War criminal Stojan Zupljanin submitted a request for early release after serving two-thirds of his prison sentence in Poland. He was sentenced to 22 years for martyrdom, shooting, and extermination of the non-Serb population.
The early release of Stojan Zupljanin would be “appropriate and guaranteed” because, as stated in the application for his early release, his behavior and treatment in prison and his relationship with other detainees are a sign of his rehabilitation.
“His respectful behavior towards victims and witnesses; his general demeanor during the main trial and the appeal process, as well as his cordial relationship with other detainees regardless of their nationality, reflect his character and demonstrate his rehabilitation. In the end, his age only supports this request. Therefore, the early release of Zupljanin is both appropriate and guaranteed at this time,” the request states.
Zupljanin has been in custody continuously since June 21st, 2008. The Tribunal found Zupljanin guilty of persecution and extermination as crimes against humanity and murder and torture as a violation of the laws and customs of war and sentenced him to 22 years in prison.
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts (IRCMC) has, by law, the right to pardon or commute a sentence. The president of the IRCMC makes a decision based on the criteria that have been set, which will be taken into account when making the decision.
“The president will take into account, among other things, the seriousness of the crime for which the convict was convicted, the treatment of prisoners in a similar position, the demonstration of rehabilitation of the prisoner, as well as any substantial cooperation of the convict with the prosecutor”.
And according to Polish criminal law, given that Zupljanin is in prison in Poland, the convict can be released on parole after serving half, or two-thirds of the sentence.
“Based on the above, it is respectfully requested that Stojan Zupljanin be granted early release. Accordingly, Zupljanin is willing to accept and abide by any restrictions, including those on movement, behavior or contact, or any other conditions that the president of the IRCMC may deem appropriate in view of his early release,” it was stated in the request for the early release of Zupljanin.
Namely, Zupljanin was the head of the Regional Center of Security Services in Banja Luka in 1991. From May to July 1992, he was a member of the Crisis Staff of the Autonomous Region of Krajina (ARK), and in 1994 he became an advisor to the President of the Republika Srpska (RS) for internal affairs.
Stojan Zupljanin was charged by the Hague Tribunal with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in 1992 against the Bosniaks and Croats of the Bosnian Krajina, i.e. the so-called Autonomous Region of Krajina.
According to the indictment, Zupljanin had operational control over municipal and regional police forces, including those in charge of the camps. The indictment against him was brought in 1999 and published in 2001 since Zupljanin was on the run.
He was arrested in 2008 in the vicinity of Belgrade. After the trial, on March 27th, 2013, Zupljanin was extrajudicially sentenced to 22 years in prison for war crimes. His sentence was confirmed in 2016.
