Karadzic Lawyer May Face Contempt of Court
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Theodor Meron, president of the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, MICT, on the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, has launched an investigation into a member of the defence team of former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, for contempt of the court.
The prosecution said it suspects that the lawyer, whose name has not been given, revealed the contents of a confidential submission from April in which Karadzic sought brief release to attend a commemoration ceremony for his late brother, Ivan, in Serbia.
In the request sent to Judge Meron, prosecutors allege that “a member of Karadzic’s defence team submitted confidential information to the media, revealing that Karadzic requested a temporary release to attend a commemoration ceremony for his brother, and that the Government of Serbia gave the necessary guarantees.”
According to Meron, “this person may have committed the offence of contempt of court by publishing confidential information, including the fact that Karadzic requested a temporary release to attend a commemoration ceremony”.
Although the member of Karadzic’s defence team is not named in the submission, many believe the complaint relates to statements given by Goran Petronijevic, one of his lawyers, to the Belgrade newspaper Kurir.
Petronijevic told Kurir that Karadzic had requested “temporary residence” in Serbia to attend a commemoration ceremony in Obrenovac and said that the Belgrade authorities had given guarantees that he would return to The Hague.
Petronijevic also said the decision on the request would be made “next Tuesday”, that is, May 31, which duly happened. The Appeals Chamber that day rejected Karadzic’s request.
Petronijevic was the first to reveal the contents of the confidential request, submitted on 28 April.
Karadzic’s defence lawyer, Peter Robinson, has refused to comment on the allegations against the team.
“Considering that the investigation is ongoing, it would not be appropriate to publicly comment on the charges,” Robinson told BIRN. He also said: “Karadzic’s defence will cooperate fully with the investigation”.
Disclosure of confidential documents is punishable as “interfering knowingly and willfully with the enforcement of justice”.
Tribunal rules for contempt of court lay down fines of up to 100,000 euros, a prison sentence of up to seven years, or both.
Meron has entrusted the investigation to Judge Aydin Sefa Akay from Turkey. Akay can conduct the investigation by himself or appoint a prosecutor “friend of the court” outside the Hague Prosecution, which has been the practice so far.
The decision on whether the defence lawyer will be charged with contempt of court will be made after the investigation.
Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in prison in a first-instance ruling on March 24.
The Hague tribunal found him guilty of genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Muslims and Croats across Bosnia, terrorizing citizens in Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.
Karadzic also requested provisional release to the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska until the final judgment, but the judge refused that request, too.
