Šešelj seeks EUR 12mn compensation for wrongful detention

Šešelj seeks EUR 12mn compensation for wrongful detention

THE HAGUE -- Vojislav Šešelj has requested EUR 12 million in compensation from the Hague Tribunal (ICTY) for what he claims is wrongful detention by the court.

The leader of the Serb Radical Party (SRS), accused of war crimes, has been incarcerated since early 2003.

The court announced that in a request filed on June 10, Šešelj said that he voluntarily surrendered himself to the Tribunal on February 24, 2003, and that he has since been detained in Scheveningen.

Citing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Protocol 7 of that Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, he said that it would be "utterly unbelievable that international standards do not apply to, or are not applied by, the ICTY."

Šešelj requested compensation for "lost revenues, failure to exercise employment rights, lost pension and disability insurance contributions, expenses of visits by his family members, detention-related expenses and all the resulting material and non-material damage," he said in the request.

The SRS leader said that he is suffering indirect damage due to his inability to work and make earnings, that his reputation and honor have been damaged, and that, "due to permanent health damage sustained over the 135 months of detention, he is entitled to monetary compensation in the form of a life annuity."

After turning himself in, Šešelj pleaded not guilty to all counts in an indictment charging him with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Vojvodina...