A trial chamber chaired by Judge Patrick Robinson decided Lazarevic will be released soon, while Milutinovic, Ojdanic and Sainovic will remain detained until the UN court decides about the prosecution's appeal for delaying the provisional release.
Lazarevic surrendered to the Hague tribunal on February 3 after more than 15 months on the run. Three weeks later he requested provisional release, which the Prosecutor's Office did not object to because he had given a five-day interview and provided new documents.
In deciding on the provisional release of Milutinovic, Sainovic and Ojdanic, the trial chamber took into account their surrender and the possibility of a delay in the trial so that, as moved by the Prosecutor's Office, it could be joined with the trial of generals Lazarevic, Sreten Lukic, Nebojsa Pavkovic and Vlastimir Djordjevic.
Ex-Serbian President Milutinovic was transferred to The Hague on 20 January 2003, three and a half years after he was indicted. Former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Sainovic was transferred in May 2002, and former Yugoslav Army chief of staff Ojdanic in April 2002. Both had been on the run for nearly three years.
All three requested provisional release on a number of occasions. The trial chamber approved it for Sainovic and Ojdanic in the summer of 2002, but the Prosecutor's Office halted it with an appeal.
A new circumstance which might result in the provisional release is the trial chamber's noting in its decision that Serbia and Montenegro has achieved considerable progress in cooperation with the Hague tribunal, as seen in the transfer of a dozen indictees since October 2004.
It was also said that the Serbia and Montenegro authorities had met all demands related to the provisional release of the accused.
Lazarevic, Milutinovic, Sainovic and Ojdanic are accused of crimes against humanity committed against Albanians in Kosovo in 1999.