War Crimes Sentences Overturned: Hague Tribunal Acquits Croatian Officers Convicted Of Committing Atrocities During Balkan Wars

War Crimes Tribunal Overturns Convictions Of 2 Croatian Generals
Former Croatian Army General Mladen Markac talks to his lawyer in the courtroom of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (ICTY) prior to his appeal judgement in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. The ICTY is delivering its decision in the appeal of two Croatian generals convicted for their roles in a 1995 military offensive to drive Serb rebels out of land they had occupied for years along part of Croatia's border with Bosnia. Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, were sentenced to 24 and 18 years respectively in 2011 for war crimes and crimes against humanity. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, Pool)
Former Croatian Army General Mladen Markac talks to his lawyer in the courtroom of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (ICTY) prior to his appeal judgement in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. The ICTY is delivering its decision in the appeal of two Croatian generals convicted for their roles in a 1995 military offensive to drive Serb rebels out of land they had occupied for years along part of Croatia's border with Bosnia. Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, were sentenced to 24 and 18 years respectively in 2011 for war crimes and crimes against humanity. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, Pool)

AMSTERDAM, Nov 16 (Reuters) - An appeals court on Friday overturned the conviction of the most senior Croatian military officer charged with crimes during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

The court ordered the immediate release of Ante Gotovina, who was commander in the Split district of the Croatian army, who had been sentenced to 24 years in prison, and of Mladen Markac, a Croatian police commander, overturning his 18-year sentence. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Alison Williams)

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