ICTY Press Briefing - 10 February 1999

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

ICTY Weekly Press Briefing
Date: 10 February 1999
Time: 11:30 a.m.

REGISTRY AND CHAMBERS
Jim Landale, the ICTY Spokesman, began today’s briefing by making the following announcements:

For those who weren’t here, the US First Lady, Hillary Clinton, paid a visit to the Tribunal on Sunday afternoon, where she met the President, Registrar and Deputy Prosecutor. She also took the opportunity to have a look round the facilities in Courtroom III, which was partially paid for by the US Government.

On 6 February 1999, the defence in the Krstic case submitted an application to Trial Chamber I requesting that the deadline for the submission of preliminary motions be extended.

In the Kordic and Cerkez case: on 4 February, Trial Chamber III ordered the Republic of Croatia and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to disclose to the Prosecution all the documents concerning or related to Mario Cerkez, except two, listed by the Prosecutor in a confidential Annex attached to the Prosecutor’s applications to Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for the production of those documents which was made on 25 January 1999. Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were ordered to comply "as soon as possible and no later than within 60 days of the date of the order." The documents were judged to be "specific, relevant and not unduly onerous." The two documents that were rejected did not "meet the criteria of relevance" as set out in the Appeals Chamber Judgement of 29 October 1997 on the Request of the Republic of Croatia for Review of the Decision of Trial Chamber II of 18 July 1997 in the Blaskic case.

Also in the Kordic and Cerkez case: on 8 February, the Defence for Kordic and Cerkez submitted a motion requesting that the accused "be released from detention pending commencement and completion of their trial." In the motion the Defence argued that Rule 65 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence "violates settled principles of international law generally and the Tribunal’s Statute specifically."

On 8 February, the Prosecutor submitted its pre-trial brief in the Kunarac case, along with a Submission related to Admissions made by the Defence.

Copies of all the documents I have mentioned are available on request.

At last week’s briefing I mentioned the visit by a delegation from the Republika Srpska to the Tribunal and read out a list of members of that delegation. However, this list was an out of date version and did not include the participation of the RS Minister of Interior, Mr Svedoja Novic, and the RS Minister of Health, Mr. Zeljko Rodic. My apologies for that.

Finally, on the deferral issue: The deadline expires on 12 February (the request was submitted by the Registry to the Embassy on 14 December and the clock started ticking the following day.) If, on Friday there has been no compliance on the part of the authorities in Belgrade, under Rule 11 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence, "the Trial Chamber may request the President to report the matter to the Security Council".

OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTOR (OTP)
Mr Graham Blewitt, Deputy Prosecutor, made the following announcements:

Yesterday, the OTP received written confirmation from the US State Department that they would donate US $ 1.5 million to the ICTY Trust Fund for the exhumations programme, which is half of the funding required in order to proceed.

The Republika Srpska delegation’s visit, headed by the Justice Minister and which took place at their request, was meant to enhance cooperation. The meetings were productive and I am looking forward to a higher level of cooperation. A liaison officer, appointed by the Republika Srpska, will be stationed in The Hague, which means that all parties will be represented here.

Regarding the Prosecutor’s visas, there have been no movements at all. I expect the reason for this is being negotiated in France. Meanwhile, the visa requests remain lodged with the FRY embassy.

Lastly, the Registrar has written to Croatia under Rule 59 of the ICTY’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence, requesting advice on the request that Naletelic and Martinovic be surrendered to the Tribunal.

QUESTIONS:

Asked if the deadline mentioned earlier referred to the Vukovar case and asked for a comment from the Tribunal on this, Landale answered that it did concern the Vukovar case but that the Tribunal would not have a reaction until the deadline had expired.

Asked about the content of the letter from the Registrar to Croatia, Mr Blewitt answered that to date the Registrar had received no advice on what the intentions were of the Croatian authorities and that under Rule 59 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence Croatia had an obligation to report what action had been taken.

Asked whether he expected compliance from Croatia, Mr Blewitt answered that, despite recent media reports, he had no reason to believe that Croatia would not comply. He added that they had complied with such requests in the past, for example with the Aleksovski case.

Asked whether during the talks with the delegation from Republika Srpska the willingness to arrest and turn over indictees was mentioned, Mr Blewitt answered that he found it inappropriate to comment on that, but that it had been a topic of discussion and that he was pleased to hear that there was no indication of legal or constitutional impediments to handing over of persons indicted. No obstacles were identified apart from the fact that they had to bear in mind the political situation in the Republika Srpska.

Regarding the "Vukovar three" it was said that it was the longest lasting story of non-compliance and that after Friday’s deadline another letter could be sent to the Security Council. Asked whether in the long run this repetition could undermine the credibility of the Tribunal and whether there were any discussions with member states on this, Mr Blewitt replied that the question of credibility could arise with the repetition of letters sent to the Security Council with no real action being taken. On the other hand, the letters built up a case of non-compliance. He added that generally speaking, discussions were taking place but that ultimately it was a question for the President.

Asked if, with regard to the Kosovo investigations, OTP had received any report from the Finnish forensic experts, Mr Blewitt answered that investigations were continuing including leads being followed outside Kosovo. Regarding the Finnish group, the OTP would receive the final report upon completion.

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