Busy week ahead at Hague Tribunal

The prosecution and defense will make their closing statements at the trial of Ramush Haradinaj at the Hague this week. Meanwhile, the trials of Vojislav Seselj and six former Serbian and Yugoslav officials accused of crimes in Kosovo will also resume. Busy week ahead at Hague Tribunal In the case of Haradinaj, a former Kosovo Liberation Army leader, and his co-accused deputies, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, Prosecutor David Re will make his closing statement. Last week, Re submitted a written motion asking for the Court to sentence the accused to 25 years imprisonment. In his submission, he wrote that he felt that he had proven the defendants’ culpability for crimes committed against Serbs, Roma, and Albanians in the Decani region in November 1998. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Seselj’s trial will resume, where prosecution witness Goran Stoparic is currently giving evidence. Stoparic is testifying to links between the the defendant’s Serb Radical Party (SRS) and volunteers – members of the Leva Supoderica unit – who committed atrocities in Vukovar in autumn 1991 against Croatian prisoners. On Tuesday, Prosecutor Christina Dahl is due to finish questioning the witness, after which Seselj, who is accused of committing war crimes against Croats and Muslims in Croatia, Vojvodina and Bosnia-Hercegovina from 1991 to 1993, will begin his cross-examination. The trial of former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic will resume tomorrow with the questioning of one of co-accused Vladimir Lazarevic’s defense witnesses. Also standing trial for forced deportation, murder and persecution of Albanians from Kosovo alongside Milutinovic and Lazarevic are then Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic and Generals Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nebojsa Pavkovic and Sreten Lukic. Other trials currently under way at the Tribunal include those of Republic of Srpska Army officers accused of crimes against humanity in Srebrenica, and those of Bosnian Croat leaders who are accused of crimes against Muslims in western Hercegovina in central Bosnia in 1993-94.

Busy week ahead at Hague Tribunal

In the case of Haradinaj, a former Kosovo Liberation Army leader, and his co-accused deputies, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, Prosecutor David Re will make his closing statement.

Last week, Re submitted a written motion asking for the Court to sentence the accused to 25 years imprisonment. In his submission, he wrote that he felt that he had proven the defendants’ culpability for crimes committed against Serbs, Roma, and Albanians in the Dečani region in November 1998.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Šešelj’s trial will resume, where prosecution witness Goran Stoparić is currently giving evidence.

Stoparić is testifying to links between the the defendant’s Serb Radical Party (SRS) and volunteers – members of the Leva Supoderica unit – who committed atrocities in Vukovar in autumn 1991 against Croatian prisoners.

On Tuesday, Prosecutor Christina Dahl is due to finish questioning the witness, after which Šešelj, who is accused of committing war crimes against Croats and Muslims in Croatia, Vojvodina and Bosnia-Hercegovina from 1991 to 1993, will begin his cross-examination.

The trial of former Serbian President Milan Milutinović will resume tomorrow with the questioning of one of co-accused Vladimir Lazarević’s defense witnesses.

Also standing trial for forced deportation, murder and persecution of Albanians from Kosovo alongside Milutinović and Lazarević are then Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Šainović and Generals Dragoljub Ojdanić, Nebojša Pavković and Sreten Lukić.

Other trials currently under way at the Tribunal include those of Republic of Srpska Army officers accused of crimes against humanity in Srebrenica, and those of Bosnian Croat leaders who are accused of crimes against Muslims in western Hercegovina in central Bosnia in 1993-94.