"I did not go today because of my wife's deteriorated condition," Jovic said adding that his legal representative would try to explain the situation to the judges.
"I don' know how will the tribunal react, it is to early to say anything, but I simply could not leave my wife in this situation," the journalist from Split said.
The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague reported on Friday that the trial of Josip Jovic for contempt of court will begin on 3 July 2006 at 8:30 .
Jovic, a former editor of the Croatian daily newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija, is accused of violating a court order for the identity of a witness appearing in a trial at the Tribunal not be released to the public. Specifically, the prosecution allege that between 27 November and 29 December 2000 he published the identity of the witness, as well as extracts of the testimony of the witness even after the court ordered him on 1 December 2000 from doing so.
In October 2005, Jovic was arrested by Croatian authorities and transferred to the Tribunal after he failed to respond to a court order requiring him to travel to The Hague to enter a plea to the charge against him. He entered a "not guilty" plea on 14 October 2005.
The also tribunal indicted another three Croatian journalists for contempt of court, but the ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte withdrew the indictments in mid June.
The Independent Trade Union of Slobodna Dalmacija issued a statement earlier today, expressing support to and solidarity with Jovic.
"We hope that the Hague tribunal will see the absurdity of the case "Prosecutor vs. Jovic" and acquit Jovic," the union said in the statement.