The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Serge Brammertz, held separate talks in Belgrade on Tuesday with the chairman of Serbia's National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY, Rasim Ljajic, and War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic, focusing on details of cooperation between the Serbian authorities and the ICTY.
Brammertz and Ljajic concluded that an investigation into a network of helpers of former fugitives from the ICTY was a technical aspect of Serbia's cooperation with the ICTY and that it was not a new condition, as well as that Serbian authorities were expected to deal with it, the National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY said in a statement.
Brammertz and Ljajic agreed that there are no outstanding issues in the cooperation between Serbia and the ICTY.
Before meeting with Ljajic, the ICTY chief prosecutor met immediately upon his arrival in Belgrade with War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic.
In a brief statement carried by the Belgrade media, Vukcevic's deputy and spokesman Bruno Vekaric said that the talks focused on operational matters and people who helped the former fugitives from the Hague tribunal hide.
Vekaric said that they also discussed problems that cropped up in the meantime in the prosecution of some other cases regarding witness protection, and that Brammertz was interested in some specific cases, adding that he could not say more than that, but that there was a joint plan of action.
On Wednesday, Brammertz is expected to meet President Boris Tadic. It is still not known when exactly they will meet or whether they will address reporters after the talks, unlike during Brammertz's previous visits to Belgrade.
Brammertz is on a two-day visit to the Serbian capital before submitting his regular, six-month report to the UN Security Council on Serbia's cooperation with the ICTY. The report is expected to be submitted in mid-November.
