The tribunal's appeals chamber said on Monday in a decision signed by president Theodor Meron that the prosecutors in the case did not have to prove the existence of an armed conflict, adding that there are situations when a war in one country causes in a neighbouring country widespread and systematic attacks on civilians belonging to the ethnic group of one of the warring parties.
In his complaint to the indictment, Seselj has disputed two counts charging him with the deportation and forcible transfer of Croats from the Vojvodina village of Hrtkovci in May 1992, which qualifies as a crime against humanity.
Seselj argued that at the time there was no armed conflict in Vojvodina, which is a basic condition for the tribunal's jurisdiction.
On May 26 the trial chamber accepted his arguments and requested that the prosecutors clarify the charges concerning Vojvodina or drop them. The prosecutors filed an appeal to the decision on June 18 and the appeals chamber upheld it, saying that prosecution of crimes committed against Vojvodina Croats was justified.
Seselj, 50, is charged with 14 counts of complicity in a joint criminal enterprise and war crimes committed as part of systematic attacks on Croats, Muslims and other non-Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Vojvodina from 1991 to 1993.