Interpol Issues Arrest Notices for Wanted Serbian Radicals

2.4.17

I CARE - - News - Internet Centre Anti Racism Europe: 31/3/2017- Interpol has issued red notices – the closest thing to an international arrest warrant – for Serbian Radical Party members Petar Jojic, Jovo Ostojic and Vjerica Radeta, the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague said on Friday. They are accused of contempt of court for interfering with witnesses during the trial of their leader, Vojislav Seselj, who was acquitted of war crimes charges last year, although the case has now gone to appeal. “Petar Jojic, Jovo Ostojic and Vjerica Radeta have been charged with contempt of court for allegedly having threatened, intimidated, offered bribes to, or otherwise interfered with two witnesses in the trial againstVojislav Seselj and a related contempt case against him,” the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia said in a statement.

The warrants came into force last Friday, the statement said. But Serbia again refused to extradite them to The Hague, citing a ruling last year by the Belgrade Higher Court, which said that the Serbian authorities can only arrest people wanted by the Hague Tribunal who are charged with war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity. “We have to respect the [Belgrade] court’s decision, no matter whether we like it or not,” Serbian deputy prime minister Rasim Ljajic told media on Tuesday. “We can’t behave as we like if we want to respect democratic principles,” said Ljajic, who is also the head of Serbia’s council for cooperation with the Hague Tribunal. The Serbian government has also cited security reasons for not arresting the three Radicals, suggesting that detaining them would cause unrest in the country.