Šešelj's arrival in Serbia will endanger Nikolić and Vučić

The temporary release of Hague indictee for war crimes committed in the territories of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Vojislav Šešelj, cannot significantly endanger Serbia's accession process to the European Union, which this country has embarked upon, believes Sonja Biserko, president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia.

Šešelj's return to Serbia, Biserko says in an interview for the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP), can only endanger the President of Serbia (Tomislav Nikolić) and the Prime Minister of this country (Aleksandar Vučić).

- He still has ways to endanger his party colleagues, given that he knows their biographies – Biserko believes.

The President of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, Rasim Ljajić, stated today that the indictee for war crimes and leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) Vojislav Šešelj will arrive in Serbia on Wednesday, and the travel costs for the plane ticket for Šešelj to travel to Belgrade will be covered by the Serbian Government.

The Hague Tribunal's decision to release Šešelj temporarily came after doctors discovered he was suffering from cancer. Šešelj's temporary release is justified due to the inability to receive adequate treatment in detention. His return to Serbia, after 12 years spent in Hague detention, has stirred up the public there.

TWO TYPES OF REACTIONS IN SERBIA

- You have two types of reactions (in Serbia, to Šešelj's arrival). One comes from various government representatives, which is that this government is being destabilized. The other reaction is that the (Hague Tribunal) is an anti-Serbian court and that they held Šešelj there without grounds, but no one has addressed why Šešelj was indicted, and no one has addressed his actions during the wars in the territory of former Yugoslavia – Biserko explains.

She actually believes that when all reactions to Šešelj's return to Serbia are weighed, it can be concluded that everything related to the events of the '90s in Serbia has normalized, considering that Šešelj's closest associates are now in power in Serbia, and that the Hague Tribunal has long ceased to be of interest to the citizens of Serbia.

IT IS SAD THAT NO MORAL MESSAGE CAN BE DRAWN FROM ŠEŠELJ'S STAY IN THE HAGUE

- Neither the Hague Tribunal, which held Šešelj in detention for so many years, was able to deliver a verdict that would be relevant to what he did, not only in Serbia and Croatia, but also in Serbia itself. Furthermore, the Tribunal was unable to correct the omissions that Šešelj exposed during the trial, because we know that during the trial he focused on obstructing the court, on insulting – says Biserko.

She concludes that it is sad that no moral message can be drawn from Šešelj's stay at the Hague Tribunal, writes NAP.