Ljajić: Šešelj must be allowed to defend self

Rasim Ljajic says Hague accused Vojislav Seselj "is entitled to defend himself and he musn’t be denied that right". “The arguments that the prosecution is putting forward currently are out of place, and I think any imposition of a defense counsel would only further complicate the situation, bearing in mind the proceedings that are currently being led against Radovan Karadzic,“ the president of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal told Palma Plus TV yesterday. Ljajic: Seselj must be allowed to defend self “We will inform Hague Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz of this,“ said Ljajic, stating that Seselj’s trial “should be handled the way it’s being handled, with all its shortcomings, since there have been shortcomings in other cases led before the Tribunal.“ Asked by the interviewer whether he was receiving threats, the National Council president replied: “Someone phoned again yesterday.“ “There weren’t any for a while, I think the police did its part of the job,“ he said. “The majority of those threats shouldn’t be taken seriously, let’s be clear, I very frequently don’t even report everything that reaches me, as I can see I’m dealing with people whose threats aren’t serious—at the end of the day, the one’s that are threatening aren’t really thinking of doing anything,“ said Ljajic. He said that the authorities “are on the way to identifying certain people and prosecuting them over the threats.“ Rasim Ljajic (Beta, archive)

Ljajić: Šešelj must be allowed to defend self

“We will inform Hague Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz of this,“ said Ljajić, stating that Šešelj’s trial “should be handled the way it’s being handled, with all its shortcomings, since there have been shortcomings in other cases led before the Tribunal.“

Asked by the interviewer whether he was receiving threats, the National Council president replied: “Someone phoned again yesterday.“

“There weren’t any for a while, I think the police did its part of the job,“ he said.

“The majority of those threats shouldn’t be taken seriously, let’s be clear, I very frequently don’t even report everything that reaches me, as I can see I’m dealing with people whose threats aren’t serious—at the end of the day, the one’s that are threatening aren’t really thinking of doing anything,“ said Ljajić.

He said that the authorities “are on the way to identifying certain people and prosecuting them over the threats.“