International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia - Indictees

Indictees

Since the very first hearing (referral request in the Tadić case) on 8 November 1994, the Tribunal has indicted 161 individuals, and has already completed proceedings with regard to 126 of them: 13 have been acquitted, 64 sentenced (1 is awaiting transfer, 26 have been transferred, 34 have served their term, and 3 died while serving their sentences), 13 have had their cases transferred to local courts. Another 36 cases have been terminated (either because indictments were withdrawn or because the accused died, before or after transfer to the Tribunal).

The indictees ranged from common soldiers to generals and police commanders all the way to Prime Ministers. Slobodan Milošević was the first sitting head of state indicted for war crimes. Other "high level" indictees included Milan Babić, former President of the Republika Srpska Krajina; Ramush Haradinaj, former Prime Minister of Kosovo; Radovan Karadžić, former President of the Republika Srpska; Ratko Mladić, former Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army and Ante Gotovina, former General of the Croatian Army.

Haradinaj's trial began at The Hague on 5 March 2007 and the closing brief was given on 23 January 2008. The final decision of the ICTY was expected in March 2008. On 3 April 2008, ICTY issued a public notice of the Haradinaj verdict, in which he was acquitted of all charges. The judge said much of the evidence had been non-existent against Haradinaj or at best inconclusive. But he also complained of witness intimidation, saying some witnesses had not testified because they had been afraid. On 21 July 2010, the cases of UÇK (Kosovo Liberation Army) commanders Ramush Haradinaj, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj were re-opened for trial.

As of December 2011, there were seven ongoing trials and a further two cases in the pre-trial stage. Six further cases are at the appeals stage. The accused currently at the appeals stage include Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač, Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić and Vujadin Popović. A further 23 individuals have also been the subject of contempt proceedings. Croat Serb General and former President of the Republic of Serbian Krajina Goran Hadžić became the last fugitive wanted by the Tribunal to be arrested on 20 July 2011.