UN war crimes judges Thursday began delivering their verdict against radical Serb leader Vojislav Seselj who is charged with atrocities in the 1990s Balkans wars, but in an unprecedented move the firebrand politician was absent from court.
"I slept like a baby, my conscience is clear," Seselj proclaimed in a defiant tweet after being allowed for medical reasons to remain in Belgrade for the landmark hearing.
The man known for his incendiary rhetoric during the wars that tore Yugoslavia apart, said on his Twitter account that he was "fresh" and would hold a press conference in the Serbian capital after the verdict.
Seselj, 61, faces nine charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged ruthless quest to unite "all Serbian lands" in a "Greater Serbia".
Prosecutors say he was behind the murder of many Croat, Muslim and other non-Serb civilians, as well as the forced deportation of "tens of thousands" from large areas of Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia and Serbia.
The judgement comes exactly a week after former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in jail for genocide and nine other charges by the judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
At liberty on the streets of Belgrade, where the Serbian Radical Party leader is preparing to run in elections next month, Seselj denounced the judgement against his former colleague.
"The verdict on Radovan Karadzic is a verdict on all Serb people, all of Serb history and the Serbian nation," he told a packed crowd of ultranationalists.
- 'Manipulating' the court -
The ICTY has excused Seselj from attending Thursday's judgement on medical grounds, after being allowed to return to Serbia in 2014 for treatment for colon cancer.
It will be the first time that judges at the ICTY return an initial verdict without the accused in court -- although defendants have been absent for appeals judgements.
While Seselj maintains he is in poor health, he was seen earlier this month at a rally in Belgrade setting fire to EU and NATO flags as well as paying his respects at the grave of former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic -- who died in his cell in The Hague in 2006 while on trial.
Seselj voluntarily surrendered to the ICTY in 2003, but in the past two years he has refused to return to The Hague from Belgrade, and if he is found guilty and sentenced to jail on Thursday, many are questioning how he would be caught.
Court officials told AFP the judges would address the issue in their ruling if needed.
"Croats say that I'll be dreaming of a Greater Serbia behind bars. But perhaps between now and when the verdict comes into force I will have time to walk through the streets of Zagreb," Seselj added in his tweet.
- 'Major manipulator' -
His continued freedom has incensed many, including those from the badly-bombed Croat town of Vukovar.
"The Hague tribunal is to blame for setting him free before the verdict," Manda Patko, who heads the "Mothers of Vukovar" association, told AFP.
Seselj was a "major manipulator" who was playing the international community for his own benefit, she added.
Seselj's trial started in 2006, but was halted only weeks later after he went on hunger strike. It was then nullified.
A new trial started in late 2007 and proceeded with multiple delays until the closing arguments in March 2012, when prosecutors said Seselj had warned "rivers of blood" would flow in Bosnia if his vision for a greater Serbian state was opposed.
Seselj, who represented himself, accused the Croats of starting the war during the break-up of Yugoslavia, forcing the Serbs to defend themselves.