Mladic: Burden on the Defence is not Reduced

Branko Lukic, a chief lawyer of the former Chief of Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), stated in the motion that he does not oppose the request of the Prosecutor’s Office of The Hague Tribunal to expel 90 incidents from the indictment against Mladic.
 
However, as it is stated in the motion, the Defense is against the opinion of the Prosecutor’s Office of The Hague Tribunal which intends to present evidence in relation to expelled incidents from the indictment during the trial, if that would prove “the element of the offence for which the indictee is charged”.
 
“If the Prosecutor’s Office can decrease the parts of the indictment, but still present the evidence in relation to these incidents, the burden on the Defence is not reduced nor simplified. (…) Such a reduction would not reduce the scope of work of the Defence and therefore the time that will be allowed to the Defence for cross-examining or for presenting its evidence will not be reduced”, it is stated in the motion.
 
On November 18, 2011, the Prosecutor’s Office of The Hague Tribunal reduced the number of incidents in relation to which it will present evidence during the trial of Ratko Mladic.

The Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia pointed that it will present the evidence in relation to the 106 incidents – instead of the original 196 incidents – which would reduce the time required for the presentation of evidence.
 
Mladic, who was arrested in May this year after years of flight, is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the law and customs of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995.

D.Dz.