Thursday, 3 June 2010 - OTP Investigator will testify on 14 June

At 9.30 am, the Prosecution complies with the Chamber´s demands and provides the schedule of the investigators who will testify regarding the intermediaries. The Prosecution identified three individuals as the most appropriate persons - the former investigation team leader and the two investigators who dealt regularly with intermediaries 316 and 321 - but none are currently in Europe.

Prosecution Lawyer Ms. Nicole Samson explains that the first person available is the investigator who dealt with intermediary 316, who is now in the DRC. "He will be ready on the 14^th of June," says Ms. Samson. As regards the former team leader and the investigator who dealt with intermediary 321, they will be available at the end of June or at the beginning of July. As both left the Court in 2007, they requested some time to review documents and refresh their memories.

Presiding Judge Fulford observes that this delay is a direct consequence of having contacted these individuals only after the Chamber sent an email to the Prosecution on the 26^th of May, asking about the potential witnesses the team intended to call to counter the Defence's abuse application. On 19 March, the Prosecution suggested that an individual would provide detailed information about the intermediaries, so in the Chamber´s view, the Prosecution already "had a person in mind." Presiding Judge Fulford wondered aloud in yesterday´s hearing how much time the Prosecution needed to discuss this matter internally. The lack of activity in this respect "extremely displeased" the judges.

"We are going to lose next week, the week of the 21^st of June and the week of the 28^th of June, unless we have other evidence to fill that gap," says Judge Fulford. The Prosecution informs the Chamber that intermediary 321 will arrive in The Hague on the 20^th of June and will be available to testify in the week of the 21^st of June. Intermediary 316 will testify soon after. The arrival of the intermediaries at the Court has been also delayed due to problems with their passports.

During today´s hearing, the Prosecution has also provided a list of four witnesses who will be called in response to the Defence's application of abuse of process:

The Prosecution intends to call former Witness 38, a  member of the UPC. He is relevant to the allegations against intermediary 316, which were made by Defence Witness 16 and OTP Witness 15. Prosecution Lawyer Mr. Sachdeva confirms that the witness has his travel documents and could be brought to the Court quickly.

Witness 551 is also on the list. He was interviewed in May 2010 to prepare the cross-examination of Defence Witness 29. According to Mr. Sachdeva, the Prosecution is assessing the need to call him to challenge the testimony of Witness 29. He would testify about specific documents produced by the Defence witness and the general reliability of the school reports during the conflict in Ituri. Witness 551 does not have travel documents so it will be at least three weeks to make all the necessary arrangement, although, as the lawyer explains, a video link could be used instead.

Witness 496 is another potential candidate. He was interviewed by the Office of the Prosecutor on two occasions, in November 2009 and in early 2010. According to Mr. Sachdeva, he is relevant to the allegations made by Defence Witness 12 against Prosecution Witnesses 7 and 8, two former child soldiers. He will give evidence on the age of his two sons, the threats they were subjected to by the Hema [ethnic group] supporters and the participation of children in the UPC. Witness 496 has no travel documents either.

The last individual on the list is Witness 555. He was interviewed in April 2010 and will give evidence that the Hema and the UPC supporters in Bunia intimidated those people who collaborated with the Court. It seems that the witness himself, a former child soldier in the UPC, was pressured to discourage him from cooperating with this tribunal. "He is the most problematic," says Mr. Sachdeva. He has no travel documents and his willingness to testify is still in doubt, as the witness argues that there are security concerns.

This is the agenda set out so far, although the dates of the arrivals of the four potential witnesses still need to be confirmed by the Prosecution. What seems to be clear is that the judges will hear the next testimony on the 14^th of June, when the OTP investigator takes the witness stand to give evidence regarding the intermediaries.