The authorities in Sarajevo and Zagreb have been invited to state in writing by 5 April what they would be in a position to do to assist the Tribunal in its bid to recover more than 208 million euros owed to it by the accused Slobodan Praljak


Amid the appellate hearing in the case against the former Herceg Bosna leaders, the Appeals Chamber today called upon the authorities in Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia to state in writing by 5 April what they would be able to do to assist the Tribunal in its effort to collect a debt of 2,807,610.10 euros from the accused Slobodan Praljak. The governments in Sarajevo and Zagreb were reminded that they are obliged to cooperate with the Tribunal and execute its orders; they were instructed in particular to consider the possibility of confiscating Praljak’s property in BH and Croatia.

The sum of 2.8 million euros was paid to Praljak’s defense teams, as the accused stated upon his arrival in The Hague that he was indigent. The Tribunal’s Registry carried out a comprehensive investigation and determined he was in fact quite well-off and more than able to pay for his own defense. The Registry estimated that Praljak had at least 6,456,000 euros to finance his defense. The figure was calculated by subtracting the estimated living costs for Praljak, his wife, family members and other members of his household from his total worth.

Praljak has been ignoring the demands of the ICTY Registry and the orders of the Appeals Chamber to repay his debt to the Tribunal, either the whole amount or in installments. It remains to be seen if the authorities in Sarajevo and Zagreb would agree to act as ‘bailiffs’ at the behest of the Appeals Chamber

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