Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, rejected the defense’s request for early release of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić on “humanitarian reasons.”
The defense of the war criminal Mladić submitted a request on August 18th, seeking his early release on parole due to his health condition. It was suggested to directly transport him into a hospital or palliative care facility in Serbia, with continued supervision of the Serb authorities and other conditions that the President of the IRMCT would set.
The request is based on two reasons – the assessment that “death is likely imminent and the need for a greater and continuous presence of his family.
On August 14th, the President of the IRMCT received a medical report stating that the health condition of war criminal Mladić is rapidly deteriorating, that he has entered the final stage of life, and that ‘the focus of care is now on his comfort and the alleviation of suffering.
“The doctor’s assessment states that Mladić’s death could occur at any given moment and that it is expected in the following weeks,” states the decision Gatti Santana made on August 20th.
However, the IRMCT President concluded that humanitarian grounds do not justify an extraordinary measure of early release for the convicted war criminal.
“Taking into account the specific interests associated with Mladić’s life sentence, I do not consider that the proper administration of criminal justice requires a humanitarian release measure. On the contrary, Mladić’s human dignity, to which everyone is entitled, is fully respected under the current circumstances,” Gatti Santana concluded.
Gatti Santana consulted with other judges. Aminatta Lois Runeni N’gum, Seymour Panton, and Mustapha El Baaj were also in favor of rejecting the request, while Alphons Orie and Prisca Matimba Nyambe supported its approval.
The convicted war criminal Mladić, former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, was finally sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2021 for genocide in Srebrenica, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats, terrorizing the citizens of Sarajevo, and taking UNPROFOR personnel hostage.
The defense of war criminal Mladić had previously requested his release due to his health condition, but those requests were also rejected.
