The Hague Rejects Early Release of Jovica Stanišić, Former Serbian Secret Service Chief

The Hague’s residual mechanism rejected the early-release request of Jovica Stanišić, former head of Serbia’s State Security Service (SDB), who is serving 15 years for war crimes committed in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia in 1991–1995.

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague today rejected the early-release request of Jovica Stanišić, former head of Serbia’s State Security Service (SDB), who is serving a 15-year sentence for war crimes committed in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia during 1991–1995, as Danas reports. The decision was made by the Mechanism’s president, Graciela Gatti Santana.

According to the court’s reasoning, although Stanišić has already served two-thirds of his sentence — meeting the formal condition for early release — there are strong reasons against release: the particular gravity of the crimes for which he was convicted and the lack of sufficient signs of rehabilitation. The court also found no compelling humanitarian reasons that would justify his early release.

Stanišić had filed the early-release request in March this year. He is one of the highest-ranking figures of the Serbian security apparatus of the 1990s Balkan wars era.

In the final verdict of May 2023, the court sentenced the former SDB leaders, Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović “Frenki”, to 15 years each for participation in a joint criminal enterprise. They were found guilty of crimes against humanity, inhumane acts, murder, deportation and persecution of the civilian population in several municipalities of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.