Brammertz: Seselj to receive verdict at end of 2015

SARAJEVO - Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Serge Brammertz has said that the verditc in Seselj's case cannot be expected before the end of 2015.

Unfortunately, it is a fact that there is no verdict 10 years into the case, he told TV N1, adding that he hoped it would be delivered as soon as possible.

The decision to grant Seselj an unconditional temporary release is not uncommon, he noted.

The verdict was supposed to be announced in October last year, but one of the trial chamber judges, Frederic Harhoff, was replaced, pointed out.

Brammertz rejected the claims by head of Serbia's National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY Rasim Ljajic, who said that the ICTY had released Seselj so he would receive the verdict while free and in Serbia.

Seselj is not the first person the ICTY has released while awaiting a verdict, and was the decision is made, he will obviously be summoned back to The Hague, the prosecutor stated.

The ICTY raised an indictment against Vojislav Seselj on February 14, 2003, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 1991/93 in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Serbian province of Vojvodina, where no war conflict took place.

Ten days later, Seselj surrendered to the ICTY, and the trial was launched four years later on November 7, 2007.

Although he has been in detention for nearly 12 years, no first instance verdict has been passed, which is a precedent.

Less than a year ago, SSeselj underwent surgery for colon cancer, and a month ago, he was found to have metastases to the liver, consequently the ICTY Trial Chamber, with the Serbian government vouching for his return, decided on...