INDICTMENT AND CHARGES

All of the charges against Milan Milutinovic, Nikola Sainovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic and Sreten Lukic are in relation to the crimes committed in the territory of Kosovo, beginning on or about 1 January 1999 and continuing until 20 June 1999. Kosovo is located in the southern part of the Republic of Serbia, and was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Kosovo is bordered on the north and north-west by the Republic of Montenegro, on the south-west by the Republic of Albania, and to the south by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The capital of Kosovo is Pristina/Prishtinë.

The initial indictment against Slobodan Milosevic, Milan Milutinovic, Nikola Sainovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic and Vlajko Stojiljkovic (case number IT-99-37) was confirmed on 24 May 1999 and made public on 27 May 1999. This indictment was amended on 29 June 2001. The indictment was further amended on 29 October 2001 (second amended indictment) and on 5 September 2002 (third amended indictment). In the third amended indictment, the charges against Slobodan Milosevic and Vlajko Stojiljkovic were removed, due to the death of Vlajko Stojiljkovic and the fact that Slobodan Milosevic was being tried separately. The case was then called Milutinovic et al.

The initial indictment against Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic, Vlastimir Djordjevic and Sreten Lukic (case number IT-03-70, “Pavkovic et al.”) was confirmed on 2 October 2003 and made public on 20 October 2003.

On 1 April 2005 the Prosecution filed a motion seeking to join cases Milutinovic et al. and Pavkovic et al. The motion was granted on 8 July 2005, and the Trial Chamber ordered the Prosecution to file an amended joinder indictment. The amended joinder indictment was filed on 16 August 2005. This indictment was challenged by the Defence and, based on a Trial Chamber order, the Prosecution submitted the second amended joinder indictment on 5 April 2006. On 11 May 2006, the Trial Chamber ordered the Prosecution to file a final copy of the indictment. On 12 May 2006, the Prosecution filed the third amended joinder indictment.

On 17 May 2006, the Pre-Trial Judge ordered the Prosecution to correct some typographical errors in the third amended joinder indictment and to sever Vlastimir Djordjevic, who was still at large, from the other accused, in order for the trial against the other accused to commence as scheduled. On 21 June 2006, the Prosecution requested leave to replace the third amended joinder indictment with the corrected version of the indictment filed on the same day, and leave to sever Vlastimir Djordjevic from the case. On 26 June 2006, the Trial Chamber granted the severance and accepted the redacted third amended joinder indictment as the operative indictment against the six accused.

The indictment alleges that the accused participated in a joint criminal enterprise that came into existence no later than October 1998 and continued throughout the time period when the crimes alleged in the indictment occurred. The purpose of the joint criminal enterprise was, among other things, the modification of the ethnic balance in Kosovo in order to ensure continued Serbian control over the province. This purpose was to be achieved by criminal means consisting of a widespread or systematic campaign of terror and violence that included deportations, murders, forcible transfers and persecutions directed at the Kosovo Albanian population during the indictment period.

It is alleged that forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia, in a deliberate and widespread or systematic manner, forcibly expelled and internally displaced hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians from their homes across the entire province of Kosovo. To facilitate these expulsions and displacements, forces of the FRY and Serbia intentionally created an atmosphere of fear and oppression through the use of force, threats of force, and acts of violence.

The indictment states that throughout Kosovo, forces of the FRY and Serbia engaged in a deliberate and widespread or systematic campaign of destruction of property owned by Kosovo Albanian civilians. This was accomplished by the widespread shelling of towns and villages; the burning and destruction of property, including homes, farms, businesses, cultural monuments and religious sites, and the destruction of personal property. As a result of these orchestrated actions, villages, towns, and entire regions were made uninhabitable for Kosovo Albanians.

It is further alleged that, in addition to the deliberate destruction of property owned by Kosovo Albanian civilians, forces of the FRY and Serbia committed widespread or systematic acts of brutality and violence against Kosovo Albanian civilians in order to perpetuate a climate of fear, create chaos and a pervading fear for life. Forces of the FRY and Serbia went from village to village and, in the towns and cities, from area to area, threatening and expelling the Kosovo Albanian population. Kosovo Albanians were frequently intimidated, assaulted or killed in public view to enforce the departure of their families and neighbours. Many Kosovo Albanians who were not directly forcibly expelled from their communities fled as a result of the climate of terror created by the widespread or systematic beatings, harassment, sexual assaults, unlawful arrests, killings, shelling and looting carried out across the province. Forces of the FRY and Serbia persistently subjected Kosovo Albanians to insults, racial slurs, degrading acts and other forms of physical and psychological mistreatment based on their racial, religious, and political identification. All sectors of Kosovo Albanian society were displaced including women, children, the elderly and the infirm.

