The Hague Tribunal has denied former Bosnian Croat leader Jadranko Prlić’s request for early parole after serving two-thirds of his 25-year sentence for crimes against Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1993 to 1994.

Since voluntarily surrendering to the Hague Tribunal in April 2004, Prlić has been incarcerated. He received a 25-year prison sentence in 2017 and was subsequently transferred to the United Kingdom in 2019 to serve his time.

Having served two-thirds of his sentence as of April last year, he met the minimum requirement for an early release application, though this does not guarantee approval.

The court’s recent statement indicated that Prlić is currently imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, where he shares the facility with former Republika Srpska President Radovan Karadžić, who is serving life for genocide and war crimes against Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995.

Graciela Gatti, the court’s president, explained in her ruling that while Prlić has accepted responsibility for serious crimes against Muslims and expressed remorse and condolences to the victims’ families, this was deemed insufficient for an early release.

Judge Santana remarked that Prlić’s admission of guilt lacked specificity, and his expressions of remorse were considered insincere, lacking critical self-reflection.

The court’s decision to deny Prlić’s request was fundamentally influenced by the severity of the crime for which he was convicted.

Judge Santana pointed out that Prlić was found guilty as a key figure in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at persecuting Bosnian Muslims to “unite the Croatian people” within the historical boundaries of the Banovina from 1939.

The verdict identified the head of this criminal organization as Croatia’s President, Franjo Tuđman.

Convicted during his tenure as the wartime Prime Minister of the self-declared Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna, Prlić faced charges including murder, rape, deportation, inhumane treatment, unlawful imprisonment, despicable acts, property destruction and confiscation, wanton devastation of communities and cultural sites, forced labor, and unlawful intimidation of civilians.

These acts fell under the definitions of crimes against humanity, violations of war laws and customs, and serious breaches of the Geneva Conventions, perpetrated against Muslims in Mostar and seven other areas of western Herzegovina.

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