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According to an announcement issued by the Hague tribunal, the Trial Chamber sitting in the case of Rasim Delic will hold a hearing in Sarajevo at the end of this week.
The witness to be examined is Ali Ahmed Ali Hamad (also known as Ubejda) who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence in Zenica.
BiH Army General Delic is charged on the basis of command responsibility with “murder, cruel treatment and rape of captured Croatian and Serbian soldiers and civilians” allegedly committed in the Central Bosnia area. The indictment against Delic was confirmed in 2005.
According to the announcement from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, the hearing to take place before the Court of BiH will last “for up to three days”, from
7-9 September.
The announcement also indicates that this will be “the first hearing conducted by a tribunal chamber away from its seat in The Hague at the request of the prosecution, with the defence’s consent, in accordance with the ICTY’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence “. The reason for the decision is “specific circumstances of the witness” i.e. the fact that Ali Hamad is currently serving his sentence.
Ali Hamad, a citizen of Bahrain, agreed in 2005 to testify against Rasim Delic and speak about the role of Mujaheeds, i.e. foreign soldiers who came to BiH mainly from the Arab countries during the war.
In 1998, he was convicted for his involvement in a car-bomb attack in Mostar.
The hearing will be conducted entirely under the authority of the ICTY and the hearing will be open to the public although “subject to the possibility of closed sessions”.
The Delic trial got underway in The Hague on 9 July 2007.