The indictment states that thousands of Kosovo Albanians, who fled their homes as a result of the conduct of the forces of the FRY and Serbia, joined convoys of persons that moved toward Kosovo’s borders with Albania and Macedonia. Allegedly, forces of the FRY and Serbia manned checkpoints along the routes to the border crossings and subjected the displaced Kosovo Albanians to beatings, extortion, robbery, harassment, assaults, illegal arrests and killings. At other times, forces of the FRY and Serbia escorted groups of expelled Kosovo Albanians to the borders.

According to the indictment, approximately 800,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians were deported. In order to facilitate these expulsions and displacements, forces of the FRY and Serbia deliberately created an atmosphere of fear and oppression through the use of force, threats of force and acts of violence. Throughout Kosovo, in a deliberate and widespread or systematic effort to deter expelled Kosovo Albanians from returning to their homes, forces of the FRY and Serbia looted and pillaged the personal and commercial property belonging to Kosovo Albanians. Forces of the FRY and Serbia used wholesale searches, threats of force, and acts of violence to rob Kosovo Albanians of money and valuables, and in a widespread or systematic manner, authorities at FRY border posts stole personal vehicles and other property from Kosovo Albanians being deported from the province.

In addition, throughout Kosovo, forces of the FRY and Serbia systematically seized and destroyed the personal identity documents and licenses of vehicles belonging to Kosovo Albanian civilians. As Kosovo Albanians were forced from their homes and directed towards Kosovo’s borders, they were subjected to demands to surrender identity documents at selected points en route to border crossings and at border crossings into Albania and Macedonia. These actions were undertaken in order to erase any record of the deported Kosovo Albanians’ presence in Kosovo and to deny them the right to return to their homes.

In sum, it is alleged that, throughout Kosovo, forces of the FRY and Serbia systematically shelled towns and villages, burned homes and farms, damaged and destroyed Kosovo Albanian cultural and religious institutions, murdered Kosovo Albanian civilians and other persons taking no active part in the hostilities, and sexually assaulted Kosovo Albanian women.

The operative indictment charges the accused as follows:

The indictment charges Milan Milutinovic, Nikola Sainovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic and Sreten Lukic on the basis of their individual criminal responsibility (Article 7(1) of the Statute) and on the basis of their superior criminal responsibility (Article 7(3) of the Statute) with:

crimes against humanity (deportation, other inhumane acts (forcible transfer), murder, persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds - Article 5)

violations of the laws or customs of war (murder - Article 3).

PRE-TRIAL

Following the decision of the Trial Chamber of 14 April 2005, the accused Milan Milutinovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nikola Sainovic and Vladimir Lazarevic were provisionally released on 15 April 2005.

Pursuant to the decision of the Trial Chamber of 3 October 2005, Sreten Lukic was provisionally released on 5 October 2005.

On 21 November 2005, Nebojsa Pavkovic was provisionally released, pursuant to a decision rendered on 18 November 2005 by the Trial Chamber.

All accused returned to the Detention Unit on 4 July 2006.

Following the joint request by the accused for temporary provisional release during the summer recess, the Trial Chamber granted it on 1 June 2006 and ordered that the accused be provisionally released from 15 July until 31 July 2006. All accused returned to the Detention Unit on 31 July 2006.

THE TRIAL

The Milutinovic et al. trial commenced on 10 July 2006.

Trial Chamber III
Iain Bonomy (presiding), Ali Nawaz Chowhan, Tsvetana Kamenova

Counsel for the Prosecution:
Thomas Hannis, Christina Moeller, Mathias Marcussen

Counsel for the Defence For Milan Milutinovic: Eugene O’ Sullivan and Slobodan Zecevic
For Nikola Sainovic: Toma Fila and Vladimir Petrovic
For Dragoljub Ojdanic: Tomislav Visnjic and Norman Sepenuk
For Nebojsa Pavkovic: John Ackerman and Aleksandar Aleksic
For Vladimir Lazarevic: Mihajlo Bakrac and Milan Petrovic
For Sreten Lukic: Branko Lukic and Dragan Ivetic

RELATED CASES
MILOSEVIC (IT-02-54) “KOSOVO, CROATIA AND BOSNIA”