Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated on Friday in New York that the Mechanism in The Hague has decided, due to serious health conditions, to grant early release to Serbian General Nebojša Pavković.
Pavković, former commander of the Yugoslav Army, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for crimes against Albanians in Kosovo in 1999. The verdict against him is final.
Vučić told reporters in New York that the Government of Serbia, at his request, had submitted an application for his early release due to Pavković’s “extremely serious health condition.” According to him, Serbia’s Ministry of Justice is now sending an annex to the Mechanism in The Hague, after which their response is expected.
“And then we can go and bring General Pavković back, so he can see the sun of a free Serbia, for which so much was fought, bravely, in 1999,” Vučić said.
In 2009, Pavković was found guilty on all counts of the indictment and convicted for deportation, forced displacement, murder, and persecution of Kosovar Albanian civilians during the first half of 1999.
