Interview
with Aleksandra Milenov with ICTY office in Belgrade
By Andrea
Saula
This international Court is again center of the
attention in Kosovo after Tuesday’s hearing, when the attorney of former Kosovo Prime minister Ramush
Haradinaj pleaded for the provisional release of his client. UNMIK’s deputy
head of mission Laurance Rossin was present and affirmed the ability and
willingness of the UN Administration in Kosovo to provide various guarantees.
He said he is sure Haradinaj will show in front of the Court when asked. Haradinaj,
charged with 17 counts of crimes against humanity and 20 counts of violations
of the laws or customs of war, surrendered voluntarily to the Tribunal this
March.
Aleksandra Milenov, information outreach officer with the
Tribunal’s office in Belgrade in a recent interview with UNMIK Radio and TV
explained that
for the accused to be granted provisional release, he has to satisfy the
Court of two things. Firstly that he will return when the trial chambers order
him to do so and secondly that he will not interfere with victims or witnesses
in his case.
Actuality: They will look at various factors
when they consider such an application, they will look at the accused personal
situation, if he or she has any health issues. They will also look at whether the
accused voluntarily surrendered and how much time passed (edit to) from the moment when the indictment was
issued until he voluntarily surrendered. They will also look at whether the
appropriate authorities issued any guarantees.
The Tribunal wants to exclude any possibility for
intimidation of witnesses. Recently, ICTY accused Kosovo Albanian Beqe Beqaj of
contempt for the Court as he had intimidated witnesses.
Actuality: Under Tribunal rules witness and
victims cannot be intimidated or threatened. It must be recalled that the
importance of the judicial system is to revive the true and it is important if
there some people who have some knowledge of the crime are able to come to the
Court and to explain what it is that happened. These are very courageous
individuals because at times they have to relive a horrible drama witnessing
for example the dead of the family member and they must not be interfered with.
The penalty for intimidating witnesses before the Tribunal is up to 7 years in
jail and I believe 120.000 euros 0’50”
Milenov explains that the ICTY has various methods of
witness protection. These methods depend on the circumstances of each
particular witness.
Actuality: There are, what we call procedural
methods in other words, the Trial Chamber can order that the witness’s face and
voice are disordered (distorted?) so they can’t be recognized on TV or radio.
Also they can order the witness to be given a pseudonym, so that the person is
not known by their name. In extreme measures they can also order that the
testimony be heard in a closed session so that it wouldn’t be publicly
available either in audio, video or in print form and in certain circumstances
the Tribunal will also relocate witnesses. This is very small percentage of
cases. We obviously hope that it doesn’t have to come to this for most of
people. 0’49”
The Tribunal has 3 current indictments related to crimes committed in Kosovo. The first one is versus Slobodan Milosevic, together with former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic, chief of staff of Yugoslav Army Dragoljub Ojdanic, deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic and Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs Vlajko Stoiljkovic. Additionally, four Serbian army and police generals have been accused and the third indictment is versus Fatmir Limaj, Haradinaj Balaj and Isak Musliju.
Actuality: Out of those accused there’s nine
in total who are charged with crimes committed against Kosovo Albanian
civilians. Seven have a period before the Tribunal to enter their pleas.
Slobodan Milosevic is currently on trial, Milan Milutinovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic,
Nikola Sainovic, Vladimir Lazarevic, Sreten Lukic and Nebojsa Pavkovic is in
the pre trial phase. Vlajko Stoiljkovic is deceased and Vlastimir Djordjevic is
still at large. These accused have been charged with forcibly transporting or
deporting some 800.000 Kosovo Albanian civilians. They re accused of
responsibility for the killing over 700 Kosovo Albanians whose names are listed
in the indictment, involving in torturing, beating, sexual assaulting many
others and of destroying and looting Kosovo Albanian property. 0’57”
That was a short brief on the current ICTY’s cases by
Aleksandra Milenov, information outreach officer with the Tribunal’s office in
Belgrade.
Tomorrow UNMIK on Air will present its week in review: stay
tuned.