A United Nations tribunal has refused a second request for early release from Mićo Stanišić, the former Bosnian Serb interior minister serving a 22-year sentence for crimes committed during the Bosnian war.
In a decision dated 10 November, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana said the seriousness of his crimes and the evidence available on his rehabilitation weighed against releasing him. She acknowledged his good behaviour in detention and family relationships, but found that the new material did not sufficiently address concerns raised when an earlier application was rejected.
Stanišić was convicted in 2013 of murder and torture as violations of the laws or customs of war, and persecution as a crime against humanity. His convictions and sentence were affirmed on appeal in 2016. He had pleaded not guilty at his initial appearance.
Eligibility is not automatic release
The president of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals considered an application filed on 4 September. The mechanism supervises sentences imposed by the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals, as well as its own sentences.
Under its established approach, a person serving a sentence under its supervision becomes eligible to be considered for early release after serving two-thirds of the sentence. The judge said Stanišić reached that point on 24 September 2024. She stressed, however, that eligibility does not give a prisoner an entitlement to be released.
The decision says the assessment takes account of factors including the gravity of the crimes, the treatment of similarly situated prisoners, evidence of rehabilitation and any substantial cooperation with prosecutors. The judge also considered information gathered about Stanišić’s detention, his application and relevant material from the earlier decision.
Stanišić’s first early-release application was rejected on 17 July 2025. The new decision is a ruling on a separate, renewed request, rather than a change to his conviction or sentence.
Prison conduct and rehabilitation
In his latest application, Stanišić pointed to his conduct in prison and said he had maintained friendly relations with inmates from different ethnic backgrounds. He also said he had not been the subject of disciplinary proceedings.
A report from the United Nations detention unit described his behaviour there as consistently exemplary. According to the decision, he was polite and respectful towards staff, complied with instructions and had not been reported for aggressive behaviour or disciplinary problems.
Gatti Santana commended his conduct and said his account of relationships across ethnic backgrounds was relevant in light of the discriminatory nature of some of the crimes. She nevertheless concluded that good behaviour in detention could not by itself demonstrate sufficient rehabilitation in this case.
The judge said the application did not expressly accept responsibility for the crimes of which he was convicted or identify concrete steps since the previous ruling that demonstrated a different degree of reflection on his conduct and its consequences for victims. She said the available information did not show a change sufficient to justify early release at this time.
The decision also makes clear that acceptance of responsibility is an important factor in assessing rehabilitation, but is not a legal requirement or a precondition for early release. The judge considered the available evidence as a whole rather than applying a single automatic test.
Stanišić said that, if released, he intended to live in Serbia, remain with his family and support himself through his pension. The judge regarded his family relationships, proposed living arrangements and stated financial resources as positive for reintegration. She found that those factors alone were not enough to make release appropriate.
Sentence and detention
The tribunal found that Stanišić participated in a joint criminal enterprise whose common purpose was the permanent removal of Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from the territory of a planned Serbian state. The trial judgment and the subsequent appeal established his criminal responsibility; the latest decision concerns how his sentence is enforced.
Stanišić surrendered to the former Yugoslavia tribunal in March 2005. He was transferred to Poland in 2019 to serve the remainder of his sentence, then returned to the United Nations detention unit in The Hague in January 2025 after Poland said it could no longer enforce it. The decision says he remains there pending the designation of another state to enforce the rest of the sentence.
Before reaching her conclusion, Gatti Santana consulted three other judges, all of whom agreed the application should be denied. She also found no basis in the material before her for release on health-related humanitarian grounds. According to the mechanism’s calculation, Stanišić is due to complete his full sentence on 21 January 2032.
