Seselj's Acquittal Highlights Futility of Int'l Criminal Tribunal

Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska said that the announcement of the Seselj verdict today at The Hague tribunal confirmed the futility of international justice.

BELGRADE (Sputnik) — The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ruling in the trial of former Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia Vojislav Seselj demonstrates the institution's futility, the president of Republika Srpska said Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the tribunal ruled that Seselj, who is also president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party, was not guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Balkan wars in the 1990s.

"The announcement of the Seselj verdict today at The Hague tribunal confirmed the futility of international justice, promoted via ICTY. Otherwise, how else can one explain the fact that the grueling marathon trial, which Seselj underwent, received such an epilogue," Milorad Dodik was quoted as saying by the Republika Srpska РТРС broadcaster.

Dodik added that the Seselj trial would serve as further proof of the "legal disgrace that the Hague tribunal has been promoting for years."

Croatia's Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic labeled the ICTY ruling as "shameful."