Wessel's defense: Today's Witness will use some documents that I cannot see the prosecution or the defense

According to O'Reilly, this is a difficult situation for them because this witness has also been the object of a request for changing the indictment at a later moment during the preliminary phase.

She said this announcement that the witness had these materials with him was announced during e-mails at the preparation hearings.

“in the e-mail said the witness had materials with him that could not be provided to the Prosecution, and therefore neither defence, but would be used by the witness to refresh the memory during the preparation session. However, it has not been made clear when at what time these materials were mentioned. On Friday we asked you to identify relevant paragraphs related to these materials and to explain what steps to take to see these materials. The prosecution told us that they had asked the witness about these materials, but they were not sure if they could get the materials before giving the witness testimony”, O'Reilly said.

She also insisted that these witness documents and that, according to them, it is unfair for a witness to come to The Hague with new documents, putting defence in a difficult position.

We were also told that he referred to these materials in three concrete points. Now we don't know if he's used these materials throughout the witness's preparation hearing and we want to know when we can get these materials and also what these materials are. We understand that you can't tell us details, but to know the volume at least in what nature these materials are in because these may be the ones we can use for our counters and it's not normal that at the last moment you tell us that the witness will use some materials we can't see. They put us in a difficult situation. This is a witness who has been the object of a request to change the indictment at a later moment during the preliminary phase and is a witness who has not spoken once but has spoken twice and it is unfair that the witness now comes to The Hague with new documents and puts us in such a difficult position”, she said.

On the other hand, Wessel's lawyer had a request for the Prosecution, and she asked for the opportunity to call the witness back in case these materials were more valuable for protection.

So we want to first understand from the Prosecutor if they know it by the 107th rule, which is the volume, when we can get these materials because now we have to make a request about these materials and we'd like to have an opportunity to re-enter this witness if these materials are worth us”, she said.

Prosecutor Matt Halling said everyone is equal and there is no injustice as far as this case is concerned.

We don't have the materials either, so we don't have the materials. However, this witness on this witness has become clear that in 2022 he has relevant materials that can't be extracted in this case and a witness at one point, in the interview he gave for SPS in 2022 he has read a page of a journal and that's a journal that didn't even give us and we have no idea where this material is. So the only thing that happened otherwise is what happened during the preparation session that you saw on the e-mail, Wessel's defense asked me to discuss just one fact that the witness material used to refresh memory. It's just been the date of a football match on August 1st 99, so that's why the witness wanted to refresh the memory and made some minor verifications of the materials because he couldn't be very accurate about data”, the prosecutor said further.

Halling said what the witness will say will have the opportunity to do today as the witness who will be in the courtroom today.

For this, Chief Judge Smith III said that if during the fight against defence questions it is estimated that the need to call this witness, the court will reconsider this request.

And to discuss another matter, Wessel's other lawyer, Ann Rowan, requested that she be transferred to the private hearing which was approved by the court.