The Hague Tribunal rejected the request of the defense of Ratko Mladic to suspend the case against him on suspicion of possible partiality.
Trial Chamber chaired by the Judge Alphons Orie rejected the allegations of Mladic’s lawyers to exclude lawyers who are working on the verdict of Radovan Karadzic because they “have already made certain conclusions about the evidence.”
“Chamber finds that although lawyers are assisting the judges in this case on the process of preparation of legal case, drafting and even communication with the parties, that help never affects the power of judges to make their decisions independently,” as stated in the decision.
Orie stated that there are no obstacles for the Tribunal’s judges to work on various cases concerning similar or identical offenses, as reported by BIRN.
On the 19th of May this year, Mladic’s defense asked for a guarantee that they will receive a fair trial or cancellation of the procedure in case of suspicion of possible partiality. Hague prosecutors demanded for the request of Mladic’s defense to be rejected as unfounded earlier this month.
Mladic is indicted for committing genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Muslims and Croats throughout the territory of BiH that had the scale of genocide in the six municipalities, as well as for terrorizing civilians in Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members as hostages.
Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska (RS), was sentenced in March to 40 years in prison for committing genocide in Srebrenica, persecution in several municipalities, terrorizing the citizens of Sarajevo and taking hostages. He was acquitted of charges of genocide in other municipalities in 1992, as reported by BIRN.
(Source: klix.ba)
