The International War Crimes Tribunal (ICY) in The Hague on Wednesday dismissed a motion by Serb nationalist Vojislav Seselj, for acquittal. He is on trial for war crimes during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

The court ordered the trial of Seselj to continue.

He is accused of "murder, extermination, persecution, torture and cruel treatment" of non-Serbs as part of efforts to create a "Greater Serbia" during the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia.

Seselj, a popular political leader in Serbia, had requested that he be acquitted in March, arguing there was no evidence against him and requesting compensation for more than eight years in detention.