[Igor Antunov]

Not surprising. When you're absorbed into the empire different standards apply.

A war crimes court in The Hague has overturned the convictions of two Croatian generals charged with atrocities against Serbs in the 1990s.

Appeals judges at the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ordered the release of Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac.

In 2011 they were sentenced to 24 years and 18 years respectively over the killing of ethnic Serbs in an offensive to retake Croatia's Krajina region.

Friday's ruling was welcomed by Croatia, but condemned in Serbia.

In Croatia's capital Zagreb, thousands of people - many dressed as war veterans - burst into applause after the verdict was announced.

In Serbia, Deputy Prime Minister Rasim Ljajic condemned the ruling, saying the tribunal had "lost all its credibility", Serbia's Beta news agency reported.

'Selective justice'

On Friday, presiding Judge Theodor Meron said the court had entered "a verdict of acquittal" for Gen Gotovina and Gen Markac, both aged 57.

The acquittal has been universally welcomed in Croatia and, equally, almost universally condemned in Serbia.

It means that no Croats from Croatia (as opposed to Croats from Bosnia-Hercegovina) have been convicted by the UN's war crimes tribunal.

For Croats, this vindicates their belief that their generals are heroes and not war criminals; and for Serbs it consolidates a deeply held belief that the tribunal is a kanagaroo court whose main aim was to vilify and convict Serbs.

The core of the case was that the generals were part of a conspiracy, a "joint criminal enterprise" along with late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman to "permanently remove" the Serbs from what was then their self-proclaimed breakaway state in Croatia.

In simple language, they were accused of a plot to ethnically cleanse the region and up to 200,000 did indeed flee or were ethnically cleansed.

The appeal reverses that finding and hence says that there was no joint criminal enterprise.

The fact that crimes were committed during the Croatian retaking of Krajina is not contested and there have been convictions in the Croatian courts for this.

But the core of the matter today is that the tribunal in The Hague is saying that there was no over-arching plan to, in effect, commit war crimes.

Last years the two men were convicted of murder, persecution and plunder.

Judges at the time ruled that they were part of a criminal conspiracy led by late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman to "permanently and forcibly remove" the Serb civilian population from Krajina.

But on Friday, Judge Meron said there had been no such conspiracy.

The appeals judges also said the 2011 trial chamber had "erred in finding that artillery attacks" ordered by Gen Gotovina and Gen Markac on Krajina towns "were unlawful".

The two former generals have always argued that they did not deliberately attack civilians.

Court officials also said prosecutors would not appeal against the ruling, describing it as "the final judgement".

Neither defendant showed emotion in court, but their supporters in the gallery hugged each other and clapped after the verdict.

In Zagreb's main square, thousands of people - who watched the proceedings live on giant TV - burst into applause.

"Our generals are heroes because they risked their lives to save our country and liberate the people," student Andjela Anic, 26, was quoted as saying by the AFP.

On Thursday, candle-lit vigils were held in Zagreb and Catholic churches around the country as war veterans and bishops asked supporters to "raise their voices against injustice".

In Belgrade, Mr Ljajic said the appeals decision was "proof of selective justice which is worse than any injustice".

He added that it was "a move backwards and the public opinion of the tribunal (in Serbia) will be worse than it already is".

Gen Gotovina and Gen Markac were last year convicted over the Croatian offensive in Krajina, which had been under Serbian control since the start of the war in 1991.

About 200,000 ethnic Serbs were driven from Croatia in 1995 and at least 150 were killed in a military offensive in Krajina known as Operation Storm.

The operation to retake the region was ordered by Mr Tudjman. The Croatian leader died in 1999 while under investigation by The Hague tribunal.

The aftermath of the war is a key issue both in Croatia's domestic politics and its external relations.

The European Union made it clear to former Yugoslav republics that they will not be considered for membership until war criminals were brought to justice.

Croatia is expected to join the EU in July 2013.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20352187

[Magnetonium]

Indeed this is a very sad but predictable outcome to the Balkans war trials. Apparently Serbs are the only criminals - while indeed majority of the crimes were done by Serb-linked forces, others also had their share of war crimes. Yet in terms of Hague convictions there's a disproportionate convictions rate that illustrates clearly that the court is just a tool of EU and NATO in punishing Serbs.

