Date: 02 October 2008
Time: 10:15
Organizer:
Venue:

The trial of former Chief of General Staff of the Yugoslav Army, Momčilo Perišić, will commence today at 10.15 in courtroom III at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Following a Pre-Trial Conference, the Prosecution will make an opening statement and then the Defence will have an opportunity to make a statement.

Watch the trial: live streaming

The date of 1 October had originally been set as the starting date of the trial of Momčilo Perišić, the former Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army (VJ). However, in a Status Conference on 24 September 2008, Judge Moloto of South Africa explained that the trial could not begin until the contracts of ad litum judges had been extended, as the Perišić case will not be completed by September 2009 - the previous date on which the judges’ terms were set to expire.

The United Nations Security Council extended the terms of office of a total of 41 judges at the ICTY on 29 September 2008.

In a decision of 27 June 2008, Trial Chamber I at the ICTY ordered that the trial of Perišić, which had initially been due to begin on 24 July, would be delayed for several procedural reasons.

According to the Indictment against him, Perišić was the most senior officer in the Yugoslav Army and he had de jure and de facto authority to implement decisions for the VJ General Staff and all subordinate units.

Momčilo Perišić is charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility for, inter alia, aiding and abetting the planning and execution of a military campaign of shelling and sniping of civilian areas of Sarajevo from August 1993 to November 1995.

Momčilo Perišić