Hague Tribunal: Prosecution seeks to have Šešelj convicted or retrial ordered

The prosecution of the Hague Tribunal announced today to the Appeals Chamber of that court that it will appeal the verdict by which Vojislav Šešelj was acquitted of all charges for war crimes in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war conflicts and for the expulsion of Croats from Vojvodina, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

In the notice of appeal, the prosecution requested the Appeals Chamber to allow the appeal, to overturn the verdict and convict Šešelj, or to quash the verdict in its entirety and order a retrial.

The prosecution believes that the Trial Chamber did not reach a correct decision, because it did not provide good reasons for its conclusions, did not take into account the arguments and evidence of the prosecution, and because it incorrectly assessed the factual situation established during the trial.

- Based on the entire evidentiary material, a reasonable chamber could not conclude that crimes against humanity were not proven, that the accused is not responsible for these crimes as a participant in a joint criminal enterprise, that the accused did not incite crimes, that he did not aid and abet crimes committed by Šešelj's followers, that he did not personally physically commit the crimes of persecution, deportation and forcible transfer, and finally, that he is not criminally responsible - the prosecutors write in the notice of appeal.

The Hague Tribunal issued an acquittal on March 31 for the leader of the Serbian Radical Party on all nine counts of the indictment, which charged him with inciting and supporting war crimes through hate speech in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war conflicts and the expulsion of Croats from Vojvodina.

The majority of the chamber members, with a dissenting opinion from Judge Flavia Latanzi, concluded that Šešelj is not guilty on any of the nine counts of the indictment.

Latanzi held a dissenting opinion on eight counts of the indictment, while on one count Šešelj was acquitted unanimously.

The prosecution had originally sought a sentence of 28 years in prison for Šešelj.