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Serbia: War crimes defendant attacks witness
(AKI) A Serbian leader indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has ridiculed a prosecution witness calling him "incompetent and ignorant".The leader of the nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) Vojislav Seselj, on Thursday attacked American sociologist Anthony Oberschall. Seselj has been charged by the Hague-based tribunal with persecution, murder, torture, deportations and cruel treatment of non-Serbs during the Balkan wars He cross-examined Oberschall, rejecting point by point his accusations. Oberschall has been commissioned by the ICTY prosecutors to analyse some 400 of Seseljs articles and speeches in which he allegedly incited volunteers recruited by his party to commit crimes against Croats and Bosnian Muslims. But pressed by Seselj, Oberschall has backed down on many points, saying he wasnt sure or had second hand knowledge of some events. Admit that you are no expert, that you are ignorant, Seselj said to Oberschall during the two-day cross examination carried by Serbian television. Seselj has not actively participated in the war by the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, but the indictment holds him responsible for alleged crimes committed by the volunteers recruited by his party. He has rejected all charges, saying he was actually being tried for verbal offense and vowed to make a mockery of the trial. Posted by: Fred 2007-12-14 |
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