Cue response by RSK in 5, 4, 3, 2, ...

[Independent_Srpska]

NATO-Hague proverb:"No one is guilty until proven a Serb"

[Rei Murasame]

This is so frustrating to see. Basically this is really an exhibit of how much of a ridiculous place the Hague Court is. It's not surprising at all, but it is still frustrating.

[Independent_Srpska]

One of the judges of Appeals Chamber (the sane one) concluded his dissenting opinion:

E. Conclusion

39. In light of the above, I fundamentally dissent from the entire Appeal Judgement, which
contradicts any sense of justice.

Done in English and French, the English text being authoritative

Judge Fausto Pocar

Dated this 16th day of November 2012,
At The Hague,
The Netherlands.

Should be said no more...

[Quantum]

More proof that the Hague is a biased, illegitimate court and that humanitarian invention is based on lies. Why have the Serbs only been convicted of "war crimes" and not the Croats and Bosniaks, even though they have committed the same "offences"?

[roxunreal]

Mag, the reason for the disproportionate ratio of convictions is because the numbers of crimes on the opposing sides were disproportionate as well.

At least the Hague has saved itself some shred of dignity after letting the butchers of Vukovar walk free by realising the utter absurdity of the convictions against Gotovina and the others and the charges they are based on, with pretty much every independent expert in wartime law seeing the former convictions and "evidence" behind them as absurd and unprecedented. Even the Hague with its political agenda of "lets make them both as gulty as each other" to legitimise shameful UN inaction in the face of massacres such as Srebrenioca apparently couldn't pull off such a travesty as approving these convictions. No wonder.

Of course the extremists here who used to cite the Hague convictions as proof of some croat crimes will now call that same institution illegitimate, as expected. I wonder how long it will take for them to sidetrack the discussion of the balkan wars into whining about WW2 to feel better about themselves and their "heroes" in the 90's.

[Section Leader]

The verdict doesn't surprise me in the slightest, the Serbs have been trod upon and persecuted for centuries, by Austrians, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Albanians and Croats, and in 1998-99 by the whole of Europe and North America. The Hague is as bent as a nine bob note.

Justice is blind, unless you're Serbian.

[Far-Right Sage]

Who exactly does it surprise? The Hague is as fraudulent as all other international arbiters of justice that masquerade as legitimate entities. Croatia long ago has been pacified and puppetized; the double-dealing German role is quite well known, unfortunately. Eventually they hope to turn all of Serbia and transform public opinion into that reflective of a "civilized" country, which of course means a liberal state emphatically pro-globalization, capitalism, multiculturalism,. and with a populace that cheers on the loss of sovereignty like the batshit insane monkeys in the rest of Europe today.

NATO launched an illogical and entirely unnecessary crusade against Serbia when it pounded Belgrade for nothing, and the persecution of resistant Serbian patriots continues to this day. It's a despicable and vile stain upon the history of modern Europe. Hopefully the colorless and perverse bureaucrats in Brussels are happy with a bunch of Albanian organ smugglers running wild throughout the region now.

The 90's feel like yesterday. I'm not going to whine about Croatian "crimes", but the point is that the Hague is a tool of globalist and neocolonial powers, designed to persecute the most defenseless and exonerate their own puppets. Its entire standing and legitimacy is an apparition that will hopefully soon vanish as the kids today and others wake up to the falsehoods told by the most supreme international terrorists - those party to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and their henchmen.

[Independent_Srpska]

[Hajduk]

It's funny how the history revionists like to vilify Croatia for doing exactly what any country would do to defend itself. Serbs are targeted more by the Hague because they were the aggressors - it's not a conspiracy. In 1991, rebel Serbs chased the Croatian population from the Krajina causing a similar exodus and for 4 years, they controlled 1/3rd of the country and terrorized the local population. Was there an element of revenge during Oluja? Unfortunately yes. Was Gotovina responsible for that? Not at all. If anything, the international community bears blame for having an embargo on Croatia and leaving them at the mercy of the brutal Serbia regime that seiged them for years.

