Victims' Association Writes to Santana: We Ask the Hague Tribunal to Return Dario Kordić to Prison

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide sent a letter to the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts, Graciela G. Santana, informing her about the violation of the early release of war criminal Dario Kordić.

"First of all, we want to thank you for your understanding and support for the victims so far.

We are especially grateful that you approach the views and opinions of the victims with great care, especially regarding the requests of convicted persons for release after serving 2/3 of their prison sentence, considering that convicted persons almost always use this benefit to be released as soon as possible and continue to attack and insult victims.

In the attachment, we are forwarding you the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX5XLGc4Jco, published on 10.06.2023, on which Dario Kordić, a convicted war criminal by the ICTY, says: 'When he asked me (a friend) if it was worth the prison, if it was worth the war, I told him I would repeat it all, I wouldn't change a single second. Every second was worth it.'

Related text: SCANDALOUS War criminal Dario Kordić would kill innocent Bosniak civilians again: 'I would repeat it all, every second was worth it'

Given that the then President of the ICTY, by his decision of May 24, 2014, in the public and redacted version of the President's decision on the early release of Dario Kordić of June 6, 2014, case no. MICT-14-68-ES, published on November 3, 2014, released Dario Kordić on early release, we believe that this statement violated and discredited the said decision, and that Dario Kordić, with this statement, showed that he misled the ICTY and the Austrian authorities, where he served his 25-year prison sentence.

When a convicted person, sentenced for the most serious crimes, is released 8 years and 4 months earlier than the sentenced term of 25 years, and then after 9 years says he would repeat it all, he not only mocks international justice, insults victims, undermines the international legal order, but is also ready to commit a new crime, and this is not an ordinary threat, it is a substantiated threat, because Lidija Bradara, President of the Federation of BiH, and Sanja Vlaisavljević, Minister in the Government of the Federation of BiH, support and affirm this war criminal, which we continuously inform the international community in BiH about, which does nothing to stop the denial of crimes and the affirmation of criminals by the highest officials of our country BiH.

Dear Madam President, we ask you to use all available mechanisms to protect us and to stop the culmination of denial and glorification of crimes and criminals. Today, we are also receiving open threats from Dario Kordić that he would repeat it all.

We ask you to consider the possibility of revising the Decision of May 14 and June 6, 2014, and that Dario Kordić be returned to serve the sentence for which he was prematurely released, i.e., 1/3 of the sentence," stated the letter from the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide, signed by its president Murat Tahirović.