Appeals Chamber orders revocation of Seselj' s release

THE HAGUE - The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ordered its Trial Chamber Monday to immediately revoke the provisional release of Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Seselj and order his return to the United Nations detention unit in Scheveningen.

The Appeals Council also ordered the Trial Chamber to give the parties, Serbia and The Netherlands the opportunity to be heard, and after that, to conduct a de novo assessment of the merits of Seselj' s possible further provisional release in accordance with the present decision, the ICTY said in a release.

On January 20, ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz urged the Appeals Chamber to revoke Seselj's provisional release claiming that the accused had violated the conditions of his release by some of his public statements and activities.

Previously, the Trial Chamber rejected the prosecution's appeal as inadmissible, explaining that the SRS leader's statements to the press "do not constitute an attempt to influence or threaten victims or witnesses."

The ICTY is accusing Seselj of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He has spent nearly 12 years in detention without a sentence being reached in his case. He was released from custody on November 12, 2014 without any special requirements, based on his health condition which worsened one year after he had an operation to remove a cancer.

SESELJ: ICTY DECIDES UNDER PRESSURE OF BELGRADE

Leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) Vojislav Seselj stated Monday he will not go back to the detention unit of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) voluntarily.

The appeals chamber at the ICTY revoked Monday Seselj's...