THE HAGUE, Netherlands — In a rare courtroom victory for a Serb defendant, a U.N. war crimes tribunal on Thursday acquitted ultranationalist politician Vojislav Seselj of atrocities and pronounced him a free man. The decision inflamed simmering tensions in the Balkans, sparking joy in Serbia, and horror and deep anger in Bosnia and Croatia.
Prosecutors had charged Seselj, 61, with crimes including persecution, murder and torture, and had demanded a 28-year sentence for his support of Serb paramilitaries in the region’s bitter, bloody wars in the 1990s.
But in a majority decision, the three-judge panel said there was insufficient evidence linking the politician to the crimes. A dissenting opinion shredded that logic, providing grist for possible future appeals.
“After so many proceedings in which innocent Serbs were given draconian punishments, this time two honest judges showed they valued honor more than political pressure,” Seselj said at a press conference at his Serbian Radical Party headquarters in Belgrade.
