The Hague Tribunal: Serbia Must Change Law and Fulfill Cooperation Obligations

The Trial Chamber of the Hague Tribunal in the case of three radicals stated today that Serbia must urgently change its legislation to comply with international obligations, including fulfilling the arrest and extradition warrants for Petar Jojić, Vjerica Radeta, and Jovo Ostojić, who are accused of contempt of court, Tanjug reports, as carried by NAP.

- Serbia cannot point to its domestic legislation to justify non-compliance with its international obligations. If Serbian domestic legislation is not in line with international obligations, it must be urgently amended to guarantee compliance with those obligations, the decision states, ordering Serbia to fulfill its obligation to cooperate with the Tribunal.

In its decision, the Tribunal's Trial Chamber stated that Serbia, after being notified on May 18 that the pre-trial judge of the Higher Court in Belgrade concluded that, according to the Serbian Law on Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, the conditions for the surrender and arrest of the radicals were not met, did not indicate how that decision would affect its obligation to cooperate with the Tribunal.

The Higher Court concluded that the Republic of Serbia has a legal obligation to extradite only those accused of the most serious war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, which is not the case with the radicals, as they are charged with contempt of court, i.e., influencing witnesses in the proceedings against SRS leader Vojislav Šešelj.

While stating that it understands Serbia's position that it has exhausted all legal remedies to comply with the Tribunal's order for the extradition of the radicals and can do nothing more in this regard, the Tribunal notes that the core issue in this case is whether a state is obliged to cooperate with the Tribunal in all cases or only those concerning violations of international humanitarian law.

Analyzing Article 29 of the Tribunal's Statute, the Trial Chamber concluded that Serbia is obliged to cooperate "upon any request for assistance," including in cases concerning contempt of court.

It also noted that, although contempt of court is not defined as a criminal offense in the Statute, the Tribunal's practice "strongly establishes" that the Tribunal's jurisdiction extends to contempt of court offenses, so as not to thwart its role.

The Hague Prosecutor's Office accused Radeta, Jojić, and Ostojić of pressuring two prosecution witnesses to testify in favor of Šešelj by offering them favors.

In March, Šešelj was acquitted of all charges of war crimes in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the wars and for the expulsion of Croats from Vojvodina by the Tribunal's first-instance verdict in The Hague, according to Tanjug's report.