Vojislav Seselj in the courtroom

Judge Antonetti's Trial Chamber has invited the Serbian and Dutch governments to confirm if they could ensure conditions for the provisional release of the Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj.

The judges have decided to do that after Seselj’s health deteriorated in order to ‘to avoid the worst-case scenario’. The Trial Chamber has concluded that the provisional release "would allow the Accused to receive treatment in the most suitable environment while at the same time making certain that the security of the witnesses and the integrity of the proceedings will be guaranteed’.

Serbia and Holland have been invited to respond urgently, by 6pm today. The Serbian authorities should provide guarantees that the accused will not contact any witnesses or victims and that he will return to the Tribunal as soon as the Trial Chamber order him to do so.

The Trial Chamber set similar provisions for Seselj’s provisional release in July 2014, to no avail, as theaccused would not agree to the house arrest at a specified address, to surrendering his passport to the authorities, to not having any contacts with victims or witnesses, and to not discussing his case with anyone but his legal advisors.

This time the Trial Chamber has not consulted the accused on the conditions for provisional release. If Serbia confirmsit is able to ensure the conditions, Seselj’s consent wouldn’t be necessary.

Vojislav Seselj is charged with crimes against humanity in Croatia, Vojvodina and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Trial Chamber was scheduled to deliver its judgment on 30 October 2013. The sentencing was postponed when Danish judge Harhoff was disqualified from the Trial Chamber on Seselj’s request. The Senegalese judge Niang, who replaced Judge Harhoff, indicated he could not familiarize himself with the case before mid-2015, and could consequently not join the other judges, Antonetti and Lattanzi, in their deliberations.

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