Prosecution opposes Mladić's requests

Hague prosecutors have asked judges to reject the request of Ratko Mladić's Defense to halt proceedings before the Hague Tribunal due to the alleged systemic bias of this court.

In response to the request of Mladić's lawyers, the Prosecution stated that there are no grounds for halting the proceedings, and that the appeal is "unfounded and unnecessarily wastes the judges' time and resources."

- The appeal regarding bias and the request for the recusal of judges should be rejected. The Defense is merely repeating allegations regarding the bias of judges Alphonse Orie and Christophe Fluegge, which have been rejected multiple times, and is extending them to some of the judges of the Appeals Chamber and the President of the Hague Tribunal and the Mechanism for International Tribunals without basis - the response reads.
Mid-last month, Mladić's lawyers requested a halt to proceedings before the Hague Tribunal due to alleged systemic bias, or the recusal of judges Orie and Fluegge, and the appointment of new, "impartial" judges in their place.

Mladić's Defense requested that a special United Nations (UN) working group be formed to prepare a report within three months on whether Mladić's rights to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence have been violated, writes BIRN, reports Patria. The submission also states that three judges of the Appeals Chamber, as well as the President of the Hague Tribunal Carmel Agius himself, had previously made conclusions about Mladić's guilt, which prevents a fair trial.

Ultimately, the Defense complained that the President of the Mechanism for International Tribunals Theodor Meron – who will conduct the appeal proceedings – stated that Mladić was guilty, and high-ranking UN officials repeated the same.

Regarding the request of Mladić's lawyers for the recusal of the judges of the Appeals Chamber, who upheld the convictions of Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) officers Zdravko Tolimir, Vujadin Popović, and Ljubiša Beara, the prosecutors point out that the Appeals Chamber was not involved in Mladić's case in any way.

The Tribunal had definitively sentenced Tolimir, Popović, and Beara to life imprisonment for genocide in Srebrenica, for which Mladić is also accused.

The prosecutors also referred to the Tribunal's practice, which, as they state, is well-known to the Defense, according to which judges who have previously worked on similar cases cannot be presumed to be automatically biased against Mladić.
The Prosecution also dismisses the claims of Mladić's lawyers that the presidents of the Tribunal and the Mechanism, its legal successor, judges Carmel Agius and Theodor Meron, are biased, considering them unfounded and superfluous. Similarly, the prosecutors requested that the claims of Mladić's Defense that current and former UN officials, the court secretariat, and judicial assistants involved in the proceedings and drafting of Radovan Karadžić's verdict are biased be rejected as unsubstantiated and frivolous.

Karadžić was provisionally sentenced to 40 years in prison by the Hague Tribunal at the end of March, having been found guilty of the same crimes for which Mladić is accused – genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout BiH, terrorizing the population of Sarajevo through prolonged shelling and sniping, and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.
The Trial Chamber will make a decision on the Mladić Defense's request for the recusal of judges and the halting of proceedings in due course.

Until the end of the trial, Mladić's lawyers have until August 16 to complete the cross-examination of Defense witness Andrej Demurenko, and the possibility of testimony from a few more witnesses remains open, should the defense lawyers succeed in bringing them.

After that, only the Defense and the Prosecution will need to submit their closing statements and deliver their closing arguments before the judges, reports Patria.