On 4 February 2010, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued an order in lieu of an indictment for Vojislav Šešelj for contempt of the tribunal. Šešelj, who is currently on trial for war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, is accused of having disclosed information on eleven protected witnesses, including their names, occupations and places of residence in a book he authored.

The Trial Chamber has ordered the Registrar to appoint amicus curiae prosecutor to prosecute the case against Šešelj.

In December 2009 the Appeals Chamber made a confidential decision in which it found that the Trial Chamber had erred when it concluded that there were insufficient grounds to prosecute Šešelj in August 2009. The Prosecution’s original motion related to three books, whose titles are confidential, authored by the Accused. The Prosecution appealed the Trial Chamber’s findings in relation to only one of the three books. The appeal was granted by the Appeals Chamber on 17 December 2009, followed by an order of the President of the Tribunal assigning Judges O-Gon Kwon, Kevin Parker and Burton Hall to the case.

The Chamber is set to schedule an initial appearance at which Šešelj will enter a plea to the charges.

On 24 July 2009 Šešelj was found guilty of contempt by the Tribunal and sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment. The Trial Chamber found that he had disclosed the names and other personal details of protected witnesses in a book he authored.