Seselj Complaints Get Direct Response from Tribunal President

Even though Pocar makes it clear in his written response that Seselj has “no right” to make a complaint directly to him, he says he decided to provide a ruling anyway, “in the interests of expediency”.



Seselj is currently trying to lodge a complaint with the Dutch Bar Association against his tribunal-assigned counsel Tjarda Eduard van der Spoel – a Netherlands lawyer with whom Seselj refuses to cooperate, saying that he is “a significant loop in a chain of a rigged political trial”.



The defendant wants to instruct two “legal representatives” to help him with this action. One of them is Aleksandar Vucic, who was Serbian minister of information during the late Nineties, and is now among the 25 experts assisting him with his defence at the tribunal.



The tribunal’s registrar refused Seselj permission to receive visits from the two men to discuss the case against van der Spoel, first because they are not legally qualified and second because in the past, Vucic has apparently contacted the media after seeing the accused – which would “make him ineligible to engage in privileged communications with Seselj”.



Seselj’s requests to defend himself before the tribunal, which the court has so far denied, and his complaints against his court-appointed lawyer have been the focus of many of his frequent submissions to the judges.



In his response, Judge Pocar advised the registrar to reconsider his decision with regard to visits from the two “experts”. He pointed out that Seselj’s representatives are not technically required to be legally qualified in order to attend Dutch Bar hearings. The judge said the two men ought to be allowed to visit Seselj and receive what he termed “non-privileged instructions”.



Finally, the president reminded Seselj to use the proper complaints procedure, which would involve first contacting the head of the detention unit, then the registrar, and only finally the president of the tribunal.



Seselj has asked for his representatives to visit him on June 12 and 13.