Hague Tribunal wants SRS party officials arrested

Hague Tribunal wants SRS party officials arrested

Until now, the arrest warrants had been confidential, Ljajic said in a written statement.

“Today's disclosing of the arrest warrants by the ICTY is completely unexpected and surprising, just as the fact that only two months after the release of (SRS leader) Vojislav Seselj from detention, the arrest of these people was sought,” Ljajic said.

“We have expected a ruling in the Seselj case this year, and it would be only logical that these people are tried for contempt of court on the same occasion,” he gave the reason for not acting upon the arrest warrants.

Ljajic added that the decision to remove the confidential label from the warrants and disclose them was all the more "debatable" considering that the Trial Chamber judges failed to take a united stance, and brought the decision "through outvoting."

The ICTY stated on Tuesday that it has charged Petar Jojic, Jovo Ostojic, and Vjerica Radeta with contempt of the Tribunal and issued warrants for their arrest.

They are charged for allegedly having threatened, intimidated, offered bribes to, or otherwise interfered with two witnesses in the trial against Vojislav Seselj and a related contempt case against him, reads the Tribunal's website.

An Order in Lieu of an Indictment for contempt was issued confidentially by the Trial Chamber on December 5, 2014. Warrants for the arrest of the three accused were issued confidentially on January 19, 2015, said the Tribunal.

Redacted versions of the Order in Lieu of Indictment and the arrest warrants were issued on Tuesday by Trial Chamber I. According to this Order, Jojic and Radeta are members of Vojislav Seselj's defense team.