Serbia told to extradite SRS party officials "without delay"

Serbia told to extradite SRS party officials "without delay"

If Serbia fails to do so, Judge Alphons Orie said, the UN Security Council, to which the tribunal reported the country for failure to cooperate, "could take further measures."

Serbian legal representative Sasa Obradovic said today the government has been active when it comes to the orders issued by the tribunal, but that it must take into account the political and security aspects of its cooperation - "considering that the situation has not been at all simple since the end of 2014, which has been reported in detail in confidential submissions."

Obradovic also said the Serbian government "did not understand the need of the tribunal's president to report Serbia to the UN Security Council in October 2015," considering it never reported France - which has been refusing to extradite former Hague spokeswoman Florence Hartmann, also charged with contempt of court, since 2011.

Obradovic said that Serbia's initiative to transfer the case to its judiciary was "not an attempt to protect the three Radicals, on the contrary," adding that Belgrade received the tribunal president's response, "also confidential," on Tuesday.

According to a Beta agency report, Obradovic "indirectly reproached" the tribunal for publishing Serbia's confidential initiative.

Tanjug is reporting that the tribunal on Wednesday told Serbian authorities they must submit "detailed reports" on activities taken to extradite the three SRS officials once every two weeks until they have been arrested.

The three-member chamber found during a hearing today that Serbia had failed to act on the tribunal's warrant to extradite Vjerica Radeta, Petar Jojic and Jovo Ostojic for over a year.

The extradition warrant was issued in January 2015.

The three are accused of contempt of court for intimidating, offering bribes to and influencing witnesses in the case against Vojislav Seselj, and have ruled out the possibility of voluntary surrender.