The fact of the matter is, Oluja had to be swift and decisive because Serbs were preparing to slaughter Bihac like they did Srebrenica a month earlier. As such, there had to be an increased acceptance level of collateral dammage (recall for example the American response to Japan in WW2 as an extreme example). Everyone knew that Serbia and their comrades in Bosnia wouldn't be brought back to the negotiation table unless they faced a defeat in Croatia, so the Americans and NATO helped plan Oluja and even bombed some Serbian defenses. The quickest way to Bihac on ground given that Serbs controlled the otherside, was through Croatia.

It is too bad that mistakes were made, but in the end, it was for the greater good. After Srebrenica, the gloves had to come off.

[Independent_Srpska]

It's funny how the history revionists like to vilify Croatia for doing exactly what any country would do to defend itself. Serbs are targeted more by the Hague because they were the aggressors - it's not a conspiracy. In 1991, rebel Serbs chased the Croatian population from the Krajina causing a similar exodus and for 4 years, they controlled 1/3rd of the country and terrorized the local population. Was there an element of revenge during Oluja? Unfortunately yes. Was Gotovina responsible for that? Not at all. If anything, the international community bears blame for having an embargo on Croatia and leaving them at the mercy of the brutal Serbia regime that seiged them for years.

The fact of the matter is, Oluja had to be swift and decisive because Serbs were preparing to slaughter Bihac like they did Srebrenica a month earlier. As such, there had to be an increased acceptance level of collateral dammage (recall for example the American response to Japan in WW2 as an extreme example). Everyone knew that Serbia and their comrades in Bosnia wouldn't be brought back to the negotiation table unless they faced a defeat in Croatia, so the Americans and NATO helped plan Oluja and even bombed some Serbian defenses. The quickest way to Bihac on ground given that Serbs controlled the otherside, was through Croatia.

It is too bad that mistakes were made, but in the end, it was for the greater good. After Srebrenica, the gloves had to come off.

Interesting, how ustasha mindset whine about everything just in order to justify inhuman crimes over non-croat civilians and genocidal actions of separatists in Zagreb.

However, the thing is after Croatian genocides in WWI and WWII over Serbs and other non-Croats in the region - every single people would defend itself after Croat ustashas (in 1991) initiated the third attempt to wipe all non-Croats in their close proximity.

The second in command on Croatian side, the ultimate separatist and terrorists, testifies about Croat intentions to initiate the conflict with Serbs:

Tudjman’s Police Minister Admits Croatia Started the War by Attacking Serbs

So, that would be it , regarding Croatian "we are innocent victims" wet dreams.
Rebel Croats, separatists and terrorists, needed conflict in order to fulfill their violent and anti-constitutional aspirations.

[Decky]

Croatia eh? First collaborating with the Nazis and then with NATO. Have they ever managed one of their wars of aggression against their neighbors without help from anyone?

[Igor Antunov]

They've often played the part of the enemy within. A useful vehicle for hostile foreign interests at the expense of regional interests, historically speaking.

[pikachu]

But the core of the matter today is that the tribunal in The Hague is saying that there was no over-arching plan to, in effect, commit war crimes.

Ahahaha but they've found sooo much evidence of this for the Serb crimes, right? The truth is when it comes to the Serbs no one gives a shit whether there's any evidence it was part of any over-arching plan, no one even bothers to look for that. If as much as a couple of civilians were harmed by them here and there, that's it, evidence of genocide right there, why look further?
But Croat generals? No, suddenly the court is all mindful of the proper definition of genocide and will not accept anything but the firmest evidence in solid ink where they plainly said "let's kill all serbs now", nothing less will do. /facepalm

[Maas]

But Croat generals? No, suddenly the court is all mindful of the proper definition of genocide and will not accept anything but the firmest evidence in solid ink where they plainly said "let's kill all serbs now", nothing less will do. /facepalm

They were not trialed for genocide, but on charges of being part of a joint criminal enterprise.
The courts doubt not that crimes of genocide did take place. People were convicted of it.
That does not mean those 2 made a plan and ordered their people to do that.

