The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Bosnian Serb Republic (VRS) Army’s Drina Corps Security Chief Vujadin Popović has been denied a request for early release, Detektor reports.
The President of the Mechanism, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, stated in her decision that Popović had not reached the threshold of serving two-thirds of his prison sentence and did not meet the conditions for early release.
She explained that the previous President of the Mechanism had determined that the eligibility threshold for persons sentenced to life imprisonment should be “equivalent to more than 45 years of imprisonment”, based on the fact that at the time the maximum sentence imposed by the International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, as well as the Mechanism, was 45 years.
Meanwhile, she said, the ICTR also imposed a 47-year prison sentence.
“Whether the two-thirds threshold is calculated on the basis of 45 or 47 years, having served approximately 20 years of his sentence, Popović has not yet reached that threshold and is therefore not eligible for consideration for early release by the Mechanism at this stage,” Gatti Santana said.
Detector reported earlier this month that Germany had informed that Popović, under German law, where he is serving his sentence, could be eligible for pardon or commutation of sentence.
“Neither Popović nor Germany raise or demonstrate any compelling or exceptional circumstances that could justify granting Popović early release before he has reached the two-thirds eligibility threshold,” Judge Gatti Santana said in her decision.
Popović surrendered to the Hague Tribunal in April 2005, and in 2010 he was found guilty of genocide and other crimes in Srebrenica and sentenced to life imprisonment. The verdict was confirmed in 2015, after which Popović was sent to serve his sentence in Germany.
The Mechanism had previously refused to grant Popović conditional release, concluding that the conditions for considering his early release were not met, Detektor.ba writes.
