The prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts, Serge Brammertz, in yesterday's address to the United Nations Security Council, said that court proceedings were initiated only five months after the coronavirus pandemic forced the Mechanism to work remotely.

He reminded that the oral appeal hearing for Ratko Mladić ended in August.

The presentation of evidence in the Stanišić and Simatović case is now complete, and the Prosecution is preparing its closing brief and closing arguments. Brammertz informed the Security Council that verdicts in these two cases are expected by the end of May next year.

He briefed the Security Council on the Prosecution's efforts to assist national prosecutors' offices for international crimes committed in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, as well as the search for missing persons.

As for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, Brammertz reported that as a result of the Prosecution's efforts, a number of important complex cases were transferred to Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. He stressed that this represents an important opportunity for these states to clearly demonstrate their commitment to full responsibility, especially with regard to suspected upper and middle levels who have so far enjoyed safe haven and impunity.

The Hague tribunal's first-instance verdict in 2017 found Mladić guilty of genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats, terrorizing the citizens of Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members hostage, and sentenced him to life in prison.