The Hague: A judge yesterday suspended Ratko Mladic's genocide and war crimes trial indefinitely 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.
Presiding judge Alphons Orie said he was delaying the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal case due to "significant disclosure errors" by prosecutors, who are obliged to share all evidence with Mladic's lawyers.
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 100,000 dead.
New starting date
Orie said judges will analyze the "scope and full impact" of the error and aim to establish a new starting date "as soon as possible." 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 attorney 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. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Court spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic told The Associated Press that much of the material that the defence did not get focused on witnesses who prosecutors had intended to call to testify before the court takes a three-week summer break beginning in July.
Prosecutors acknowledged that the error "could impact on the fairness of the trial to the accused," Jelacic said. The tribunal published a letter yesterday from prosecutors to Mladic's lawyer that explained the missing documents were not uploaded onto an electronic database accessible to defence lawyers. "We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience that these missing materials ... may have caused to you," the May 11 letter says.
