Seselj Threatens to Subpoena Former Chief Prosecutor
Serbian politician demands statements about alleged meetings between ex-tribunal officials and his former legal adviser.
Seselj Threatens to Subpoena Former Chief Prosecutor
Serbian politician demands statements about alleged meetings between ex-tribunal officials and his former legal adviser.
Serbian nationalist politician Vojislav Seselj this week demanded statements from former Hague tribunal officials about alleged meetings they had with the ex-head of his defence team.
Seselj, who represents himself, claims that his onetime legal advisor, Tomislav Nikolic, on one or more occasions met previous chief prosecutor and deputy prosecutor Carla Del Ponte and David Tolbert respectively.
He did not provide dates for the alleged meetings, but suggested they took place in Brussels or Budapest well before Del Ponte and Tolbert left their posts in early 2008.
“I insist on statements being requested from Carla Del Ponte and David Tolbert on these meetings [with Nikolic],” Seselj exclaimed. “They may have spoken about weather, romance and nights on the Danube -but let them put that in writing on half a page.”
When Seselj was arrested in 2003, Nikolic became deputy leader of the Serbian Radical Party, SRS, which Seselj still heads. In Serbia’s 2008 presidential elections, Nikolic ran on the SRS platform and came in a close second to incumbent Boris Tadic, who ultimately won.
In September of that year, Nikolic and Seselj had a disagreement which led Nikolic to abruptly leave the SRS and form his own political party, the Serbian Progressive Party.
Seselj first submitted a motion on this matter on March 18, requesting that the prosecution turn over any notes they might have in relation to the alleged meetings.
This week, prosecutor Mathias Marcussen said the submission amounted to Seselj “maneuvering against [his] political opponents in Serbia”.
Presiding Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti said that the prosecution should at least look for any such notes, which Marcussen agreed to do.
Seselj was insistent that Del Ponte and Tolbert provide their own accounts of the alleged meetings.
“I am going to subpoena Carla Del Ponte and David Tolbert and not call any other witnesses until that happens,” Seselj exclaimed, referring to his defence case, which has yet to begin.
Judge Antonetti noted that they are still three court witnesses slated to testify before the prosecution’s case officially ends. However, he said that two of them are too ill to appear in court, and the final witness, who also has health problems, will not be available before the beginning of May.
“We will meet again at one point in time,” said Judge Antonetti, adjourning the proceedings until further notice.
Seselj is charged with nine counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity – including murder, torture and forcible transfer - for atrocities carried out between August 1991 and September 1993, in an effort to expel the non-Serb population from parts of Croatia and Bosnia.
Last July, Seselj was sentenced to 15 months in prison for revealing details about protected witnesses in one of his books. He is appealing against that conviction, but is currently facing new contempt charges for allegedly disclosing information about 11 other protected witnesses.
Seselj will make his initial appearance in the second contempt case on April 20.
Rachel Irwin is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
