Trial Chamber to Sentence Šešelj on March 31

Trial Chamber III has scheduled the delivery of its judgment in the proceedings against Vojislav Šešelj for March 31, 2016, at 10 AM in Courtroom I, the Hague Tribunal announced, reports the Patria News Agency.  

Šešelj is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity which, it is alleged, were committed from approximately August 1991 to September 1993 against the non-Serb population of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and Vojvodina.

According to the indictment, Šešelj committed these crimes, among other things, by participating in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at the forced, permanent removal of the majority of the Croatian, Muslim, and other non-Serb population from parts of Croatia, BiH, and Vojvodina in Serbia.

The indictment further states that Šešelj, among other things, participated in the recruitment, formation, financing, equipping, support, and command of Serb volunteer units established and supported to help carry out this joint criminal enterprise by committing crimes. The indictment also states that Šešelj delivered inflammatory speeches inciting volunteer units and other Serb forces to commit crimes, promoting the creation of a homogenous "Greater Serbia" by force, and thus participated in spreading war propaganda and inciting hatred towards the non-Serb population.

The trial began on November 27, 2006, and shortly thereafter, the proceedings were temporarily suspended due to Šešelj's health condition.

The trial resumed on November 7, 2007, and the Prosecution concluded its presentation of evidence on January 13, 2010. On May 4, 2011, the Trial Chamber issued an oral decision on a motion filed pursuant to Rule 98bis of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the International Tribunal, rejecting Šešelj's motion for an acquittal. Judge Antonetti appended his dissenting opinion. The Defence presented no evidence, and the parties to the proceedings presented their closing arguments from March 5 to 20, 2012.

On November 6, 2014, the Trial Chamber, by majority vote, ordered Šešelj's provisional release for humanitarian reasons due to the deterioration of his health. Vojislav Šešelj was transferred to Serbia on November 12, 2014.

149 Proceedings Concluded

Since its establishment, the International Tribunal has indicted 161 individuals for grave breaches of humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991. Proceedings against 149 individuals have been concluded. Proceedings against 12 indictees are currently ongoing.