Jadranko Prlić requested to serve sentence in Bosnia and Herzegovina

(Patria) - Former political leader of so-called Herceg-Bosna (HRHB) Jadranko Prlić has requested the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals to not serve his 25-year prison sentence for crimes committed against Bosniaks in Great Britain, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH) has learned.

In a letter to the President of the Mechanism, Carmel Agius – which BIRN BiH has seen – Prlić wrote that the prison on the Isle of Wight, where he is supposed to serve his sentence, is intended for offenders convicted of violent or sexual crimes.

"A 2015 inspection report of this prison states that, although violence incidents have decreased, 18 percent of inmates do not feel safe, 36 percent of them reported violence from other inmates, and 34 percent violence from guards," Prlić states in the letter.

He adds that this prison does not provide the possibility for inmates to use computers, which will hinder his work on the request for review of the verdict by which he was finally found guilty of participating in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at persecuting Bosniaks.

Denial of access to a laptop, Prlić states in the letter, will prevent him from writing books, of which he has already published 11, he adds.

At the end of Prlić's letter, it is stated that he should be allowed to serve his sentence in Bosnia and Herzegovina – considering the near opening of the State Prison – which, according to Prlić, was built with the funds of the international community and to the highest standards.

Prlić sent this letter to BiH institutions and the Minister of Justice, Josip Grubešić, from whom he requested assistance in changing the decision on the location where he will serve his sentence.

"Given that it is not possible for me to serve my sentence in my country – which would be logical – I want to be transferred to a prison that has conditions similar to those in the State Prison, where convicts for similar offenses will serve their sentences," the letter from Prlić states.

In November 2017, the Hague Tribunal sentenced Prlić along with five other high-ranking officials of HRHB and imposed a prison sentence of 25 years.

Former Minister of Defense of HRHB, Bruno Stojić, Chief of the Main Staff of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), Slobodan Praljak, and Deputy Commander of HVO, Milivoj Petković, were sentenced to 20 years in prison.

A prison sentence of 16 years was imposed on the former commander of the HVO Military Police, Valentin Ćorić, and the president of the HRHB commission for prisoner exchanges, Berislav Pušić, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

During the pronouncement of the verdict, Praljak drank poison and died the same day.