Major questions about the future trial of the former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic remained unanswered in the latest hearing at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

By Radosa Milutinovic in The Hague

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The prosecution's controversial request to split the indictment and put Mladic on trial for the Srebrenica massacre first, then for Sarajevo, wasn't even mentioned in court.
Mladic was indicted for crimes against non-Serbs during the Bosnian war in the early 1990's, including genocide in Srebrenica and crimes committed during the Siege of Sarajevo.

Nov 15 deadline
Judge Alphons Orie limited his agenda to pre-trial issues: the prosecution asked for a November 15 deadline to disclose evidence.

Slim-down
The trial chamber again said it wants to reduce the scope of the case, inviting the prosecution to slim-down the indictment, as it did in the case of Radovan Karadzic.
The judge told prosecutors to inform the court by December “which (Bosnian) municipalities could be taken out of the indictment”.

Interruptions
The routine flow of the hearing was, however, interrupted when defence counsel Branko Lukic tried to answer one of the judge's few questions.
“Branko, consult me before you talk!”, Mladic ordered loudly over a disconnected microphone, displaying a clear intent to closely control his attorney.

Wearing a grey suit and light-blue shirt with checked grey-and- white tie, the 69-year old Mladic calmly and attentively followed the hearing, at moments nodding in approval at Judge Orie's words.
In contrast to his open defiance at his initial appearances this summer, Mladic addressed the court respectfully.

Charming but angry
When he was given the opportunity to speak about his health, Mladic was awkward, and occasionally charming, “You look nice, Mr Orie”, he said at one point. Later though he barely concealed the threat that “If you put any pressure on me, it would not end well”,

He surprised some with apparent recognition and acceptance of the court - “I don't want to interrupt or slow down these proceedings. I want to see truth established, because that is the best help I can give myself and my friends. I am not seeing you as my enemies, neither you (Judge Orie), nor the Tribunal”.

Split indictment
Referring to the prosecution's intention to split the indictment and put him on trial for Srebrenica massacre first, Mladic said it made him “angry that you mention Srebrenica” first. “Take it in a proper order since I came to Knin (the town in Croatia where he entered the war as a Yugoslav Army officer in 1991), take it village by village, town by town, municipality by municipality...Everything that is true, that I know of, I will tell you.”

Represent yourself only
In a trembling and tearful voice, Mladic again claimed to not be defending only himself but also “Republic Srpska (the Serb entity of Bosnia-Herzegovina), Serbia and the whole of its people”.
Judge Orie interrupted him, pointing out that “you, Mr Mladic are charged before this Tribunal...no one else is charged – not the republic, not the people”.

Blatent lie
Accused of orchestrating the systematic killing of more than 7.000 Muslim men from Srebrenica in July 1995, Mladic felt the need to deny alleged media reports in Serbia that “I had given candy to children in Srebrenica and that my security staff took that candy away from them again”.  
  “That is a lie, a blatant lie”, he said, raising his voice, waving his index finger in the air.

Ailments
Mladic complained he has kidney stone pains and asked to be examined by his Serbian doctors who treated him in 1996-98. He said he would “fight to overcome” his “serious health problems”.

The next ‘status conference’ hearing in the Mladic case will be held on November 10.