On Friday, 9 September 2005, Judge Orie issued decisions confirming and unsealing indictments against Josip Jovic and Marijan Krizic, pursuant to Rule 77 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence. Josip Jovic and Marijan Krizic are both charged with one count of contempt of the Tribunal in the case The Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaskic.

According to the indictment, Josip Jovic was the editor-in-chief of the Croatian daily newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija between the dates of 27 November 2000 to 29 December 2000 relevant to the charge when he "knowingly and willfully interfered with the administration of justice by publishing the identity of a protected ICTY witness, by publishing the fact that the witness testified in closed session of the Tribunal, and by publishing excerpts of that testimony, in whole or in part, and by directly violating the 1 December 2000 court order."

At times relevant to the indictment, Marijan Krizic was the editor-in-chief of the Croatian weekly newspaper Hrvatsko Slovo. The indictment alleges that between November 2004 to December 2004 Marijan Krizic disclosed "the identity of a protected witness, the extracts of closed-session testimony, and the fact that the protected witness had testified in non-public proceedings before the Tribunal".

The initial appearance for both Josip Jovic and Marijan Krizic has been scheduled to take place at the Tribunal 26 September 2005, at which time the accused will be asked to enter a plea to their contempt charge.

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Hard copies of the indictments can be obtained from the Media Office. Proceedings can be followed on the Tribunal’s

website at www.un.org/icty.