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The “Mladic tapes” were confiscated in Belgrade and their existence first revealed on August 4.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, has been searching for Mladic, former commander of the Main Headquarters of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, for more than 10 years.
Mladic’s meeting notes and 93 audio and 10 video tapes, two CDs and 8 DVDs were found during a search of his wife’s apartment in March.
Karadzic is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His trial began in October 2009. It is scheduled to continue on August 17 after a one-month summer break.
In his request for a postponement, Karadzic said he had spent the entire judicial recess reviewing “Mladic’s notebooks”.
“The notes reviewed so far indicate that many of them go in favour of Karadzic’s defence, confirming his statements and stands. He expects the review of tapes to yield significant acquitting evidence. However, it is not possible to do it while the trial is ongoing. (…) It will take about 113 hours to review the materials. Unless the trial is postponed, Karadzic will not have enough time to do it before the next summer break,” the indictee said in his motion.
Karadzic says that Mladic’s notes indicate that prosecution witnesses Herbert Okun, David Harland, Colm Doyle, John Wilson, KDZ185 and Hussein Ali Abdel-Razek attended meetings mentioned in the notes, which may result in the defence needing to recall them.
“Karadzic’s defence has been disturbed, because he cross-examined the witnesses prior to reviewing the materials relevant to their testimonies,” the indictee said in his motion, adding his trial began although he had not had sufficient time for preparations and continued at the pace “that does not allow him to adequately prepare for cross-examination”.
Prior to the beginning of the trial Karadzic filed several motions, asking for postponement in order for him to adequately prepare for his defence. The court rejected his requests.
“Although the prosecution is not to be blamed for disclosing Mladic’s materials in the middle of the trial, the fact that the chamber insists on proceeding with the trial at the same pace, without taking into consideration the unexpected events, deprives the indictee of the right to a fair trial,” reads the motion.
