It can't be said when the trial will start, but it most definitely won't start in the next six months, said Judge Justice Bakone Moloto.
The trial in the Gotovina-Markac-Cermak case was to have begun on May 7, but shortly before its start it was postponed indefinitely due to a number of unresolved questions, primarily because two of the three accused had remained without their entire defence team or a part of it.
The status conference started with the judge asking the accused how they were feeling, which is common procedure. General Gotovina, the only of the three indictees present in court, said he was feeling well and had no objections to prison conditions. Generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac were taking part in the status conference via a video link from the ICTY office in Zagreb. Cermak said that he did not feel well at all.
"I don't feel well at all because a decision of the Tribunal has left me without my attorneys with whom I cooperated for nine years," Cermak said, with Judge Bakone Moloto interrupting him to say that his question referred to Cermak's health condition. "I don't feel well emotionally," Cermak replied.
Markac said that his condition had deteriorated significantly and that his medical team was trying to keep it as it was now or improve it.
Most of the status conference was dedicated to the issue of appointment of new attorneys for Cermak and Markac and the date of the start of the trial and its duration.
Markac's attorney Goran Mikulicic said that the search for a second attorney to join him in the defence team was not proceeding fast. Mikulicic said he was negotiating with several attorneys and that it would be easy to find a replacement for Markac's former attorney Miroslav Separovic if he had information on when the trial would start and how long it would last.
Attorney Cedo Prodanovic too said that the search for new attorneys for General Cermak was not easy.
Judge Bakone Moloto said that the start of the trial depended on when defence teams for the accused would be complete, and that the current situation reminded him of the chicken and egg dilemma.
The start of the trial could also be affected by possible changes in proceedings against Bosnian Army general Rasim Delic.
Judge Bakone Moloto is presiding the trial chamber in charge of the Delic case, which was scheduled to begin on July 9. However, the prosecution on Thursday requested that the case be referred to the Bosnian judiciary. Representatives of the prosecution and the defence on Friday presented their arguments in a hearing about this case, but the tribunal has still not made a final decision.
If the case is referred to a Bosnian court or a decision is made to entrust the case to another trial chamber, this would open up the possibility for an earlier start of the trial in the Gotovina-Cermak- Markac case.
Considering the upcoming summer recess and the fact that acquainting new attorneys with the case would take around three months, the trial could start after the expiry of the six-month period at best.
As for the possible duration of the trial, defence teams and prosecutors believe that it could be completed in 12-14 months from the day it starts, on condition the two sides reach agreement on undisputed facts, thus reducing the scope of the case. Another four months are needed to pass and write a verdict, which makes 18 months in total, the judge explained.
As for the motion by Cermak's and Markac's attorneys that attorney Greg Kehoe be removed from Gotovina's defence team because he had previously worked as a prosecutor at the Hague tribunal, the judge said that the ICTY Registrar would on Monday submit to the trial chamber all documents on the basis of which the decision on the acceptance of Kehoe's accreditation as Gotovina's attorney was made and that a decision would be made soon after that.
Attorney Mikulicic asked if Gen. Markac would be able to testify in the trial of generals Mirko Norac and Rahim Ademi. Considering that his testimony should be public, Mikulicic said that this would pose a problem because Markac had been released pending trial and had to respect certain restrictions regarding public statements while awaiting trial.
Another unresolved issue concerns the use of Markac's testimony in the case in which he is indicted by the ICTY. These questions remained unanswered at today's status conference.
General Cermak's outgoing attorneys, Cedo Prodanovic and Jadranka Slokovic, were told by the judge that they would remain Cermak's attorneys with full powers until new attorneys were found, unlike Miroslav Separovic, who had to leave Markac's defence team immediately because attorney Mikulicic was able to stay on the team.