ZAGREB, Feb 14 (Hina) - The Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal on Friday indicted the leader of the Serbian Radical Party, Vojislav Seselj, for persecution and crimes committed during the war in Croatia and Bosnia, as well as for
the ethnic cleansing of Vojvodina Croats.
ZAGREB, Feb 14 (Hina) - The Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal on
Friday indicted the leader of the Serbian Radical Party, Vojislav
Seselj, for persecution and crimes committed during the war in
Croatia and Bosnia, as well as for the ethnic cleansing of Vojvodina
Croats. #L#
This is the first indictment the tribunal has issued for war crimes
committed in Vojvodina.
Seselj is charged with the persecution of the residents of
Vojvodina as a crime against humanity.
The indictment against former Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic mentions Seselj as a participant in a joint criminal
enterprise aimed at forcibly removing the non-Serb population and
annexing one-third of Croatia and a large piece of Bosnia to the so-
called Greater Serbia. Seselj himself advocated the idea of Greater
Serbia with the border along the line Virovitica - Karlovac -
Karlobag in his public appearances.
Seselj, says the indictment, participated in the formation of Serb
volunteer units, known as "Seseljevci" or "Chetniks", which he
incited to plunder and commit crimes in Croatia and Bosnia.
He participated in war propaganda and instigated hatred towards the
non-Serb population. In his public speeches, he called for the
expulsion of Croats from parts of Vojvodina, which spurred a
persecution campaign against Croats, the prosecutors maintain.
Seselj also took part in preparations for the occupation of
villages in eastern and western Slavonia, in the regions of Vukovar
and Vocin, as well as Bosanski Samac and Zvornik in Bosnia, and the
subsequent expulsion of the population.
The 14 counts charging Seselj with crimes against humanity and the
violation of the laws and customs of war from 1991 through 1993,
include the killing of 43 residents of the Vocin village and Vukovar
residents, including 255 people killed after the Vukovar hospital
was taken by Serb forces.
Seselj ordered his associates in Vojvodina to threaten non-Serbs
with death if they did not leave the area. In a speech in Vojvodina's
village of Hrtkovci on May 6, 1992, Seselj urged the exile of
Croats, reading a list of names of Croats who he thought should
leave for Croatia.
After his speech, a persecution campaign against Croats began, says
the indictment. During the following three months, many non-Serbs
were abused and forced under threats to leave Vojvodina. Their
homes were looted and occupied by Serbs.
(hina) lml