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

ICTY Weekly Press Briefing
Date: 1 December 1999
Time: 11:30 p.m.

REGISTRY AND CHAMBERS
Jim Landale, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers, made the following announcements:

Firstly, we have just this morning received copies of the amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Evidence adopted at the last plenary. Twenty-eight amendments have been made to existing rules and three new rules have been adopted.

We have not had a chance to go through them yet and produce any kind of analysis or comparison to the previous set of rules, however we do have copies for you to take away with you after this.

We also now have copies of the amended indictment for Dragan Nikolic. This was filed on 12 February 1999, and was subject to a non-disclosure order until 31 March 1999.

I would also like to inform those of you who don’t already know that, on 29 November 1999, Trial Chamber III ordered that the evidence of two witnesses in the Kordic and Cerkez trial would be taken in deposition, pursuant to Rule 71 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, due to the absence of Judge Robinson this week.

Also, yesterday, Trial Chamber I issued a decision rejecting Vinko Martinovic’s appeal of the Registrar’s decision to refuse him assignment of counsel. The Trial Chamber noted, pursuant to Rule 45 e of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence that, "If a request is refused, a further request may be made by a suspect or an accused to the Registrar upon showing a change in circumstances."

This follows a motion filed on 25 November by counsel for Martinovic, Branko Seric, informing the Trial Chamber that he would be unable to continue to represent Martinovic as long as he was not officially assigned as Martinovic’s defence counsel by the Registrar.

Also yesterday, 30 November, Trial Chamber II received a petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of Radoslav Brdanin. The petition challenges the unlawfulness of his detention and states, among other things, that "the materials filed in support of the current indictment….do not provide a prima facie case justifying his detention." It requests that a Writ of Habeas Corpus be issued without delay ordering:

-That the Petitioner be brought speedily before the Trial Chamber for a hearing on the Writ of Habeas Corpus.

-That the Prosecutor be ordered to present to the Trial Chamber, in such hearing, the evidence in its possession, if any, which supports a prima facie case against the Petitioner.

As you will recall, Brdanin was arrested by SFOR on 6 July 1999 and has been charged on the basis of his individual and superior criminal responsibility for ‘persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds, a crime against humanity’. In his position as President of the "Autonomous Region of Krajina (ARK)" Crisis Staff he is alleged to be responsible, in concert with others, for the major ethnic cleansing operations conducted in the Sanski Most and Prijedor regions in 1992.

Finally, hearings in the Kordic and Cerkez case that were due to take place this afternoon have been cancelled. Instead, the Simic Rule 77 contempt of court hearings will continue in courtroom III.

OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTOR
Graham Blewitt, Deputy the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) made the following announcements:

The Prosecutor has remained in Arusha awaiting resolution of the visa issue. The Prosecutor had some optimism that the visa would be granted by the Rwandan Government and for that reason she remained in the area in order to move on to Kigali at the first possible opportunity. In the mean-time she was having a very useful visit with her staff in Arusha. She had also made a number of appearances before the Chambers there, he said.

On the subject of Mladen Naletilic ‘Tuta’, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) yesterday received the latest medical report which indicated that Tuta would undergo surgery next week due to increased pain and more frequent attacks. ‘Tuta’ had agreed to undergo this treatment, he said, adding that he understood this treatment to be one identified some weeks ago as being necessary in order for him to be fit to travel to The Hague. This was seen by the OTP as a positive development, leading to a situation where ‘Tuta’ was likely to be surrendered to the Tribunal in the near future, he said.

QUESTIONS:

• Asked whether the OTP was happy with the findings of ‘Tuta’s’ doctors, or whether they planned to send a further independent medical team to Croatia, Blewitt replied that the OTP was happy with its findings. As he understood the situation, the medical team from Holland had previously identified that the particular procedure to be undertaken was necessary before ‘Tuta’ would be fit to travel. He added that the new report was therefore confirmation of what the Dutch medical team had said.

