Global Policy Forum

By Marlise Simons

Slobodan Milosevic is being upstaged. For the past two years, the former Yugoslav president has noisily challenged the international tribunal that is trying him for war crimes, by pontificating, denigrating his judges and dismissing his trial as a mere anti-Serb farce. But a fellow Serb, the ultranationalist politician and warlord Vojislav Seselj, is now outdoing the former strongman in insolence. Taken together, their behavior illustrates some of the difficulties this court faces in doing its work. Frustratingly slow at times, it deals with Croat, Muslim and Serbian defendants accused of atrocities in the 1990's wars that broke up Yugoslavia. Mr. Seselj (pronounced SHESH-el), who turned himself in a year ago, has sneered that the United Nations court is just an "American tool against Serbs," which he "will blast to pieces." Known in Serbia for his rabble-rousing speeches and foul language, he has now brought those habits to The Hague. He has equated one judge with the Nazis and requested that all three of his judges be disqualified. He has accused the tribunal registrar of financial crimes, fired off motions that amount to insulting diatribes, and managed to outwit his prison guards — and his trial has not even begun. Some court officials wonder how a proper and fair trial can be held of such an obstructionist defendant. "Other accused have their ways of being difficult," said Jim Landale, the tribunal spokesman, "but we have not seen such extreme verbal assaults before." Like Mr. Milosevic, Mr. Seselj, 49, is conducting his own defense, which allows him to hold the floor in court, even now at preparatory hearings for the trial that may begin later this year. Mr. Seselj, a former Sarajevo University lecturer who founded an ultranationalist political party and his own armed militia, faces charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Bosnia and Croatia in the 1990's. His indictment says that he ordered persecutions, plunder and killings, and that he is accountable for the atrocities perpetrated by his gang, known as Seselj's Men. Prosecutors and witnesses contend that he often directed the fighters as they terrorized, robbed and killed non-Serbian civilians.

Mr. Seselj's latest move that aggravated court officials came in December, when he managed to use the jail telephone to campaign for his Radical Party in the parliamentary elections of Serbia. Mr. Milosevic did the same for his Socialist Party. When the tribunal discovered they were broadcasting on Belgrade radio, it imposed a temporary ban on all calls except to family and lawyers. Mr. Milosevic reportedly respected the ban, a court official said, but Mr. Seselj gave another interview on Dec. 25 from a public phone near his cell. He told his listeners in Belgrade that he was able to trick his guards because "the fools are all busy celebrating Christmas." Mr. Seselj's party won almost 28 percent of the vote, making it the largest political force in the country. He tried to deliver a victory speech by telephone until his guards cut him off. The telephone episode points up the challenge of trying to stop these two seasoned politicians from exercising their influence from their cells. Court officials are even more concerned about the plans of the two to use their trials as political platforms. Mr. Milosevic, for example, is entitled to hold the floor for many months once his defense begins in May. Proceedings are regularly broadcast to the Balkans, and while Mr. Milosevic's influence at home has waned, his past defiance and now Mr. Seselj's courtroom histrionics draw applause or amusement in Serbia. One such story involves a computer, which the court gave Mr. Seselj to try to stop him from filing his lengthy motions scribbled by hand. He announced to his judges that he would not touch this laptop because, he said with evident sarcasm, he did not want to get electric shocks. During one session, he requested that the judges change their red-and-black courtroom robes because they caused him deep psychological problems. He said they reminded him of the Roman Catholic Inquisition.

In court, the judges have shrugged off or played down most of his antics, calling them "frivolous." But behind the scenes, Mr. Seselj has sometimes provoked outrage, particularly with his motion demanding that his three judges be disqualified. Wolfgang Schomburg, the presiding judge, he said, had to step down because he was from Germany, a country hostile to Serbs. "Whenever I see Wolfgang Schomburg, I remember Auschwitz, Mauthausen and Jasenovac," Mr. Seselj wrote, referring to Nazi concentration camps. "The smell of crematoriums and gas chambers comes into the Hague courtroom with him." As for the two other judges, he wrote, they were "ardent and zealous Catholics," which meant they belonged to "one of the most dangerous international criminal organizations," whose priests, he claimed, had taken part in mass killings of Serbs. The court dismissed his written outburst as ill-founded and frivolous, but warned that it might decide to restrict his motions in the future. "Unspeakable," said one judge who is not part of this case. But, he said, to hold Mr. Seselj in contempt of court would probably be counterproductive. Richard Dicker, a director of Human Rights Watch who follows the tribunal, said the repugnant language served to illustrate the kind of racism and hatred with which Serb politicians incited their public for years and which "are at the core of much of the violence" in the former Yugoslavia. In a highly unusual move, the court has now imposed a standby counsel on Mr. Seselj to avoid being held hostage by his temper. It ruled that if his conduct becomes too disruptive, he will be removed from the courtroom and the standby counsel will take over. Mr. Seselj retorted that he would have nothing to do with the "alleged standby counsel." Further, he announced, he would sue the court for violating his rights.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.