TRIAL CHAMBER I

Public Document

ORDER CONCERNING THE DISCLOSURE OF THE IDENTITIES
OF DEFENCE WITNESSES TO THE TRIAL CHAMBER

TRIAL CHAMBER I (“Trial Chamber”) of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (“Special Court”) composed of Hon. Justice Benjamin Mutanga Itoe, Presiding Judge, Hon. Justice Bankole Thompson and Hon. Justice Pierre Boutet;

NOTING the Consequential Orders Concerning the Preparation and Commencement of the Defence Case, filed by the Trial Chamber on the 28th of March 2007 (“Order”), and in particular Order 7, requiring that each of the Defence teams provide to the Office of the Prosecutor (“Prosecution”), the other Defence teams and the Trial Chamber, a list of the order of the next 15 witnesses which it intends to call to testify at trial, at least 14 days prior to their expected testimony;

CONSIDERING that for trial management and logistical purposes, it is in the interests of justice for the Defence to disclose to the Trial Chamber the identities of the protected witnesses it has called or intends to call at trial;

PURSUANT TO Rules 26bis, 54, 69 and 75 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence;

THE CHAMBER ORDERS:

1. That within 5 days of the present Decision, the Defence for the First Accused, Issa Hassan Sesay, confidentially provides to the Trial Chamber the identities of the witnesses which it has already called to testify at trial and of those witnesses who have not yet testified but whose pseudonyms have been provided to the Trial Chamber in the Notice of Changes to Sesay Defence “Core” Witness List and Notice of Prospective Order of Witnesses to be Called to Testify.[1]
2. That each of the Defence teams confidentially provides to the Trial Chamber the identities of the next 15 witnesses which it intends to call to testify at trial, at least 14 days prior to their expected testimony; and
3. That each of the Defence teams shall continue to file publicly with the Trial Chamber a list of the order of the next 15 witnesses which it intends to call to testify at trial, identifying the witnesses by pseudonym, at least 14 days prior to their expected testimony, pursuant to the Order of the 28th of March 2007.
   

[1] Prosecutor v. Sesay, Kallon and Gbao, SCSL-04-15-T, Notice of Changes to Sesay Defence “Core” Witness List and Notice of Prospective Order of Witnesses to be Called to Testify, 10 May 2007.