Gov’t ready to provide conditional guarantees for Seselj

BELGRADE – Serbia’s government has said that it is ready to provide The Hague tribunal guarantees for a provisional release of Vojislav Seselj, given that the leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) declares in a legally binding form that he will abide by all the conditions specified or agreed with him by the competent trial chamber of that court.

The Serbian government says that Serbia has so far successfully carried out all the orders for provisional release of citizens of the Republic of Serbia indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

On June 17, Seselj informed the ICTY trial chamber in charge of his case that if a decision was made to have him provisionally released, he would not accept any limitations, except not leaving the territory of Serbia.

In a submission to the ICTY, which has been delivered to media from the SRS, Seselj said that if temporarily released, he would not report to the police or wear an electronic bracelet or any other item that violated human dignity.

Seselj said that he would be participating in Serbia’s political life, at public meetings, giving interviews for newspapers, appearing on TV shows and would “publicly criticize The Hague tribunal as an illegal international court.”

The trial chamber has requested the Serbian government to confirm whether it can ensure a number of measures, including to guarantee that Seselj will not come into contact with victims and witnesses and that he will be arrested immediately if he violates the conditions of provisional release.

Vojislav Seselj is charged with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Vojvodina between 1991...