Serbian MPs on Interpol wanted list

Members of Parliament and Serbian Radical Party Vjerica Radeta, Petar Jojic, and Stevo Ostojic are accused by The Hague Tribunal for the contempt of court, for which Interpol put them on the wanted red list on 16th March.

The Tribunal accused the radicals of influencing witnesses in the process against their party leader Vojislav Seselj. According to the Tribunal, the three radicals threatened, blackmailed, and bribed witnesses to change testimonies against Vojislav Seselj.

In the statement of ICTY from Friday, it is stated that the president judge of the Court, Carmel Agius, addressed the Security Council of the United Nations and reported Serbia for not arresting the three radicals despite the Court’s order. Judge Agius called the Security Council of the UN to "take the measures necessary to ensure Serbia’s compliance with orders of the Tribunal, in accordance with its obligations."

Serbian authorities received the Court arrest warrant for the three radicals in 2015. However, they have not been arrested. Moreover, at the parliamentary elections in April 2016 they became MPs.

The High Court in Belgrade ruled in mid 2016 that there are no legal possibilities for arresting them. The ruling stated that, in accordance with the national Law on cooperation with the Tribunal, arrest and extradition of Serbian citizens is only possible if they commit war crimes.

Since Serbia declined to arrest the three radicals, the Tribunal issued an international warrant for their arrest in October 2016.

Milivoje Pantovic