The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague (MMKS) has rejected Ratko Mladić’s request to be temporarily released to attend a family member’s memorial service, stating that the exceptionally high criteria for such a release were not met, the Tribunal’s Mechanism said in a statement.
Ratko Mladić, the Supreme Commander of the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the most serious war crimes – including the genocide committed against the Bosniak population in the Srebrenica area in July 1995, as well as persecutions, exterminations, murders, deportations and inhumane acts (forcible transfers) as crimes against humanity, and murders, terror, unlawful attacks on civilians and the taking of hostages as violations of the laws and customs of war.
The verdict and sentence of life imprisonment were confirmed on 8 June 2021 by the Appellate Chamber of the Tribunal’s Mechanism.
Judge Graciela Gatti Santana stressed in her decision that the threshold for release on humanitarian grounds is extremely high and that no person detained after a final judgment in the UNDU (United Nations Detention Unit) has previously been granted a similar release.
The decision recalls that Mladić evaded justice for almost 16 years before his arrest and surrender to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in May 2011, and that he has so far served only a small part of a life sentence.
It also states that previous requests for provisional release during the trial and appeals were rejected due to concerns that Mladić might avoid returning to detention.
Judge Santana concluded that Mladić had failed to demonstrate the merits of his request and therefore rejected it, confirming the Mechanism’s strict practice towards persons convicted after a final judgment.
The decision confirms that extremely serious crimes and the fact that the convict is still serving his sentence affect the strict assessment of requests for temporary release, even for humanitarian reasons.
