Opposing the prosecution's motion for a joinder, which ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte submitted on May 30, Martic's attorney Predrag Milovancevic admitted that the indictments in all three cases contained very similar charges with regard to the so-called joint criminal enterprise, but he dismissed allegations that the crimes in question are part of a joint scheme, strategy or plan.
Citing about a dozen reasons against a joint trial, the attorney said that differences between the three cases were such that their joinder would be irrational, although probably admissible.
Martic's attorney said the first reason was "great differences in the factual basis of the accusations", adding that the prosecution itself admitted that the factual bases in the Martic and Seselj cases were different. As for the indictment against Stanisic and Simatovic, he said that the factual basis in their case partially overlapped with that in the Martic case with regard to crimes committed on the territory of the so-called Serb Autonomous Region (SAO) of Krajina, although Martic's indictment covered a wider range of crimes. With regard to other areas, there is no such overlapping, he said.
A joinder would cause an additional delay of Martic's trial considering the nature of the joinder procedure, the disclosure of evidence material, and Seselj's requests that all materials be printed in the Cyrillic script, the attorney said.
He also pointed to what Martic has been stating at each status conference, namely that his case has been categorised as less important in relation to the case of Stanisic and Simatovic, although he believes that it is much more complex.
Martic, a former police chief and at one time president of the Croatian Serb rebel state in Knin, has complained that the ICTY has been treating him "as a reserve policeman instead of as president".
A less important case means less funds awarded by the ICTY to the defence, and Martic's attorney concludes that less funds in case of a joinder means that the defence will be less prepared for the trial.
Martic, 60, is charged on personal and command responsibility with ten counts of crimes against humanity. He is accused of participating in the establishment, financing, supply, training and command of the police and Territorial Defence forces of the so-called Serb Autonomous Region of Krajina and later the Republic of Srpska Krajina, and of participating with them in military operations and crimes committed against Croat and other non-Serb civilians and in the capturing of territory in Croatia and parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He is indicted for participation in a joint criminal enterprise of the Serb leadership to create a single Serb state in occupied areas, and for planning and ordering the shelling of Zagreb on May 2 and 3, 1995.