MLADIC’S TRIAL TO RESUME ON JUNE 25

The presiding judge, Alphons Orie, accepted the request by Mladic’s defence to postpone the start of the evidentiary hearing – which was originally scheduled for May 29 - because of the prosecution’s disclosure failures.

However the Trial Chamber rejected a motion which asked for a six month postponement.

“The defence preparations to date have not been in vain but may need to be supplemented by additional searches and further reviews. All of this requires additional time. On the other hand, the effect of the disclosure failures is very small or even non-existent,” reads the decision by the Trial Chamber.

The Trial Chamber also instructed the prosecution to file a new witness order list by May 30 of this year.

Mladic’s defence complained on May 14, two days before the start of the trial, that they had not seen all the evidence, due to an error by the Hague prosecution.

Branko Lukic, Mladic's lawyer, then asked for a six month delay before the start of the evidence hearing, but the prosecution claimed that a “limited delay was sufficient”.

Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violating the laws and customs of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995.

The indictment charges Mladic with genocide in Srebrenica in 1995 and several other Bosnian municipalities in 1992. He is also charged with expelling Bosniaks and Croats from the Serb controlled territories, terrorizing Sarajevo citizens through a campaign of shelling and sniping and taking international soldiers as hostages in 1995.

He was arrested in May last year and his trial started with opening statement by the prosecution on May 16 and 17 this year.