Seselj to Conduct His Own Defence After All

In their October 23 ruling, the appeals judges overturned the decision issued by the trial chamber in August this year to bar Seselj from representing himself due to his volatile and insulting remarks in the courtroom and the obscenities contained in the briefs he submitted to the court.



But the appeals chamber noted that if Seselj continues to “substantially obstruct…proceedings in this case” the trial chamber will be justified in assigning him counsel after it has heard his explanation for his behaviour.



Seselj’s past comments have been both offensive and disruptive to court proceedings.



At one point, he declared that “the smell of crematoriums and gas chambers comes into the Hague courtroom” with a certain member of the court.



Seselj also insulted his assigned counsel, David Hooper, who wore a wig to a September 14 status conference, describing him as “that man with the bird’s nest on his head”.



He later said that he would “never speak to Hooper or any other spy…who denies me my right to represent myself. I am a calm and balanced person, but until you restore my right to represent myself, I will not participate in the proceedings”.



Although Seselj will now be allowed to represent himself, the tribunal’s registry has been ordered by the trial chamber to assign him a new stand-by defence counsel. The counsel will be able to assist Seselj if the defendant chooses to accept help, and will be ready to take over the defence case temporarily or permanently if Seselj’s outbursts continue.



Seselj, a close ally of the former Yugoslav president Slobadan Milosevic, is charged with the extermination and murder, persecution, deportation and the forcible transfer of non-Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia from 1991 to 1995.



The trial chamber, led by Presiding Judge Alphons Orie, has also decided to postpone Seselj’s trial, which was supposed to begin on November 2, because the defendant currently has neither stand-by nor permanent counsel. Instead, a status conference will be held on November 1.



If all conditions have been met by the registry at the status conference, a date for the pre-trial conference will be chosen at that time.



Katherine Boyle is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.