The Registry explained that the Croatian government's report on Cermak's compliance with the provisional release rules had been faxed on the last day of the deadline, shortly before 17.00 hours on January 23, but was not forwarded to the Trial Chamber owing to "an administrative oversight" on the part of the Registry.
Last Friday the Trial Chamber suspended the decision granting provisional release to Generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac and ordered them to return to the UN detention unit in The Hague on February 8 so that they could attend a status conference the next day.
In its decision, the Trial Chamber said that Croatia had failed to provide by the set deadline of January 23 the requested additional information on Cermak's compliance with the provisional release rules and on measures taken by the government to ensure such compliance.
The Zagreb weekly Globus reported earlier in January that Cermak had violated the provisional release rules three times. At the end of December 2006 Cermak attended a birthday party and a New Year's Eve party in Zagreb, while in January 2007 he attended a skiing race on Mount Sljeme overlooking Zagreb, which Globus documented with photographs.