Seselj

Vojislav Dabic, the witness called by the Trial Chamber at the trial of the Serbian Radicals’ leader Vojislav Seselj, for the most part recanted what he had said in his statement to the OTP in 2004, claiming his words had been mistranslated. He also claimed that parts of his statement where he talked about the involvement of Seselj’s men in the crimes were ‘probably inserted by the prosecution’; alternatively, he heard from other people the things he then told the prosecution in those statements

In his statement to the OTP, the Trial Chamber’s witness Vojislav Dabic contended that the Red Berets and Seselj’s men were responsible for the murder of 76 Muslim civilians captured near Mount Velez on 22 June 1993. Today, Dabic maintained that ‘they were not real Seselj’s men’. According to Dabic, they were locals ‘wearing traditional Serbian caps and the Chetnik insignia’

Verifying the contents of books published by the accused is not in the mandate of the ICTY Registry, John Hocking says in his reply to the Trial Chamber in the Vojislav Seselj case. The Trial Chamber ordered the Registry to check if the new books written by the accused Serbian Radicals’ leader contain any confidential information on protected witnesses

Continuing his evidence at the trial of Vojislav Seselj, protected witness VS 037 confirmed that the takeover of Zvornik and the ethnic cleansing that followed were organized and coordinated from Serbia. The witness now denied what he had stated earlier, that the SRS volunteers played a significant role in it. The Trial Chamber referred Seselj’s request for a telephone press conference to the Tribunal’s Registry for consideration

After an 11-month suspension because of intimidation of witnesses and jeopardy for the integrity of the process, the trial of Vojislav Seselj continued today. The accused asked to be allowed to take part in the campaign for the by-election in Odzaci, a municipality in Vojvodina. Seselj demanded to be allowed to conduct a ‘telephone press conference’. The last prosecution witness, who was the police commander and SDS vice-president in Zvornik, began his testimony

Granting Vojislav Seselj's motion for a reconsideration of its decision to adjourn the trial from February 2009, the Trial Chamber decided to resume it on 12 January 2010. The Trial Chamber rejected the prosecution’s motion for additional time to examine its remaining witnesses

The Trial Chamber has rejected the prosecution motion, filed last year, to assign counsel to the Serbian Radical Party leader, because of his efforts to obstruct the trial and to abuse and intimidate witnesses. Seselj commended the judges, saying that he never questioned their ‘moral integrity and professional dignity’. The prosecution has indicated it would consider whether to appeal against the decision, after it receives the full decision in writing. Seselj has called for his acquittal for ‘abuse of process’

In the supplement to the motion to assign counsel to Vojislav Seselj, the prosecution notes that the accused has failed to comply with the Trial Chamber’s order to remove from his website the book in which he disclosed information on protected witnesses. The prosecution filed the motion in July 2008; in the meantime Seselj has been convicted for contempt of court on those charges

Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj has asked the Trial Chamber to reconsider its decision to suspend his trial and to order the prosecution to go on with its case

Serbian Radicals’ leader Vojislav Seselj has been found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to 15 months in prison, the highest sentence for that offence ever before the Tribunal. Disclosing the identity of the protected witnesses is ‘a serious interference with the administration of justice, particularly given the potential adverse impact of such conduct upon witnesses’ confidence in the Tribunal’s ability to guarantee the effectiveness of protective measures,’ the Chamber has warned