Ljajic: Gov’t stands ready to help treat Seselj, Hadzic

BELGRADE - The Serbian government has sent a letter to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), seeking from the tribunal to furnish it with information about the medical condition of Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Seselj and former Republic of Serbian Krajina president Goran Hadzic, given that the defendants agree with that.

"We expressed our readiness to send our doctors from Serbia such as Seselj and Hadzic, or their defense, may choose, if they deem it necessary and useful right now," said Rasim Ljajic, president of the National Council for cooperation with the ICTY.

"The government also ordered the Serbian consul in the Netherlands to visit the defendants Seselj and Hadzic, and all others in the Scheveningen prison who may have health problems," Ljajic told reporters in the city of Novi Pazar, southwestern Serbia.

He said that Serbia would do everything it could with respect for the law and the ICTY rules to ensure its citizens in the UN detention center could get proper health-care protection.

Less than a year ago, Seselj underwent surgery for colon cancer, and a month ago, he was found to have metastases to the liver.

Hadzic suffered a mild stroke, fell and injured his shoulder at the detention unit on October 16, media outlets in Belgrade have reported.

SRS deputy leader Nemanja Sarovic told a press conference in Belgrade yesterday that Sesselj had been experiencing health issues ever since the surgery in December, and had consistently had a raised body temperature of 37 and 38 degrees Celsius over the last few months.

He said that Seselj had persistently demanded further examinations, but his prison doctors said that that temperature was...