Mico Stanisic in court in The Hague in March 2005. Photo: EPA/Fred Ernst/Pool.
A lawyer for the convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Mico Stanisic has asked the UN’s International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague to free him early on the grounds that he has served two-thirds of his sentence.
Stanisic previously requested early release in November 2024, but was turned down.
His lawyer, Slobodan Zecevic, said the amount of jail time he had served reaches the threshold required for early release under the law in Poland, where Stanisic is serving his sentence.
Stanisic was the interior minister of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska, during Bosnia’s 1992-5 war.
The Hague Tribunal sentenced him to 22 years in prison for persecution, murder and torture under a final verdict in 2016.
As evidence of Stanisic’s rehabilitation, his submission to the International Residual Mechanism states that Stanisic served his sentence in a multi-ethnic prison and has had friendly relations with inmates of different ethnic backgrounds.
It also notes that during his time in prison no disciplinary proceedings were brought against him.
“The petitioner claims that, especially given the length of his sentence, his behaviour manifests a great level of re-socialisation,” the submission says.
“After almost 20 years from his voluntary surrender, and more than 32 years from the time the crimes were committed, the sentence already served by the petitioner not only reduces the likelihood of further criminal conduct but also contributes to reconciliation within the community where the crimes had been committed,” it adds.
Stanisic voluntarily surrendered to the Tribunal in March 2005 and his trial began in September 2009, alongside his co-defandant, Stojan Zupljanin, the wartime head of the regional police centre in Banja Luka. Zupljanin was convicted of persecution, murder, torture and extermination.
According to Stanisic’s application for early release, if he is permitted to leave prison he will live at the family home in Belgrade and has the financial resources – a pension – to support himself.