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ICTY ex-spokesperson found guilty of contempt for revealing Milosevic secrets

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A specially appointed chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Monday found former spokesperson Florence Hartmann guilty of contempt for revealing confidential judicial decisions. She was also fined €7,000 to be paid in installments ending in November. Hartmann had been charged with two counts of contempt for allegedly disclosing protected information of appellate chamber decisions from the trial of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic in a book and an article she wrote in 2007 and 2008. The presiding judge said: This ... impacts upon the Tribunal's ability to exercise its jurisdiction to prosecute and punish serious violations of humanitarian law as prescribed by its mandate. Public confidence in the effectiveness of protective measures, orders and decisions is vital to the success of the work of the Tribunal.Hartmann's trial began in June. At an initial appearance, Hartmann did not enter a plea and a plea of not guilty was entered on her behalf in November. Hartmann formally served as the official spokesperson for chief ICTY prosecutor Carla del Ponte. Before being indicted, Hartmann drew media attention by repeating allegations that former US president Bill Clinton and former French president Jacques Chirac had planned a campaign to capture Radovan Karadzic, but later backed down following a change in policy. Hartmann has also said that Russia aided in moving Karadzic to safety in Belarus, and alleged that the West helped in order to hide information about the Srebrenica massacre.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on September 14, 2009 (boomark / email).