Former chief of the Serbian state security service Jovica Stanisic has submitted an urgent motion for provisional release to take a “small respite from the isolation of incarceration and the separation from his family”. The motion contends that the accused has done everything to earn the trust of the Trial Chamber, and is now asking in return some ‘deserved respite’


Former chief of the Serbian state security service Jovica Stanisic submitted to the Trial Chamber an urgent motion to be granted provisional release for humanitarian reason, during the trial adjournment or for any lesser period of time.

The motion has been motivated by the wish of the accused to take a “small respite from the isolation of incarceration and the separation from his family and other support structures”. The accused wishes to experience ‘a short period of (relative) freedom’, which would have ‘inestimable’ impact on the health of the accused, the defense argues.

During Stanisic’s last provisional release his health deteriorated, resulting in the postponement of the trial. The defense therefore notes that the nature of Stanisic’s illness is such that it is not possible to say with ‘absolute certainty’ that it would not be exacerbated at some point in time. The defense nevertheless contends that the health risk could be reduced to a minimum if Stanisic’s were to be released for a short period.

The defense also notes that the involvement of Stanisic’s doctors in his treatment in Belgrade would be minimal if he were to be provisionally released, since Stanisic’s treatment in the UN Detention Unit consists of him taking his daily medication and the doctors monitoring his complaints. If he were to be granted provisional release, the doctors from the Detention Unit could be in constant touch with Stanisic’s doctors in Belgrade. Stanisic would be returned immediately to The Hague if the doctors in Belgrade or the accused refused to cooperate or if Stanisic’s health deteriorated.

The motion concludes that Stanisic ‘has cooperated fully with his treatment and the trial process”. The accused “recognizes’ that the provisional release is a ‘matter of trust’; the accused has done ‘everything he can to cooperate in order to build that confidence”, the defense notes, asking the Trial Chamber to grant Stanisic a ‘deserved respite’.

The Trial Chamber dismissed a similar motion Stanisic’s defense filed in December 2009, ruling that Stanisic’s physical and mental health would deteriorate if he were to be provisionally released, which in turn might disturb or interrupt the trial. The judges also took into account the fact that Stanisic’s health took a significant turn for the worse last time when he was provisionally released. As a consequence Stanisic was hospitalized 15 times in ten months at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade.

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