Significance
The verdict runs counter to 20 years of jurisprudence and history at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It undermines the idea of using international criminal justice to assist in post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation. It has caused disbelief, disappointment and anger in Croatia and Bosnia, especially among victims, and generated political instability in Serbia.
Impacts
The controversial judgment will further discredit the ICTY and the very idea of international criminal justice in the eyes of critics.
It followed Karadzic's 40-year prison sentence, which has dismayed victims and observers expecting a harsher sentence.
Despite working towards closure in 2017, the ICTY is very likely to grant an appeal.
However, Seselj himself is unlikely to reappear in The Hague voluntarily.
