Bosnian Serb War Criminal Denied Early Release from Jail

The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague said on Monday that it has decided not to grant early release to Radoslav Brdjanin, who is serving a 30-year sentence for committing crimes against humanity during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"In particular, the high gravity of his crimes militates against releasing him early," said the president of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, Carmel Agius.

Agius also said that Brdjanin had "failed to demonstrate that he has been sufficiently rehabilitated".

Brdjanin, now 72, was the political leader of the short-lived, Serb-run Autonomous Region of Krajina in north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He was sentenced to 30 years in prison by the Hague Tribunal in 2007 for crimes against non-Serbs including persecution, torture and deportations.

Brdjanin has been in prison in Denmark since 2008.