Tribunal Chastises Serbia Over Enforcement of Release Conditions

The rebuke comes after three tribunal indictees – ex-Yugoslav deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic and two former chiefs of staff of the Yugoslav army, Dragoljub Ojdanic and Nebojsa Pavkovic – were spotted attending the funeral of Slobodan Milosevic in Pozarevac in March.



Having been granted provisional release while awaiting trial in The Hague, the three men were banned from leaving Belgrade municipality or contacting one another.



The Serbian authorities later reported that accused persons on provisional release were occasionally granted permission to travel away from their place of residence for short periods and under police escort. In this case, the three apparently obtained such permission.



In a written decision issued on May 12, Judge Patrick Robinson notes that even in an emergency, an accused on provisional release ought to make every effort to get permission from the tribunal to vary the conditions governing his or her freedom. Milosevic’s funeral, he says, was not an emergency.