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After a 3-year trial, a Hague court has found former Croatian general Ante Gotovina (Pictured above L) guilty of a campaign of murder against 200,000 Serbs in the Krajina region in 1995....and sentenced him to 24 years in prison.
Mladen Markač, who commanded police paramilitaries, was sentenced to 18 years.
A third man accused, Ivan Cermak, was acquitted.
The sentences are severe blows for Croatia...and sweet vindication for Serbia.
Essentially...that the decisive Croat victory was nothing...but a war crime.
In Croatia...there was outrage.
"Having learned that [the tribunal] has found that the Croatian state leadership acted in a joint criminal enterprise, I must declare that to the government of Croatia this is unacceptable," said PM Jadranka Kosor. "Our view of the operation is absolutely clear: it was a legitimate military and police action to liberate Croatian state territory from occupation."
16 April UPDATE On Protest:
Several thousand protesters in Zagreb carried flags and banners saying "I love Croatia, not in the European Union" and chanted "Treason" about the conviction of 2 generals for war crimes against the Serbs. The trials were a condition for Croatia to join the EU.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/16/us-croatia-protests-warcrimes-idUSTRE73F18A20110416
