The long-awaited trial of former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic will now begin on May 16 instead of May 14, judges ruled this week during a pre-trial conference.
While no reason for the change was stated explicitly, it may well be because another Hague detainee, the Croatian general Ante Gotovina, is to have his appeals hearing on May 14, and media coverage of both cases at the same time would create logistical problems for the tribunal.
The April 24 pre-trial conference was spent mostly discussing procedural issues, including the thousands of pages of disclosure that the prosecution needs to hand over to the Mladic defence team. Despite efforts to streamline and speed up these efforts, Mladic’s defence lawyer Branko Lukic said this week that the process was not complete and many hurdles remained.
“We understand the problems the prosecution has with the vast amount of documents, but have to take care of the interests of our client," Lukic told judges. "We cannot start the trial without having all necessary documents to be used in preparation of [our] defence.”
The defence has requested that the trial be postponed for 90 days, a matter on which the judges have yet to rule.
At the end of the hearing, Mladic was given a chance to speak, though presiding Judge Alphons Orie made it clear that this was not commonly done at pre-trial hearings.
Mladic was allowed four minutes, one minute less than he requested.
First, he expressed concern that he would not be able to “follow” the three 90-minute court sessions that could be held every weekday once the trial begins.
Then he moved on to a topic that he has previously discussed – the cameras situated around the courtroom.
“There are seven cameras here and some secret ones as well. I would like to ask that… during the trial, for as long as you allow me, I want to say certain things into the camera…." he said.
"Please don’t put any longer that picture from when I arrested in Belgrade when I was looking weak and infirm. I have recovered a bit and want to be seen standing up. I want my friends to see that I have livened up a bit and my health is getting better. I want my enemies to die of envy.”
Mladic was arrested in Serbia last May after 16 years as a fugitive. He was commander of the Bosnian Serb army from 1992 to 1996, and is alleged to have been responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the Bosnian war.
These include the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, which resulted in the murder of some 8,000 Bosniak men and boys, as well as the shelling and sniping campaign against Sarajevo, which killed about 12,000 civilians.
He is also charged with crimes of genocide, persecution, extermination, murder and forcible transfer. The indictment against him was reduced last December at the judges’ request, and it now deals with a total of 106 crimes instead of 196, and the number of Bosnian municipalities involved has been cut from 23 to 15.
The core elements of the case – the siege of Sarajevo, the massacre at Srebrenica, crimes committed in various municipalities, and the taking of United Nations hostages – remain the same, and the indictment still contains 11 counts.
The prosecution has stated that it intends to call a total of 410 witnesses, 158 of whom are expected to appear in court.
Rachel Irwin is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
