The International Mechanism for Criminal Courts (IMCC) rejected the request of Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), for conditional release or to continue serving his life sentence in Serbia.
In the decision of IMCC president Graciela Gatti Santana, it is stated that on April 26th, 2024, Mladic submitted a request for conditional release to Serbia for humanitarian reasons or, alternatively, to serve the remainder of his sentence there. As reasons for such a request, Mladic stated that his illness was not treated, that he would have better health care in Serbia, as well as the language barrier he is currently facing.
Gatti Santana noted in the decision that the statute of the Mechanism stipulates that the prison sentence is to be served in a country with which the United Nations (UN) has agreements, and that Serbia would not be a viable option for the execution of the sentence imposed by the IMCC.
“Having served only approximately 13 years of his life sentence, Mladic has not yet reached the eligibility threshold for early release,” the decision states.
On June 8th, 2021, the mechanism issued a second-instance verdict confirming the life sentence of Ratko Mladic, former commander of the VRS, for the genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats, terrorizing the citizens of Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR hostage.
Mladic was acquitted on the first count of the indictment for genocide in five municipalities – Prijedor, Sanski Most, Kotor-Varos, Foca, and Vlasenica.
As part of the regular monitoring of Mladic‘s health, the president received a report from the UN Detention Unit, which indicates that Mladic‘s health is currently stable and that there is significant progress.
“Based on the information I have, I believe that the plausible humanitarian circumstances referred to by Mladic are not substantiated at this stage and that Mladic is receiving all the necessary care in the Detention Unit. I believe that the request should be rejected”, concluded Gatti Santana.
According to the decision made on May 10th, the president appealed to the Secretary of the Mechanism to ensure, if this has not already happened, that Mladic receives the medical documentation he requested as soon as possible, as well as to ensure that Mladic continues to have access to translation services on your language, Detektor writes.
E.Dz.
