In the Netherlands, Mićo Stanišić again requested early release
In the Netherlands, the lawyer for former Republika Srpska Interior Minister Mićo Stanišić has filed a motion with the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague seeking his early release. Stanišić was sentenced to 22 years in prison, Balkan Insight reports.
Defense arguments
Lawyer Slobodan Zečević stated that Stanišić has served two-thirds of his sentence. According to him, this is the threshold for early release under Polish law, where the convict is serving his sentence.
Stanišić had already filed a similar motion in November 2024, but it was denied at the time. In the new application, the defense cites his conduct in prison as evidence of resocialization.
The motion states that Stanišić served his sentence in a multiethnic prison, maintained friendly relations with inmates of different ethnic backgrounds, and had no disciplinary proceedings. The applicant also claims that the time Stanišić has already served reduces the likelihood of further crimes and may contribute to reconciliation in the communities where the crimes were committed.
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Tribunal verdict
During the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Stanišić was the interior minister of Republika Srpska, a Serb-dominated entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. In a final verdict by the Hague Tribunal in 2016, he was convicted of persecution, murder and torture.
Stanišić voluntarily surrendered to the tribunal in March 2005. His trial began in September 2009 alongside Stojan Župljanin, who headed a regional police center in Banja Luka during the war. Župljanin was convicted of persecution, murder, torture and extermination.
The application also states that if released, Stanišić will live in his family home in Belgrade and has a pension which, according to the defense, is sufficient for his maintenance.
