The Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina today denied the writings of certain media “that this ministry gives legitimacy to the provision of guarantees for the early release of convicted war criminal Stojan Župljanin, as well as that the Minister of Justice is ‘blocking’ the entry of judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). “.
“The Ministry of Justice of BiH, as well as the Council of Ministers of BiH, do not provide legitimacy or guarantees for the early release of convicts who have been sentenced before the ICTY, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts makes a decision on this. If the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts assesses that the conditions for early release have been met, the competent government of the entity based on the place of residence of the convicted person gives guarantees that the requests will be acted upon,” the relevant ministry announced.
At the same time, the BiH Ministry of Justice emphasizes that within its powers, it will inform the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts about the views and concerns of a part of the public regarding this case, so that a proper and fair decision can be made.
“The BiH Ministry of Justice does not block or obstruct the entry of ICTY judgments into criminal records. On the contrary, we held a meeting on this topic with the secretary and president of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts, all with the aim of concluding a special Memorandum on the basis of which we would be authorized to submit ICTY judgments to the competent institutions,” the Ministry states, denying media reports regarding team.
They further state that, in order to speed up that procedure, they have appointed contact points and that they are actively trying to harmonize the text of the memorandum with the authorized representatives of the International Residual Mechanism, “the future International Residual Mechanism has set requirements under which conditions the documentation will be taken over and then forwarded to the competent institutions”.
“Yesterday we received the final proposal of the Memorandum from the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts with proposed amendments, and we hope to conclude the memorandum soon. Please note, the issue of the registration of ICTY judgments was set by Minister Davor Bunoza as a priority at the beginning of his mandate, and the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina is actively acting in order to obtain a final solution,” it is stated in the statement/reaction of the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
