Prosecutor asks UN tribunal to convict Serbia's Seselj for war crimes

The Hague (dpa) - A prosecutor from the UN war crimes tribunal has called for the conviction of Serbian ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj for war crimes committed in the Balkans in the 1990s.Upholding the 2016 aquittal of Seselj, the chief of Serbian Radical Party, would be unjust, Prosecutor Mathias Marcussen said Wednesday in The Hague. Marcussen appealed for a guilty verdict and a 28-year sentence.Now 63, Seselj was accused of planning and inciting ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. He was accused of persecution, murder and torture.Seselj, who was detained at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) from 2003 until his provisional release in 2014, is currently a representative in the Serbian parliament.The ultra-nationalist refused to appear for the judgement in March 2016 or for Wednesday‘s appeals hearing. Seselj represented himself during his trial and repeatedly questioned the court. He served time for contempt of court several times.He said that he will in any case not return to the tribunal voluntarily.The judges have given Seselj 10 days to react to the prosecution charges. The date for the ruling has not been set.