Senegalese Judge Replaces Harhoff

In his decision acting President of The Hague Tribunal Carmel Agius also expressed his view that the Trial Chamber should consult with the indictee on whether to rehear the case or continue the proceedings with the newly appointed judge, as envisaged in the Tribunal’s Statute.  

The decision states moreover that it is ultimately up to the Trial Chamber to determine whether the trial will begin anew or proceed.  

Judge Mandiaye Niang is from Senegal. As of October 30 he has been member of the Appellate Chamber of the International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.  

As per a motion filed by the indictee, the Tribunal disqualified judge Harhoff from the Chamber in August. Seselj filed the motion following a letter in which the Danish judge expressed his dissatisfaction with verdicts of release pronounced in the case of senior military and police officials from Croatia and Serbia. 

The pronouncement of a verdict against Seselj, which was originally scheduled for October 30, has been postponed due to the disqualification of the Chamber member.   

The indictment alleges that Seselj, former leader of the Serbian Radical Party, SDS, is charged with crimes committed against the Bosniak and Croat population in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia in the period from 1991 to 1994.

Seselj surrendered to the Tribunal in February 2003. His trial began in November 2007.