20. 06. 2002

Hague Demands Inquiry Into Naming of Protected Witness

THE HAGUE, June 20, 2002 - The Hague Tribunal is to ask the Yugoslav authorities to submit a report within thirty days on naming of a protected prosecution witness by a Belgrade newspaper, spokesman Christian Chartier told B92 today. The witness, referred to in court only as K5, was introduced in the courtroom as a Kosovo Albanian go-between with the Serbian police. "We know that the name leaded, that it was published in the press and we know that the journalists knew that they were revealing a protected name," said Chartier. He added that the Tribunal now sought the assistance of the authorities in discovering how it happened and who was responsible. Chartier added that the revelation by Belgrade tabloid Nacional was the most severe violation of the Tribunal's regulations to date. The maximum sentence for such a violation is seven years and 100,000 Euros. The deputy editor of Nacional, Dragan J. Vucicevic said today that police had already contacted the paper over revealing the identity of the witness. The paper will not reveal its source for the information, Said Vucicevic, despite being told by police that they would interrogate those responsible for revealing the name. He added that the paper had revealed the identity of K5 because its editors were not aware that it was "such a crime".