Press Release . Communiqué de presse
(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document)

The Hague, 2 October 2001
F.H/P.I.S./624-E

DUBROVNIK INDICTMENT UNSEALED

On October 1, 2001, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Carla Del Ponte, requested the disclosure of the indictment for the alleged crimes committed during the siege of Dubrovnik confirmed on Tuesday 27 February 2001. The competent authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as well as those of the Republics of Serbia and of Montenegro, have had at least seven months to carry out the arrest and transfer of the four accused. In view of the Yugoslav authorities’ failure to comply with these obligations, there is no reason to keep this indictment under seal any longer.

The Prosecutor deplores the refusal of the Yugoslav Federal authorities to cooperate with the Tribunal, and recalls that a State may not invoke provisions of its domestic law as justification for its failure to perform binding obligations under international law, as the Security Council made it clear to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in its resolution 1207 of 17 November 1998.

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The full text of the indictment can be found on the Tribunal’s website.