UN court acquits Serb ultranationalist Seselj of all counts

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — In a sweeping defeat for U.N. prosecutors, the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal acquitted Serbian ultranationalist Vojislav Seselj on Thursday of all nine counts alleging that he was responsible for or incited atrocities by Serbian paramilitaries in the 1990s Balkan wars.

In a majority ruling, the three-judge panel ruled that Serbian plans to carve out a "Greater Serbia" by uniting lands they considered Serb territory in Croatia and Bosnia was a "political goal" and not a criminal plan, as prosecutors alleged.

Brammertz, the prosecutor, pointed to the ruling's controversial findings, including that there was not a widespread attack by Serb forces on civilians in Bosnia and Croatia, and that operations to bus non-Serbs out of areas claimed by Serbs as part of a "Greater Serbia" amounted to a humanitarian mission rather than the forcible removal of the population.

"The reading of the conflict by the trial chamber is very, very different to what we are used to," he told reporters at the court, adding that the marathon case was beset by allegations of interference with witnesses and evidence.

Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian nationalist politician turned deputy prime minister, welcomed Seselj's acquittal.

With a surge in pro-Russian and right-wing sentiments ahead of Serbia's April 24 general election, Seselj's Serbian Radical Party has a good chance to return to parliament after missing out after the last vote two years ago.