• Asked for an expected time scale for ‘Tuta’s’ possible transfer to The Hague, Blewitt replied that currently ‘Tuta’ was unable to fly. He added that, although all possible means of travel had not been explored, road options were more complicated and the preference of the Tribunal would be that he be transferred by a medical flight, which was dangerous at the moment because of his heart condition. This treatment should resolve the situation. The Tribunal would wait until it was completed and allow some time for his recovery. His health would then be assessed and if the Tribunal was not satisfied with the opinion of the Croatian doctors, the OTP would recommend that the Registrar send another medical team, he concluded.

• Asked what amendments had been made to the Nikolic indictment, Blewitt said that some sexual assault charges had been incorporated. He added that copies would be made available.

Landale added that the amended indictment would be made available after the briefing, along with a brief summary of the changes for journalists.

• Asked what was to be expected from the OPT now, due to the suspension of investigations in Kosovo for this year, Blewitt replied that as far as the Kosovo investigations were concerned, the forensic aspect had ceased for this year. However, the OTP was currently making plans for the continuation of the work next year.

• Blewitt added that at this stage, only two of the countries that had provided the forensic support this year had delivered their reports of the evidence collected to the OTP. The teams prepared a complete package of information, comprised of a report of their undertakings along with all photographic evidence, which, once completed, would be given to the OTP.

The remainder of the reports were expected in the coming weeks. When they were received the OTP would start to assess them in connection with an amended indictment. Until the reports were entered it was not proper to make final determinations, he said.

• Asked about the visit to the Tribunal by survivors of Srebrenica yesterday and their request that the Tribunal try the UN and Dutchbat commanders for complicity in Genocide, Blewitt replied that he had met with the representatives from Srebrenica yesterday, hosted by the Dutch non-governmental organisation (NGO) IKV. He added that they were informed that, as far as the assessment of the available evidence was concerned, there was no evidence to implicate any members of the Dutchbat in crimes over which the Tribunal had jurisdiction. They agreed that if the group wished to submit additional evidence or material it would be accepted and analyzed in that context.

• Asked whether the visitors had mentioned evidence of bodies found outside a Dutchbat compound in the enclave and which were brought to the attention of the Dutch soldiers, Blewitt replied that it had not been discussed.

• Asked to reaffirm what he meant by no evidence of Dutchbat committing crimes under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and what was needed to assess this, Blewitt said that it was too complicated to comment upon in the briefing.

• Asked to comment upon the complaints of unfairness by the Tribunal concerning allegations of complicity, Blewitt replied that the problem came when moral and political responsibility was equated with criminal responsibility. The Tribunal did not judge the morals or the politics of the world. It was not a question of who these people were, whether Dutchbat, Serb, Muslims, if a crime over which the Tribunal had jurisdiction was committed, there was no immunity to the individual. The question was not that there was no evidence implicating any one for those offences, it was whether there was enough to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, he added.

• Asked whether there would be any public indictments in the near future and whether the Tribunal would look into the case of the five individuals recently arrested in Belgrade, Blewitt replied that there would be further public indictments. The OTP was working on investigations that were drawing to a close. Once satisfied with the evidence, both public and sealed indictments would be issued.

In relation to the five people arrested in Belgrade, the OTP was not taking any immediate steps to intervene, Blewitt said. Some of the people detained were known to the Tribunal, but at this stage no decision to intervene had been made. Continued assessment of the situation would be made as it developed, he added.

• Asked about the optimism of the Prosecutor in connection with her visa to enter Rwanda, Blewitt responded that she was confident due to the representations being made on her behalf by the Secretary-General and others. Questions on this issue should be referred to the ICTR press office. The Prosecutor’s presence in Arusha indicated that she expected a response sooner that later.

• Asked for an update on the suspended investigations in Croatia and for an opinion concerning the changes that might occur in Croatia, if and when President Tudjman died, Blewitt replied that, as far as the suspended investigation was concerned, it was in fact fortunate that they had not yet started as within days the area had been covered in snow. It would be continued when the weather permitted, he added.

Concerning President Tudjman's health, Blewitt replied that if and when he did die it would likely result in some change. He added that in terms of Croatia’s cooperation, it could herald a change for the better if Croatia would fully cooperate with the Tribunal complying with its legal obligations.

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