Peter Robinson - The Tribunal

Kevin was back in his office for about twenty minutes when the phone rang. Zoran Vacinovic was livid. “You made no opening statement? What kind of defense is that?”

“We’ll have our turn later.”

“But you did not answer the prosecution’s case when the world is watching. The Serbs will be vilified all over the world tonight as butchers. You could have refuted that, but by saying nothing you admitted it was true.” The man was clearly upset.

“I didn’t admit anything,” Kevin replied defensively, somewhat shaken by the force of Vacinovic’s anger.

“My government expects a vigorous defense for Mr. Zaric, not someone sitting on their hands. People in Serbia are very, very upset right now.”

“I’m doing this the way I think is best. We’ve talked about this before. I cannot and will not defend Draga by claiming that the Serbs were the victims, because even victims have no legal right to commit war crimes.” Kevin realized he was almost shouting. He tried to calm down. “I will defend Draga by arguing that he didn’t commit any war crimes. That’s how it has to be.”

“We’ll be watching,” Vacinovic responded ominously, and hung up.

That night, after Ellen had done her homework and gone to bed, Kevin and Diane watched the coverage of the trial on the BBC and CNN. The media presented only the prosecutor’s allegations against Draga. The BBC report included footage of a crowd of emaciated men with their ribs clearly visible, looking hopefully at the cameras through a barbed wire fence. These were the infamous concentration camp scenes filmed during the war.

“I can understand why Vacinovic doesn’t like this kind of press coverage,” Kevin said. “Those pictures still give me the creeps.”

“Did Draga do that?”

“No. That’s exactly the point of my defense. I’ll let them paint all their gory scenes. Then I’ll ask them to point out Draga in their picture, or men they can prove were under his command.”

Before going to bed, Kevin put a new cassette into his tape player and stuck it in his jacket pocket. He expected to have company on his run the next morning. He had prepared a subpoena for Pete Barnes in the event that their negotiations broke down. He stuck that in his jacket pocket as well and went to bed.

The next morning was cold, but dry. Kevin headed south towards the center of Wassenaar on his usual running route. Barnes joined him at the same place as before.

“Morning.”

“Morning, Kevin.”

“Thanks for getting Maria moved.”

Kevin casually put his left hand inside his jacket and switched on the tape.

“You’re welcome. See, we can deliver.”

“That’s a good sign. And I delivered on my end as well.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Where do we go from here?”

“I still need the reports, and the Evans tape. Then, we’re done.”

“And I need something in writing to guarantee what you will do for my client.”

“We absolutely cannot do that. This kind of thing does not get put in writing.”

“So he just has to trust you?”

“That’s right. It’s non-negotiable.”

“Well, you’ll have to just trust us that we won’t use the reports and tape. I’m not giving them back to you without having a way to enforce your agreement with Draga. That’s non-negotiable.”

The two men ran stride for stride in silence for a while. “Kevin, you’re a highly regarded federal prosecutor with a great career. Don’t make this hard on yourself and everybody else.”

“I don’t need this aggravation either, believe me. I’ve got a case to try. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t insist that an agreement be in writing. Oral agreements spell malpractice for lawyers.”

“You don’t seem to understand. It ain’t going to happen. Period.”

“Then I guess I’ll just hang onto the reports and tape.”

Kevin turned onto his street. They were almost to his house.

“I didn’t want to do this, Kevin, but you’re so damn stubborn.” He reached into his right pocket and took out an envelope. He stopped running.

Kevin stopped as well and turned back to look at the envelope.

Barnes pulled out some snapshots from the envelope. Kevin could see by the light of the streetlight that they were surveillance photos of Ellen at school.

Kevin went ballistic. “What’re you doing? Picking on some eleven-year-old girl? This is how the United States government operates? That’s pretty damn low. But as long as we’re handing out presents, I’ve got one for you.”

Kevin produced the subpoena from his jacket. “You’ve been served. See you in court.”

Barnes looked up. His face was grim. “This isn’t a game, counselor. We gave you a chance to do it the easy way. Don’t blame us for what happens next.”

Back at the house, Kevin mentioned none of his encounter with the CIA to Diane. He went directly to Ellen’s room to check on her.

She looked so peaceful asleep, and was such a dynamo when she was awake.

Kevin was still seething. The CIA wouldn’t dare do anything to a little girl.

Kevin made some soft noises by scraping against a desk, moving a chair, and brushing by the strings of beads hanging from the ceiling in Ellen’s room. He always woke Ellen up by making indirect noises instead of barging in and calling her name or turning on the light. Ellen had told him she liked being woken up gently and slowly.

Ellen sat up in her bed and yawned. She was wearing her Britney Spears nightgown, and her hair had been braided before she went to sleep to make it easier to comb in the morning.

“Good morning,” Kevin said cheerily. “It’s Tuesday, the 9 thof January. And it’s not raining in Holland today.”

“I can’t wait for it to snow so the canals will freeze over,” Ellen stretched in her bed. “I can’t wait to ice skate on them.”

“That’ll be fun, but not for me.”

Ellen smiled. She and Diane were good ice skaters. Kevin couldn’t skate at all. The few times he had tried at the ice arena in Santa Rosa he had staggered like a drunk, lurching for the walls on the side of the rink to hold himself up. He wouldn’t even dare try skating on the canals, where there was nothing to hold on to.

“Let’s get dressed. I’ve got a trial to go to, and you’ve got school.”

Ellen sprung out of bed. “I’ll race you,” she said. “First one to get done with all their bathroom stuff and get dressed wins.”

“That’s not fair. I have to take a shower, and put on a suit.”

“Tough luck, buddy.” Ellen glided past Kevin into her bathroom.

Kevin turned and dashed down the stairs. His ploy had gotten her moving, but he wasn’t about to concede defeat.

After Kevin had gotten out of the shower, but not yet dressed, Ellen yelled to him from downstairs. “You can take your time, slowpoke. I already won by a mile.”

When Kevin finally finished and came downstairs for breakfast, Diane was making sure that Ellen had everything she needed for school in her backpack.

“What’s going to happen at Draga’s trial today?” Ellen asked.

“Not much. Just some expert witnesses giving the judges background information on the war.”

“When can I come watch?”

“Maybe on a really exciting day.”

“Do you promise?”

Kevin looked over at Diane. She was frowning.

“Well, I can’t promise for sure. The Tribunal rules say you have to be sixteen to watch the trials. But I’ll see what I can do to get a special exception made for you.”

“I can be really quiet.”

“I know that. You’ve been to more trials than most lawyers.”

“You need to get going. It’s 8 o’clock,” Diane said to Ellen.

Ellen grabbed her backpack and headed out the back door.