Seselj Claims Health Being Manipulated
Defendant’s allegation comes after undisclosed medical procedure which tribunal says was completed without complication.
Seselj Claims Health Being Manipulated
Defendant’s allegation comes after undisclosed medical procedure which tribunal says was completed without complication.
Serbian nationalist politician Vojislav Seselj this week contended that his health was being manipulated by outside forces and accused the Hague tribunal spokeswoman of lying about his condition.
“More than ever I am convinced that someone from the outside is manipulating the condition of my health,” Seselj told judges during a November 2 administrative hearing.
Seselj underwent an undisclosed medical procedure on October 28. The following day, tribunal spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic said that the procedure had been completed without complication.
However, Seselj claimed in court this week that “she lied to the public”.
“During that operation, I lost consciousness,” he said. “That is a very serious complication for an operation of this kind.”
At a press conference on November 3, Jelacic stood by her previous statements and reiterated that the procedure – which she said was not a surgery – “had gone according to plan.” She added that the court is “confident it is providing the best possible care to Seselj and all other accused.”
At this week’s hearing, Seselj – who continues to represent himself - also said that he was given a false name at the medical clinic where the procedure was performed.
“Why did I have to be operated on under a false name?” he asked judges.
“I’m proud of being indicted for war crimes by [the tribunal],” Seselj said. “I’m proud to be transported with shackles – I’m proud of my shackles!”
Presiding Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti said the false name was done “perhaps for security reasons”.
“The fact that you’re in the courtroom proves you’re doing well,” the judge said. “You had the surgery just a few days ago and you’re here with us.”
He said that concern for Seselj’s health is what led the chamber to recently order the appointment of “international medical experts” to evaluate the accused and determine if he is fit to stand trial.
“As long as I can breathe I can participate in this trial,” Seselj said. “You don’t need international experts to ascertain that.”
He further alleged that the prosecution has “no proof of any crimes”.
“You have to kill me then,” Seselj exclaimed. “I must die but the medical documentation has to be clean.”
Judge Antonetti dismissed Seselj’s “conspiracy theory”.
“I’m sure you can’t think for one second that I could take part in a trial in which you are a victim of any conspiracy,” the judge told Seselj.
Judge Antonetti also said he had received a 17 page letter from one of Seselj’s legal advisers, which was also addressed to the United Nations Security Council.
Seselj confirmed that the letter was sent, and that it detailed his argument that the crime of disclosing the identity of a protected witness “does not exist”.
“[The Hague tribunal] cannot invent new crimes!” he exclaimed.
Seselj was found guilty of contempt in July 2009 for revealing confidential details about protected witnesses in one of the books he authored.
The accused is set to face yet another contempt trial for revealing details about 11 protected witnesses in one of his books. Those proceedings have yet to take place because Seselj is requesting that two of the judges be removed from the case.
Arrested in 2003, Seselj is charged with nine counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity – including murder, torture and forcible transfer – for atrocities carried out in an effort to expel the non-Serb population from parts of Croatia and Bosnia between August 1991 and September 1993. He remains leader of the Serbian Radical Party, SRS, based in Belgrade.
Seselj’s trial has endured repeated delays since it officially began in November 2007, a full year after the original trial date was postponed due to the accused’s hunger strike.
Judge Antonetti noted this week that the trial – which has yet to reach the defence case – is in “standby mode”. He said that the chamber is waiting to hear about the status of one additional court witness who has been experiencing health problems.
In addition, Judge Antonetti said they are waiting for the report of a handwriting expert who will determine the authenticity of the so-called Mladic diaries – over 3,000 pages of wartime notes said to have been written by Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, who remains wanted by the tribunal.
The notebooks were seized by the Serbian authorities last spring and a number of them have already been admitted as evidence in the trial of ex-Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic.
However, Seselj said this week that from his point of view “it doesn’t matter if the diaries are authentic or not”.
“Nothing [in the diaries] incriminates me,” Seselj contended. “The problem is that we are losing so many months over that.”
He then complained about the nearly eight years he has been imprisoned in The Hague.
“Even if I had come from Belgrade for each hearing, then my right to be tried in a reasonable time frame would have been violated,” he exclaimed. “The defence case still ahead of us, then appeals, and the trial over all last for 20 years!”
Judge Antonetti also ruled this week that the court registry should finance 50 per cent of Seselj’s defence, for which the accused has appointed several advisers.
This decision appeared to override one from July, in which deputy registrar Ken Roberts denied Seselj’s funding request because the accused had consistently failed to provide proof of his indigence.
In response to the judge’s ruling on the matter this week, Seselj insisted that the funding scheme be retroactive or he might not be able to present a defence case.
“I would like for these proceedings to come to an end while I’m still alive,” Seselj exclaimed. “I want to be fully victorious in these proceedings and it’s obvious to one and all that I’m only a step away from that victory. Even if you want to declare me guilty, you are fully aware you have nothing upon which you could base such a verdict!”
Rachel Irwin is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
