The Mechanism for International Criminal Courts (IMCC) rejected the request of Sredoje Lukić, convicted of war crimes in Višegrad, for early release after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
The decision, signed by Mechanizma president Graciela Gatti Santana, states that while Lukic is eligible to apply for early release, “there are significant factors militating against his early release, including the seriousness of his crimes and his failure to show sufficient signs of rehabilitation.”
“When making my decision on whether to approve the request, I consulted with two judges of the Mechanism. Both judges agree that the motion should be denied. Judge Agius acknowledges that although Lukić has served two-thirds of his sentence and is therefore eligible for consideration for early release, the request should be rejected due to the seriousness of his crimes and insufficient evidence of rehabilitation,” Santana stated in her decision.
The judges stated that Lukić did not present any evidence of convincing humanitarian reasons that would justify his earlier release.
One of the reasons why Lukić’s request was rejected is his unwillingness to accept responsibility for the crimes for which he was convicted, BIRN BiH reported.
“It was further highlighted by his rejection during a recent interview with a psychiatrist and psychologist, where he laughed and remarked: ‘This is starting to remind me of a court’. We notice that he seemed vague when talking about the crimes he was convicted of, feeling that he was unjustly convicted. This attitude towards the seriousness of one’s actions, combined with a focus on one’s own circumstances, reveals a significant deficiency in accepting full responsibility,” the MMKS decision states.
In December 2012, the Appeals Chamber of the Hague Tribunal sentenced Sredoje Lukić to 27 years in prison and reduced his sentence from the first-instance verdict by three years. In the same case, Milan Lukić was sentenced to life imprisonment.
He was convicted of a crime against humanity and violation of the laws or customs of war, and was found guilty of aiding and abetting the crimes committed in Visegrad’s Pionirska street on June 14, 1992, when a large number of Koritnik civilians were set on fire in the house of Adem Omeragić.
Sredoje Lukić is serving his sentence in Norway.
