Trial of Serb ultranationalist leader begins at UN war crimes tribunal
The Serbian ultranationalist politician Vojislav Šešelj used "poisonous ideas" to incite war crimes against non-Serbs
during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, prosecutors at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) said today as they outlined their case at his trial.
The prosecution said Mr. Šešelj - the president of the Serbian Radical Party - made speeches that led to the murder,
torture and persecution of Croat, Muslim and other non-Serb civilians and their expulsion from parts of Croatia, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, and the Vojvodina region of Serbia between August 1991 and at least September 1993.
Mr. Šešelj, 53, is facing three counts of crimes against humanity and six counts of war crimes relating to his alleged
role in an ethnic cleansing campaign by Serbian forces. He has pleaded not guilty to these charges, which include
murder, torture, imprisonment and deportation.
Prosecutors made their opening statement today at the Tribunal, which is based in The Hague, and will start introducing
evidence next month. Mr. Šešelj, who is representing himself, will have the opportunity to make an opening statement
tomorrow.
The trial began in November last year in the absence of Mr. Šešelj, who was then on a hunger strike and refusing to
appear in court. But the judges later adjourned the trial until he became fit enough to participate fully in the
proceedings as a self-represented accused, and Mr. Šešelj - who had surrendered to the Tribunal in February 2003 - ended
his hunger strike.
The indictment against him accuses Mr. Šešelj of taking part in a joint criminal enterprise with former Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic, among others, that led to the extermination and expulsion of non-Serb people with the aim
of forming a greater Serbian state.
ENDS