Prosecution once again asks for revoking Seselj's release

Prosecution once again asks for revoking Seselj's release

He noted that by rejecting the prosecution's motion for revoking the measure, the Trial Chamber made a mistake as it did not consider whether requirements were still met for his provisional release in light of his messages that he would not return to the Tribunal, and whether these conditions should be tightened given his conduct following the release.

In the appeal, Brammertz pointed to the fact that after his release, the SRS leader gave statements on several occasions that undermined the very bases on which the Trial Chamber decided to free him, including threats to the people who collaborate with the Tribunal.

Seselj has clearly demonstrated that "his health condition is no barrier to making unacceptable public statements that are inflammatory and insulting to victim communities,” said Brammertz.

He added that the defendant's public statements “call into question the Trial Chamber's assessment of the extremity of his health condition”.

The ICTY raised an indictment against Seselj in February 2003, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 1991/93 in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Serbian province of Vojvodina, where no war conflict took place.

Seselj was released from ICTY custody on November 12 last year, without any special requirements, since his health had deteriorated one year after his cancer surgery.

After Seselj made political statements that the SRS is not giving up on a Serbian Vukovar or the Republic of Serb Krajina and will do everything to make it a part of Greater Serbia, Croatia launched a campaign to have him back in the Scheveningen prison.

Croatia's campaign received the support from a majority of members of the European Parliament on November 27 last year, after which the ICTY Prosecutor's Office filed a motion to the Trial Chamber requesting that the measure of provisional release be revoked.

On January 13, the ICTY Trial Chamber dismissed the prosecution's motion as "inadmissible" explaining that the prosecutor did not appeal the decision in due time, and that the SRS leader's statements to the press “do not constitute an attempt to influence or threaten victims or witnesses”.

This sparked a reaction from the newly-elected President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic who asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on January 19 to take any action necessary, including calling a meeting of the UN Security Council, to make sure that Seselj was taken back into custody. She insisted that the ICTY deliver a verdict against Seselj without delay and stressed that it was key to ensure that Seselj did not avoid his sentence by dying.

Seselj spent nearly 12 years in detention without a verdict. His trial was completed on March 20, 2012, and the ICTY stated that the verdict will not be delivered before the end of 2015.