UN judges acquit radical Serb leader of war crimes
AFP
AFP, THE HAGUE: UN war crimes judges Thursday acquitted radical Serb leader Vojislav Seselj on all nine charges of committing atrocities in the 1990s Balkans wars, in a surprise judgement which was swiftly denounced by Croatia. The chamber by majority holds that the prosecution has not provided sufficient evidence to establish that the crimes were committed by Seselj, Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti said at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Following the verdict, Vojislav Seselj is now a free man. Seselj, 61, had faced nine charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged ruthless quest to unite all Serbian lands in a Greater Serbia. Prosecutors had alleged he was behind the murder of many Croat, Muslim and other non-Serb civilians, as well as the forced deportation of tens of thousands from large areas of Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia and Serbia. But the judges found that although crimes were committed, Seselj had not had hierarchial responsibility for his paramilitary forces after they came under the control of the Serbian army and could not be held responsible for their crimes.
