Prosecution Demands 28 Years for Seselj

Seselj holding one of his speeches during the 90s Photo: YouTube Printscreen

“We request that the Trial Chamber find the accused guilty on all nine counts of the indictment since it has been proven he is guilty of serious crimes, both in their scope and heinous nature,” said  Mathias Marcussen, Chief Prosecutor for  the trial.

“Seselj showed no remorse,” Marcussen added.

The ICTY filed charges against Vojislav Seselj, leader of Serbian Radical Party, in 2003 for persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds, deportation and inhumane acts as well as for violations of the customs of war during conflicts in the former Yugoslavia from 1991 until 1993.

According to the indictment, Seselj planned and ordered the ethnic cleansing of the non-Serb population from  parts of eastern Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serbian province of Vojvodina.

Seselj, who was known for his oratory and extreme rhetoric, is alleged to have mobilized not only the armed wing of his Serbian Radical Party, but also other Serb forces, inciting them to persecute Croats and Bosniaks.

His “Seseljevci” paramilitary group, formed of Serb volunteers, allegedly deported tens of thousands of non-Serbs. They are also said to have killed at least 905 Croats and Bosniaks, to have raped and tortured a number of civilians, and to have destroyed both villages and Catholic and Muslim monuments.

During the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Seselj  cooperated closely with the Serbian political leaders Slobodan Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic, as well with the notorious war criminal Zeljko Raznatovic "Arkan".

Seselj surrendered to the ICTY voluntarily in 2003, but his trial began in 2007, after several failed attempts and a hunger strike by the accused.

Seselj, who is defending himself, will present his closing arguments between March 12 and 15.

This has been one of the longest running cases in the history of the ICTY. So far the legal proceedings have taken nine years.