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Seselj Urges Action Over Ex-Detention Unit Officer
Serb nationalist politician claims the former officer revealed Milosevic’s persona
l details prejudicing work of tribunal.
By Rachel Irwin - International Justice - ICTY
TRI Issue 679,
11 Feb 11
Serbian nationalist politician Vojislav Seselj this week urged the Hague tribuna
l to take action against the former commanding officer of the United Nations det
ention unit in The Hague for allegedly disclosing personal details about ex-Serb
ian president Slobodan Milosevic to a United States diplomat.
Seselj’s remarks – in a report to tribunal president Judge Patrick Robinson – were rel
ated to a reportedly leaked diplomatic cable where Clifford Johnson, of the Unit
ed States embassy in The Hague, allegedly detailed statements that former comman
ding officer Timothy McFadden is said to have made about Milosevic.
“Milosevic could manipulate a nation, [McFadden] said, but struggled to maintain h
is wife who, on the contrary, seemed to exert just such a pull on him,” the allege
d cable stated about Milosevic’s daily phone conversations with his wife, Mirjana
Markovic.
The said cable goes on to describe Milosevic’s “nearly photogenic memory”, his suppose
d narcissism, as well as his state of health and daily routine. In addition, the
alleged cable mentions his taste in music and books, which included Frank Sinat
ra and “pot boiler thrillers”.
Seselj claims that “by sending the information to US agencies and state organs, [M
cFadden] caused serious prejudice to the reputation and the work of the [tribuna
l]”. He said that if Judge Robinson doesn’t take action “commensurate” with the allegati
ons at hand, “the already poor international reputation of the [tribunal] will be
ruined further”.
Seselj then listed numerous rules enacted at both the tribunal and the detention
unit, known as the UNDU, and described how McFadden allegedly broke them.
The reported details about Milosevic’s relationship with his wife were “a scandalous
disclosure about the private relationship between spouses”, he alleged, and went
on to note that it is “normal for spouses to call each other every day”.
He concluded by urging Judge Robinson to take action on the matter, or “it will be
clear that the [tribunal] is under the same jurisdiction as the Guantanamo camp
/military court”.
Detained at the UNDU since 2003, Seselj is charged with nine counts of war crime
s and crimes against humanity – including murder, torture and forcible transfer – fo
r atrocities carried out in an effort to expel the non-Serb population from part
s of Croatia and Bosnia between August 1991 and September 1993. He remains leade
r of the Serbian Radical Party, SRS, based in Belgrade.
Seselj’s trial has endured repeated delays since it officially began in November 2
007, a full year after the original trial date was postponed due to the accused’s
hunger strike. In addition, he was found guilty of contempt in July 2009 for rev
ealing confidential details about protected witnesses in one of the books he aut
hored. The accused is set to face yet another contempt trial on similar charges.
Fellow accused Radovan Karadzic has already used the alleged leaked cable as a b
asis for requesting that his phone calls no longer be monitored by court officia
ls, as is standard for all detainees.
In a January 28 motion, Karadzic claimed that the way McFadden disclosed the inf
ormation on Milosevic was “shocking and disturbing.
“It is unknown to what extent, if any, officials of the United Nations detention u
nit or registrar have discussed with third parties information obtained in whole
or in part through the monitoring or recording of Dr Karadzic’s conversations,” he
stated.
Karadzic further requested that the registrar obtain a statement under oath from
the current commander of the detention unit, and all commanders since July 2008
, “setting forth all instances in which they discussed Dr Karadzic’s case with perso
ns outside of the registry and in the information revealed in those discussions”.
The president of the tribunal has yet to respond to Karadzic’s request.
At a press conference on January 26, chief of the registrar’s office Martin Petrov
told journalists that “at this point, the tribunal is unable to confirm the authe
nticity of the report but the matter is being looked into.
“A preliminary analysis of the alleged cable indicates that many of the issues rai
sed in it were already in the public domain”.
For example, he said that “details about the daily routine of [tribunal] detainees
have been available to the public for years”.
Petrov stressed “that the tribunal has clear confidentiality rules, which apply to
all, including and especially to staff members. Alleged breaches of confidentia
lity are always investigated and appropriate action taken”.
Rachel Irwin is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.