP is very pressed for time and that there was not much time left for the remaining cases. As you know the Security Council has already received an indication that an extension of time may be necessary, and trials may go into 2009. But, he continued at this moment for the planning purposes we will have to stick with the current dates 2008 (for trials) and 2010 (for Appeals) since officially nobody has allowed us to go beyond these dates so we will have to plan accordingly. The idea is that if Mladic comes to The Hague now he can right away be tried in the Srebrenica Trial and the rest of indictment will have to be put aside. Then the possibility will be to try him for the rest of the charges separately. Chartier added that nothing in the rules prevents for an indictment to be tried in two trials.

Asked about the current situation around Zelenovic, what does the Tribunal know, is he on bail, has he been released. Chartier answered that as long as we have not received a full report we do not know anything only that he has apparently been released from the prison were he was held. As to his current conditions, we just do not know, we have asked for clarification and we waiting for them.

A journalist asked if the OTP is still in contact with the government of Belgrade after the 31 April, any comments on the search operations which are conducted in Serbia. Nikiforov replied that in a way the OTP is always in contact with Belgrade when they inform us about the ongoing developments. He added that the OTP did not comment on operative business. For the OTP, efforts undertaken will only be seen as credible only if they lead to the arrest of Mladic. He answered that there was no personal contact between the office of Kostunica and the Prosecutor but overall communications had been the same on operative issues, there was no deterioration.

In the past the Prosecutor has always said that she had reliable information that Mladic was in Serbia asked if the OTP has any up-to-date information on the current whereabouts of Mladic. Nikiforov answered that currently he had no information, not this hour and not for the last hour of for today but he added that for the last five years the OTP had reliable information on his whereabouts and the way he moved from Military facilities and then different apartments. We have no doubt that his is in Serbia.

Asked about the status of the two inquiries into the death of two accused Chartier replied that the inquiry work is still ongoing and that he has no indication as to when it will be completed but we will let you know.

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