Hague Prosecutors Oppose Šešelj's Appeal Request

THE HAGUE, (Patria) - Prosecutors of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) have requested the rejection of Vojislav Šešelj's request to be allowed to appeal the final verdict sentencing him to ten years in prison for instigating and committing the persecution of Croats in 1992 in the village of Hrtkovci in Vojvodina, BIRN reports.

As stated in the submission signed by prosecutor Barbara Goy, the decisions of the Appeals Chamber are final, with the exception of a review of the verdict, which is why Šešelj's request to be allowed an appeal should be rejected.

- The Statute of the MICT, as well as the statutes of the Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, do not allow the right to a second appeal, which includes situations where a person acquitted in the first-instance proceedings is convicted in the appellate proceedings - prosecutor Goy stated.

The prosecutor also stated that Šešelj's claims that his “right to participate in the appellate procedure was denied” are incorrect.

Šešelj stated in his request to the Mechanism that the right to appeal a conviction is a “fundamental right” that must not be denied to anyone.

- The verdict rendered by the Mechanism represents a legal precedent… It is inconceivable that a person found guilty and sentenced for a crime does not have the right to appeal such a decision - Šešelj stated.

In April this year, Šešelj was found guilty on three counts of the indictment for persecution, deportation, and other inhumane acts. Previously, in the first-instance verdict, Šešelj had been acquitted.

By the appellate verdict, Šešelj was found responsible based on a speech held in 1992 in Hrtkovci, in which he incited deportation, persecution, and other inhumane acts, such as crimes against humanity, as well as for committing persecution.

Šešelj said he was found guilty only to “cover” the time he spent in the Tribunal's custody.

By the same verdict, Šešelj was acquitted of crimes committed in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, although the Mechanism criticized certain conclusions of the Trial Chamber, such as the one that persecution of the non-Serb population did not occur in Zvornik.

The Mechanism will render its decision on Šešelj's request at a later date.