Seselj in Evidence Row

Seselj is due to face trial in the first half of October, in connection with crimes allegedly committed in Bosnia and Croatia between 1991 and 1993. His involvement is said to have included recruiting Serb fighters, helping to plan expulsions and instigating crimes with his fiery rhetoric.



Prosecutors say that in line with the tribunal’s rules, they plan to disclose 280,000 pages of evidence and 65 witness statements to him.



After the pre-trial judge in the case, Judge Alphons Orie, ruled that Seselj would have to accept the material in electronic form – which he does not want - the accused declared that this was “unprecedented in the history of judiciary”.



“What am I supposed to do with those disks that are of no use?” he demanded.



“Use them, Mr Seselj,” replied Judge Orie.



The judge went on to say that even if Seselj refuses to accept material in this form, the court would still consider that the prosecution has fulfilled its obligation to disclose its evidence.



Seselj also protested again about the fact that he is not allowed to forward the evidence to his legal advisers, as the individuals whom he wants to help organise his defence have not been approved by the tribunal’s registry.



He also took the opportunity to tease Judge Orie about a recent ruling requiring the accused to limit written submissions to 800 words. In issuing the decision last month, the judge noted the “prolixity of the accused’s submissions, their patent lack of merit in general, the repetitiveness of their arguments, and the triviality of most of the issues raised”.



Appearing to enjoy his time in the spotlight as much as ever, Seselj requested that the chamber appoint a secretary to keep an eye on the number of words in his submissions, since he was prone to make mistakes in counting them.



He also announced that he plans to challenge a number of facts that have already been proven in other trials before the tribunal, as well as reports submitted by expert witnesses Anthony Oberschall and Yves Tomic on the impact that propaganda and the media had in disseminating the nationalist concept of a “Greater Serbia”.



Judge Orie gave Seselj six weeks to prepare a brief on challenging the adjudicated facts in question. A deadline for Seselj to file another brief concerning the experts’ reports is to be announced at a later date.



At the beginning of this week’s status conference, Seselj also complained that the detention authorities had confiscated shirts with the inscription “Srbija navija” (Serbia supports its team), as well as other football-related items displaying Serbian emblems. Seselj said other inmates, and even the detention unit’s Dutch guards, had been allowed to wear their national team strips during the World Cup.