Gotovina trial date uncertain

Tah Hague, July 10 (Source: B92) - It is uncertain whether the trial date in the Gotovina et al. case will be set before the defense counsels are ready to proceed. The trial of the three Croatian generals charged with the crimes committed in the course and after 1995 Operation Storm “will probably not begin in the next half-year, and should take about 18 months,” pre-trial judge Bakone Moloto concluded after he heard arguments from the defense and prosecution on issues related to the start and length of the trial.

Goran Mikuličić, defense counsel for General Mladen Markač, raised those issues at the status conference last week, noting he would not be able to hire his co-counsel unless he gets at least a rough estimate for the start and end of the trial. Markač’s lead counsel Miroslav Šeparović was removed from the case because of conflict of interest. The same thing happened to the accused Ivan Čermak, who lost both of his defense counsel—Čedo Prodanović and Jadranka Sloković. In a situation when two of the three accused do not have their defense teams, the question about the start and the length of the trial was compared by Judge Moloto to the proverbial chicken-and-egg question.

The judges believe that before setting the trial date, they need to determine whether all defense teams are ready to proceed to trial. “We cannot now set a date and then have a defense lawyer say they are not ready,” Judge Moloto said. Only Ante Gotovina was in the dock last week. Ivan Čermak and Mladen Markač took part via video link. In answer to the judge’s question about his health, Čermak said, “I don’t feel well.” “I actually feel very bad, because the court’s decision has left me without a team I’ve been working with for nine years,” he went on to say. Markač also had complaints about his health, although he said his medical team was working on “improving it.” Gotovina had nothing to say either about his health or the conditions in the UN Detention Unit.

As they talked to the press after the hearing, Gotovina’s defense counsel indicated that because of the uncertain trial date they would be filing “one of the most creative provisional release motions ever.” The parties also discussed the progress achieved in the effort to make a list of agreed facts, access to archives and expert reports.

<<<