The Hague Tribunal, ICTY, announced that the first prosecution witness will testify on July 9 in the genocide trial of former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic.
Even though the defence asked for a six month break in order to prepare for the first witnesses, the Hague Tribunal, ICTY, has decided that the trial will resume in July.
“The written reasons for the Chamber’s decision will be filed in due course. The hearings will take place from 9 July until 20 July, at which time the Tribunal will observe a three week summer recess. The Chamber has asked the Prosecution to file a new witness list by 26 June for 9 July until 20 July time period and to only include witnesses least impacted by any disclosure failures,” the ICTY stated.
Mladic's trial was due to resume on 25 June after it was halted in May. Witness testimony has twice been delayed in the long-awaited trial due to problems with disclosure of evidence to the defence.
Mladic, who was arrested in May last year, pleaded not guilty to charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war during the Bosnian conflict between 1992 and 1995.
He is charged with genocide in Srebrenica in 1995 and several other Bosnian municiaplities in 1992. He is also charged with expulsion of Bosniaks and Croats from municipalities under the control of Bosnian Serbs, terrorizing Sarajevo citizens with a campaign of shelling and sniping and taking international soldiers as hostages in 1995.
In July 1995 Srebrenica was shelled and occupied by the Army of Republic of Srpska,VRS, despite being declared a protected area by the United Nations. More than 7,000 people were killed, the victims of genocide.
Key dates and events in the Bosnia war.
The Bosnian Serb commander’s role in the genocide committed in Srebrenica is described in detail in many indictments and verdicts pronounced before local and international judicial institutions.