Maltese judge in midst of political storm as The Hague acquits Croatian generals

Serbia's nationalist President Tomislav Nikolic brands as "scandalous" a decision by the Hague court to acquit on appeal, Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac of war crimes during the bloody break-up of the former Yugoslavia during the 1990's.

Former Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac walked free last night after more than two years in detention at The Hague, after Judges Theodor Meron, Patrick Robinson and Mehmet Guney decided to quash the findings of a previous judgment that confirmed joint criminal enterprise to permanently remove Serb civilians from Krajina during and after Operation Storm in the summer of 1995.

The remaining two judges in the Appeals Chamber, Maltese Carmel Agius and Italian Fausto Pocar dissented.

The judges from the USA, Jamaica and Turkey found themselves at odds with their Agius and Pocar, and acquitted the two accused on all counts in the indictment.

Serbia's President Tomislav Nikolic described the judgment as "scandalous" and claimed it was clearly "political and not legal."

He added that the judgment "will not contribute to stabilisation of the situation in the region but will reopen all wounds".

VIDEO: Only hours after having been acquited by the Hague War Crimes Tribunal, General Ante Gotovina returns triumphaly to Zagreb, where he is greeted by the Croatian public at Jelacica Square. 

Vladimir Vukcevic, Serbia's war crimes prosecutor, also branded the ruling as "scandalous", saying it endangers the general principle that war crimes must be punished.

"This was one of the biggest war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, murder, expulsion and endangering of several hundred thousand people and no one was held responsible," Vukcevic told the media.

While supporters of the generals at home in Croatia cheered and set off fireworks, the acquittals enraged hardline opponents of the UN court in Serbia who accuse its judges of anti-Serb bias.

Rasim Ljajic, the Serbian government official who deals with the tribunal, said the court has "lost all credibility".

"What happened at The Hague is just evidence of selective justice which is worse than any injustice," Ljajic said. "The decision will only worsen the perception of the tribunal in our public."

Gotovina's and Markac's convictions were one of the few at the tribunal to punish perpetrators of atrocities against Serb civilians. The majority of criminals convicted have been Serbs.

The Bosnian Serb wartime leader and military chief, Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, are currently on trial for allegedly masterminding Serb atrocities.

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic called the ruling "an important moment for Croatia".

The country's liberal president, Ivo Josipovic, said it was "proof that the Croatian army did not take part in a criminal enterprise" and "a symbolic satisfaction for all victims of the war".

Vesna Skare Ozbolt, former legal adviser of late President Tudjman, said the verdict "corrects all wrongs about our just war" and "proves that there was no ethnic cleansing in Croatia and that it was all lies".

Tudjman died in 1999, while under investigation by the tribunal.