The trial of Ratko Mladic, the former commander of Bosnian Serb forces, is set to start on May 14, when opening statements will be presented.
The Chamber of the ICTY had announced last December that the trial might start at the end of March 2012, but this date was changed to “allow the parties time to complete any outstanding pre-trial preparations“.
“The additional time will provide the defence with extra preparation time for scheduled Prosecution witnesses and associated exhibits in the early stages of the trial”, the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY decided on Wednesday.
On February 10, Ratko Mladic’s defence team requested the beginning of the trial to be scheduled for October, but the Chamber of the ICTY decided the defence should be ready for trial well before that date.
The Office of the Prosecutor informed the Chamber that it would call 158 witnesses and present approximately 27,906 exhibits during the course of its case, and it plans to spend approximately 200 working hours on it.
Mladic, who was arrested in May last year after 16 years on the run, is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of laws and rules of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995.
The next status conference before the beginning of the trial is scheduled for March 29.
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Timeline of events in the case against 13 former Serb fighters charged with committing war crimes in the villages of Cuska, Zahac, Ljubenic and Pavlac in Kosovo in 1999.