Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Justice Minister hands over guarantees for Simatovic and Stanisic

Belgrade, 10 May 2004

Serbian Minister of Justice Zoran Stojkovic handed over today the guarantees of the Serbian government and the Council of Ministers of Serbia- Montenegro to the Hague tribunal, for provisional pre-trial release of indictees Franko Simatovic and Jovica Stanisic. The tribunal's trial chamber is yet to examine the request.

Since the guarantees were handed over at a status conference, at which evidence of guilt is not presented, but only certain issues concerning the court proceedings are discussed, Minister Stojkovic could by no means have acted as a witness of the defence or the prosecution, as some media outlets claimed.

The only difference to previous handing over of guarantees for indictees is that this time, the Hague tribunal will use the possibility to request additional explanations concerning the guarantees. This possibility is provided for by Rule 65 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Tribunal.

Although an exception not in line with international law was made when the Serbian Minister of Justice was asked to take an oath before the Hague tribunal, the Minister met the requirement and thus showed that the Serbian government is willing to cooperate with the tribunal.

The refusal to take an oath would give grounds to ill-intentioned individuals to claim that the governments is not willing to cooperate. That was the only reason why the members of the Serbian government delegation in the Hague disregarded the obvious violation of the international law regulations.