The re-start of the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, former chiefs of the Serbian State Security Service, indicted for crimes of the police and paramilitary troops in Croatia and BH, proceeded almost exactly like the first attempt to start the trial in April 2008


The first-accused Jovica Stanisic yet again didn’t appear today in either the courtroom or the detention unit where a video link was set up with the Tribunal. Stanisic also refused to sign a waiver of his right to attend the trial. Claiming that Stanisic was not ‘mentally able to stand trial’ Stanisic’s defense counsel requested that the trial be suspended until Dutch psychiatrist De Man, familiar with Stanisic’s medical history, had an opportunity to examine the accused.

The parties and the judges then had a number of questions for Dr. Eekhof, a doctor in the UN Detention Unit. Dr. Eekhof determined this morning that the accused could not be transferred to the Tribunal and that he couldn’t sit longer than 10 minutes. However, Dr. Eekhof found that there were no evident psychiatric reasons preventing
Stanisic from following the proceedings from a bed in a room fitted with a video link.

Concluding that ‘it has not been established that there are objective health issues which would preclude the accused from following the trial either in the courtroom or via video conference link’, the Trial Chamber rejected the defense motion and ordered the ICTY Registry to inform Stanisic that the hearing would proceed and to give him one more chance to decide whether he wanted to follow it via video conference link. Fifteen minutes later, the Detention Unit deputy manager informed the Trial Chamber that the message was delivered to Stanisic, who refused to follow the trial via video link.

The Trial Chamber then proceeded with its work according to the ‘modalities’ adopted for this trial on 29 May 2009: if Stanisic is ‘well enough’ to attend the trial either in the courtroom or via video conference link, his refusal to do so would be considered as his waiver of his right to attend the trial which would then proceed in his absence.

Prosecutor Dermot Groome then started with his opening statement; it was almost identical to that delivered at the first start of the trial on 28 and 29 April 2008.

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