Brammertz: We Will Appeal the Verdict for Vojislav Šešelj, the Trial Chamber Made Errors

Chief Prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal Serge Brammertz said that after studying the reasons by which the majority of the Trial Chamber acquitted Vojislav Šešelj of all charges, the Prosecution decided to file an appeal, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

- Given the substantive and far-reaching nature of the errors we identified in the majority verdict of the Trial Chamber, we wish to emphasize to the victims of the crimes that the upcoming appeal will be of the highest priority for the Prosecution.

As we will explain in more detail in the notice of appeal, we believe that the majority of the Trial Chamber fundamentally failed to perform its judicial function. The majority of the Trial Chamber failed to properly adjudicate key aspects of the Prosecution's argumentation, among other reasons, because: it did not consider large portions of the evidence; it did not adequately explain its conclusions; it did not properly apply the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt; it did not reach conclusions regarding the pattern of crimes proven by the evidence presented; it did not consider the charges against Vojislav Šešelj in light of the pervasive pattern of proven crimes; it did not distinguish between the ultimate political goal that members of the joint criminal enterprise sought to achieve and the criminal means by which they intended to achieve it; it reached unreasonable and contradictory conclusions on the facts; and it did not properly apply the elements concerning modes of liability, such as joint criminal enterprise and aiding and abetting, in accordance with established jurisprudence.

We also consider that the majority of the Trial Chamber unreasonably allowed the possibility that criminal conduct was merely a lawful contribution to war efforts, despite the overwhelming number of evidence indicating the contrary. In our opinion, this methodology led the majority of the Trial Chamber to unreasonably allow the possibility that the expulsion of civilians was a humanitarian procedure; that inciting hate speech was simply aimed at boosting the morale of Serbian forces; and that the use of force for the purpose of ethnic cleansing was a measure to protect the Serbian population. Completely disregarding the large number of crimes proven during the first-instance trial, the majority of the Trial Chamber concluded that there was no widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population in parts of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as required to prove crimes against humanity.

As with all appeals filed by the Prosecution, we will make every effort to ensure that our appeal in the case against Vojislav Šešelj is conducted efficiently, effectively, and fairly, and in accordance with the rules prescribed for the appellate proceedings before the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals.