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THE HAGUE: A UN court on Friday acquitted Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac of war crimes during the bloody 1990s break-up of Yugoslavia, to tears of joy from their supporters and outrage in Serbia.
Cheers and applause erupted in the packed public gallery at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as Judge Theodor Meron read the acquittal.
Some supporters burst into tears and hugged Markac’s wife, Mirjana, while others outside uncorked champagne bottles. But Serbia, which still has military and political leaders including Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic on trial at the court, was furious at the acquittal. “The UN war crimes court has lost all credibility,” minister Rasim Ljajic, responsible for the country’s cooperation with the tribunal, told the Beta news agency.
“Today’s decision is proof of selective justice which is worse than any injustice,” he said, echoing a widely held belief in Serbia. Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic slammed the ruling as a “scandalous, political decision”.
Cheers and applause erupted in the packed public gallery at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as Judge Theodor Meron read the acquittal.
Some supporters burst into tears and hugged Markac’s wife, Mirjana, while others outside uncorked champagne bottles. But Serbia, which still has military and political leaders including Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic on trial at the court, was furious at the acquittal. “The UN war crimes court has lost all credibility,” minister Rasim Ljajic, responsible for the country’s cooperation with the tribunal, told the Beta news agency.
“Today’s decision is proof of selective justice which is worse than any injustice,” he said, echoing a widely held belief in Serbia. Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic slammed the ruling as a “scandalous, political decision”.
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