Italian Judge Lattanzi: Šešelj should have been convicted

Italian judge Flavia Lattanzi, a member of the ICTY chamber that acquitted Vojislav Šešelj today, said the acquittal verdict is contrary to the presented evidence and is not based on valid international law, reports the Patria agency.

The Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today acquitted Vojislav Šešelj, president of the Serbian Radical Party, of all charges.

Vojislav Šešelj was charged on 9 counts, 3 for crimes against humanity (persecution, deportation, and inhumane acts or forcible transfer) and 6 for war crimes (murder, torture, and cruel treatment, wanton destruction, destruction or damage to institutions dedicated to religion or education, plunder of public or private property).

He was accused of directly committing, inciting, aiding, and abetting crimes committed by Serbian forces between August 1991 and September 1993, or participating in their commission through his involvement in a joint criminal enterprise.

Judge Lattanzi disagreed with the majority's conclusions. Judge Lattanzi notes that the majority did not take into account the climate of intimidation that Vojislav Šešelj created for witnesses.

Judge Lattanzi also concludes that, contrary to the Trial Chamber's obligation to provide a reasoned judgment for both the accused and the Prosecution, the majority did not provide sufficient reasoning, or any reasoning at all, to support their conclusions. Judge Lattanzi also concluded that the majority relied on irrelevant grounds to exclude Vojislav Šešelj's responsibility....

Based on the evidence presented, Judge Lattanzi is convinced that a widespread and systematic attack was carried out in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that crimes against humanity were committed in that context, including in Vojvodina (Serbia). Judge Lattanzi also concluded that the Chamber accepted numerous pieces of evidence establishing the existence of a joint criminal enterprise aimed at forcing non-Serbs to leave parts of the former Yugoslavia by committing crimes. Similarly, Judge Lattanzi concluded that all conditions were met to convict Vojislav Šešelj for the physical commission of the crime of persecution through direct and public denigration of non-Serb civilians in a speech given in Hrtkovci on May 6, 1992.

Judge Lattanzi also believes there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Vojislav Šešelj incited the crimes he is accused of (with the exception of plunder) through his inflammatory speeches.

Judge Lattanzi also concludes that no reasonable fact-finder could have dismissed Vojislav Šešelj's responsibility for aiding and abetting by providing material and moral support to his volunteers, as well as his significant contribution to the crimes committed by those volunteers.

- First and foremost, I note that the majority did not take into account the atmosphere of intimidation that Vojislav Šešelj created for witnesses through his behavior in the courtroom, while his associates did the same outside the courtroom - said Judge Lattanzi.

Summary of Judge Lattanzi's partially dissenting opinion in the Šešelj verdict can be downloaded here