Convicted Bosnian Serb ex-Commander Files Release Request

Lawyers for former Bosnian Serb commander Dragomir Milosevic, sentenced to 29 years for terrorizing civilians in Sarajevo, have again submitted a request for his early release.

Lamija Grebo, June 10, 2025

Archive photo of Bosnian Serb wartime general Dragomir Milosevic in the courtroom at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Tuesday, December 2004. Photo: EPA/JUAN VRIJDAG

The defence for former Bosnian Serb Sarajevo-Romanija Corps Commander Dragomir Milosevic has asked the President of the Residual Mechanism to allow his early release on the grounds that all conditions for early release have been met.

One reason cited in the request is Milosevic’s age – he is 83 and in poor health. It is also stated that he has been deprived of personal contact with his family for years, among other things, due to distance.

The defence stated that Serbia had previously been ready to issue guarantees for early release, and that Milosevic believes that, acting on a request from the President of the Mechanism, it would renew its guarantees.

“The applicant is ready to comply with any special or additional conditions for early release, if any,” the request states.

The Mechanism previously rejected a request for his early release, as BIRN reported, citing the gravity of the crimes for which he was convicted and his failure to show sufficient signs of contrition.

Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the Mechanism, stated at the time that Milosevic had confirmed that he was fully aware of the nature of the crimes for which he was convicted and that they were committed against the civilian population of Sarajevo, as determined by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY.

He had accepted his responsibility for them and had expressed regret for innocent victims.

But she also said his “selective interpretation of his role, shallow reflections and expression of remorse undermine his credibility in the rehabilitation process,” adding that these factors suggested that his statements might be insincere or incomplete.

The ICTY sentenced the former Bosnian Serb political and military leaders, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, and a former commander of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Bosnian Serb Army, Stanislav Galic, to life imprisonment for a campaign of terror against civilians with sniper and artillery attacks.

During the 44-month siege of Sarajevo, from 1992 to 1995, more than 11,000 residents of Sarajevo were killed, including around 1,600 children. More than 30 years after the end of the war, no indictments have been filed against those responsible for the shelling of the city and sniping at citizens.

Copyright BIRN 2015