Mladic: “Limited” Delay Sufficient

In their motion, the prosecutors emphasised that they had disclosed 19 ‘packages’ of evidence to the defence since the trial began, and that problems had emerged in “only two packages”.

The prosecutors pointed out that these ‘technical errors’, which prevented the defence from receiving all the declared evidence, affected “only a little over three per cent of all the disclosed evidence.”

“The prosecution does not oppose the defence being afforded a reasonable adjournment to ensure the fairness of the proceedings, but submits that a careful examination of the errors and the problems resulting from them reveals that such an adjournment should be of a limited duration,” states the motion.

The defence complained on May 14, two days before the start of the trial, that they had not had seen all the evidence, due to an error by the Hague prosecution. Branko Lukic, Mladic’s lawyer, then asked for a six month delay before the start of the evidence hearing.

On the second day of the trial, May 17, following the completion of the Hague prosecution’s opening statements, the presiding judge, Alphons Orie, announced that the start of the presentation of evidence, originally scheduled for May 29, would be suspended until further notice.

Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violating the laws and customs of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995.

The indictment charges Mladic with genocide in Srebrenica in 1995 and several other Bosnian municipalities in 1992. He is also charged with expelling Bosniaks and Croats from the Serb controlled territories, terrorizing Sarajevo citizens through a campaign of shelling and sniping and taking international soldiers as hostages in 1995.
D.Dz.