The UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has charged a Serb nationalist on trial for war crimes in The Hague with contempt of court, a court filing showed today.
The move against Vojislav Seselj, leader of Serbia's ultranationalist Radical Party, marks the first time that a suspect has been charged with contempt of court while on trial for war crimes, a court spokeswoman said.
Mr Seselj is on trial on charges including murder, torture and persecution of non-Serbs.
The court said it initiated contempt proceedings against Seselj for "knowingly and wilfully disclosing information in knowing violation of an order of a chamber".
The contempt of court case will be handled in a separate court chamber to where Seselj's war crimes case is being heard.
He will be called upon at a later date to enter a plea.
Mr Seselj is accused of knowingly revealing the identity of three protected witnesses by publishing information about them in a book he has admitted authoring, court documents showed.
If convicted of contempt, Mr Seselj could be sentenced to seven years jail or fined up to €100,000 or both, the court spokeswoman said.
Reuters