Prison and Prosecutor's Office do not support parole for Serbian war criminal
The Tartu District Court has begun reviewing the possible conditional early release of 71-year-old Milan Martić, the former president of the unrecognized Republic of Serbian Krajina, who is serving a sentence in Estonia for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
At a hearing held last week, neither the prosecutor nor Tartu Prison supported granting Martić parole. It is not yet known when a ruling will be issued.
"The court has scheduled another hearing for June 22," the court's press service said.
Milan Martić was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2008. The court found him guilty of persecution, murder, torture, and deportation of civilians during the war in Croatia in the early 1990s. Martić was sentenced to 35 years in prison, with his term set to end in May 2037.
Since June 2009, Martić has been serving his sentence in Tartu Prison. Estonia accepted the convicted individual under international agreements. Under the procedure, the possibility of his early release is periodically reviewed by the court.
A previous attempt to secure his release was denied in 2021. At that time, Estonian courts determined that Martić had not shown signs of remorse and continued to deny his guilt. During hearings, he described himself as a "political prisoner" and stated that he did not consider himself a criminal.
Estonia's judicial system also took into account the severity of his crimes and assessed the risk of reoffending as not sufficiently low to justify parole.
Martić's defense, in turn, has pointed to his age and health condition. His lawyers emphasized that during his time in Tartu Prison, he has committed no disciplinary violations, has participated in work activities, and has studied the Estonian language.
At the new hearing, the court will need to determine whether circumstances have changed in recent years and whether Martić would pose a threat to society if released.
If the court decides in favor of release, Martić will most likely be deported to Serbia, as he has no legal basis to reside in Estonia.
Currently, four individuals convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia are in Estonia. In addition to Martić, those serving sentences in Tartu Prison include former Bosnian Serb army commander Dragomir Milošević, paramilitary leader Milan Lukić of the "White Eagles," and former Bosnian Serb general Radislav Krstić, who was transferred to Estonia in 2025.
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Editor: Sergei Mihhailov, Argo Ideon
Source: rus.err.ee
