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| |  | | Milan Lukic | | | context : | Former Yugoslavia  | | judgement place : | ICTY (Yugoslavia) | | status : | On trial | | particulars : | Case referral to Bosnia and Herzegovina denied by the ICTY-Appeals Chamber on 12 July 2007; trial began on 9 July 2008 | | position : | Leader of the Bosnian Serb paramilitary group |
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| | | | Lukic was arrested 5 August 2005 in Argentina, and transferred to the ICTY on 21 February 2006.
Milan Lukic had been jointly indicted with Sredoje Lukic and Mitar Vasiljevic (see “related cases”) for Crimes Against Humanity and Violations of Laws or Customs of War.
The initial indictment against Milan Lukic, Sredoje Lukic and Mitar Vasiljevic was confirmed by the ICTY on 26 October 1998. The indictment was kept confidential until 25 January 2000, when the indictment against Mitar Vasiljevic was unsealed. The indictment against Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic was unsealed on 30 October 2000. The prosecution filed an amended indictment against Mitar Vasiljevic, Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic which was orally granted on 20 July 2001.The indictment against Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic was amended on 1 February 2006.
At his initial appearance of 24 February 2006 Milan Lukic pleaded not guilty to all charges. In the 31 March further initial appearance he pleaded not guilty to all charges in the second amended indictment. He is indicted on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility for extermination, persecution on political racial and religious grounds, murder and inhuman acts.
Pursuant to Rule 11bis of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence (RoPE) of the Tribunal, the Prosecution filed a motion for referral of the case against Milan Lukiæ and Sredoje Lukic to the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 1 February 2005.
According to Rule 11bis RoPE, the Referral Bench, comprised of three judges, has to order a referral of its own accord or following a request from the Prosecutor. A decision to refer a case is rendered only if the Bench is fully satisfied that the accused would be tried in accordance with international standards and that neither the level of responsibility of the accused nor the gravity of the crimes alleged in the indictment were factors that would make a referral to the national authorities inappropriate.
On 15 September 2006, the parties met for a hearing before the Tribunal's- Referral Bench. Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Argentina were present.
On 6 April 2007, the Referral Bench rendered a decision determining that Milan and Sredoje Lukic could not be considered as "the most senior leaders" and therefore suggested their transfer to Sarajevo.
Sredoje Lukic did not file an appeal against the decision, but Milan Lukic did.
On 12 July 2007, the Tribunal's Appeals Chamber admitted the appeal saying that the Referral Bench had erred when determining that indictee Lukic had not been one of "the most senior leaders". The Chamber also classified the crimes charged upon Lukic as being among the most grave to be entered before the Tribunal.
The decision indicates that the Tribunal feels that the Milan Lukic case is of great importance for the course of international justice, as no other case against an alleged paramilitary leader is of as great importance.
The ICTY referral bench decided on 20 July 2007 that it will conduct a joint trial of Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic, thereby revoking the planned referral of Sredoje's case to the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The court justified the decision on the grounds that the two cases are factually related and that a joint trial would reduce the possible trauma to witnesses, who will now testify only once.
On 12 June 2008, the Prosecution filed a motion for a new indictment. The Prosecution asked the Tribunal to consider the proposal to charge the two cousins with the rape and sexual abuse of women, in addition to other charges.
According to the proposed indictment, Milan and Sredoje Lukic were involved, individually or together with other participants, in planning and/or the abetting of rape, keeping in slavery and torture of persons in detention centres and other locations in Visegrad town and its vicinity.
The trial began on 9 July 2008.
One day before the start of the trial, the Trial Chamber rejected a prosecution submission seeking to add rape and sexual slavery to the charge sheets of cousins Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic. Judges ruled that such an amendment to the indictment would prejudice the right of both the accused to have enough time to mount a defence.
The Prosecution only sought to add charges of rape, enslavement and torture that were allegedly carried out in Visegrad by both cousins, on 12 June 2008, less than a month before the trial started. | |    | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Bosnia and herzegovina | | | date of birth : | | | 06.09.1967 | | | last time seen : | | | The Hague, Netherlands | | | judgement period : | | | 09.07.2008 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 09.08.2008 |
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