Bosnian Serb Army General’s Plea for Release Rejected

The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague on Wednesday turned down a request for release on probation from Stanislav Galic, a wartime general and commander of the Bosnian Serb Army's Sarajevo-Romanija Corps, who is serving a life sentence for crimes against humanity in a German prison.

The German authorities have told the UN court that Galic is eligible under German law to have the remainder of his jail sentence suspended on probation.

But the UN court's president, Carmel Agius, ruled that Galic is "not yet eligible to be considered for early release at this stage" because he has not served two-thirds of his sentence.

"Further, no compelling or exceptional circumstances have been provided that might nevertheless warrant granting early release," Agius added.

Agius said it was particularly important to adhere to the two-thirds threshold because the court verdict said that Galic's crimes were "exceptionally brutal and cruel".

"Moreover, his participation in them was found to be systematic, prolonged, and premeditated," Agius added.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia found Galic guilty in 2006 of terrorising the population of Sarajevo during the wartime siege of the Bosnian capital by conducting a campaign of artillery and sniper attacks.