(17 May 2012) A lawyer for relatives of the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre sought to play down the suspension of Ratko Mladic's genocide and war crimes trial on Thursday.
Presiding judge Alphons Orie suspended the case indefinitely earlier in the day after prosecutors failed to disclose thousands of documents to the former Bosnian Serb military chief's defence team - a ruling that could delay the trial for months.
Orie said he was delaying the case due to "significant disclosure errors" by prosecutors, who are obliged to share all evidence with Mladic's lawyers.
"What we saw and what the prosecutor said is that it's not about the genocide itself, because that is already fixed and that is sure that that happened. It was only about the intention of Ratko Mladic in this case and his responsibility and he tried to make clear that this is a case," said lawyer Axel Hagedorn, who's representing relatives of Srebrenica massacre victims.
The announcement is a significant setback for the court in one of its highest profile cases, its final trial to focus on atrocities committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, which left over 100-thousand dead.
Orie said judges will analyse the "scope and full impact" of the error and aim to establish a new starting date "as soon as possible."
"It is important insofar as the presiding judge decided this morning on the basis of what he heard from the prosecution yesterday that the presentation of evidence had to be delayed. We do not know yet for how long," said ICTY spokesperson, Nerma Jelacic.
The presentation of evidence was supposed to begin later this month.
Prosecutors had already acknowledged the errors and did not object to the delay.
Mladic's lawyer has asked for a six-month delay.
Mladic is accused of commanding Bosnian Serb troops who waged a campaign of murder and persecution to drive Muslims and Croats out of territory they considered part of Serbia.
His troops rained shells and snipers' bullets down on civilians in the 44-month siege of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo.
He has refused to enter pleas, but denies wrongdoing.
Earlier on Thursday, prosecutors wrapped up their opening statement by recounting in painstaking and chilling detail the systematic murder by Bosnian Serb forces commanded by Mladic of thousands of Muslim men and boys in Bosnia's Srebrenica enclave in July 1995.
Prosecutor Peter McCloskey told the court that "from July 12-16, 1995, the armed forces of (Bosnian Serb leader) Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic expelled the civilian population of Srebrenica and murdered over 7,000 Srebrenica men and boys."
Other estimates range up to 8,000 dead.
Following the trial's suspension, one of Mladic's lawyers, Miodrag Stojanovic, said the "pillars of the indictment are unfounded".
"Firstly the attack on the enclave was a legitimate target, secondly between the 14th and the 16th (of July) General Mladic was not on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally the number of victims."
On Wednesday, the court's public gallery was crowded with victims' relatives who had angrily exchanged hand gestures with Mladic through the bulletproof glass separating them.
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