Tudjman’s Police Minister Admits Croatia Started the War by Attacking Serbs

That was in 1991. From 1991 to 1995 the Serbs ethnically cleansed "their" part of Croatia rather well. Than the Serbs fled or were ethnically cleansed when the Croats retook Krajina by the 100.000's ... and it looks to me that those 2 Croats were on trial for just that last part and not what happened in 1991. So no need to bring that up, or 1940's.

[RSK]

THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIAN KRAJINA – GOVERNMENT IN EXILE
11070 Земун, Магистратски трг 3 - Тел. 3077-028, vladarsk@gmail.com
Бр.1533/12 - 20. 11. 2012.

CHARGES AGAINST THE UN

The Government of the Republic of Serbian Krajina warns the diplomatic consular representatives of Serbia that the portrayal of Krajina has been improperly presented, given that frauds as that Krajina was a part of the Croatian state have been circulating. The Republic of Serbian Krajina comprises historic and ethnic Serb territories where the Croatian distinct language has never been spoken. Hence, Croats never lived in Krajina, nor was the Croatian language ever been used there. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vojvodina, Krajina, Slovenia and Croatia (Croatian territories are only those around Zagreb where the Croatian distinct language is spoken) were possessed, occupied and colonized by Austria up to 1918. In 1918, of these territories (which were librated from the Austrian occupation) the State of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians was created. This state integrated with Serbia and Montenegro into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1918. The fact of the matter is that, at that time, both Muslims and Catholics (expect those in Croatia: Zagreb-district) were part of the Serbian nation.

However, Yugoslavia was on several occasions divided into regions. In 1939, Krajina was annexed to the administrative unit of Croatia. But this does not give the right to Croatia to consider Krajina Croatian territory, in the same manner as Serbia has no right to consider Croatia as a part of Krajina or Serbia. Krajina is not a part of Croatia since Krajina possessed its state-building rights during a period of 500 years until the 20th century. This fact has not been mentioned by the Government of Serbia during negations within the framework of the UN which is to the detriment of the justice.

The Hungarian king Matija Korvin decided in 1471 to organize the Serbs in Hungary as a state-building nation which resulted into the establishment of the Serbian national administration and Serbian religious institutions: the Serbian orthodox church within the framework of Hungary. When Hungary was to a great extent occupied by Turkey in 1526, the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand the 2nd extended this Serbian statehood in 1630 which lasted until the 19th century. The documents and data on this Serbian statehood in Hungary and Austria are to be found in the archives of these two states. In these documents and data Serbian Catholics are mentioned as well, who were declared by Austria and Yugoslavia in the 20th century to be Croats. Such decision was founded on the conclusions by the First Roman-Catholic Congress in Zagreb in 1900: Serbian Catholics on Serbian territories were declared as members of the Croatian nation.

The Roman Catholic Church, with such decisions, deprived the Serbs of their right to be Catholic and maintain their Serbian identity at the same time. Therefore, the Serbs are the only nation in the world who do not have Catholics amongst them.
A Serb who converted into Roman-Catholicism became a Croat by the time. Unfortunately Serbia is also not mentioning these important historic facts during international negotiations.

The truth of the matter is that the Croats eliminated their distinct language from their administration and public use in the 19the century. Hence, Croats are the only nation in Europe who do not use their mother tongue. This is as a matter of fact a result of the colonial policy of Austria from the 19th century. Austria forced Croats to remove the Croatian language from their schools and administration and to implement the Serbian language in the institutions and education system of Croatia (Croatia comprised the territory of the Zagreb-district where the original Croatian language had been spoken). In the 19th century, under the guise of philology Austria termed the Croatian distinct language as the Kajkavian dialect which formally justified its removal from the society given the fact that many dialects in that time were as well removed from public use for instance in Germany and Italy. Since Croats registered the Serbian language as the Croatian language at UNESKO, a large part of the Serbian literature has been considered as part of the Croatian literature. Unfortunately also this fact is not used by Serbia, despite that Croatia wrests Serbian cultural heritage.

The Republic of Serbian Krajina tries to convince the Serbian diplomatic consular representatives with the above mentioned facts, that a genocidal policy has been conducted towards the Serbs to biologically exterminate Serbs in WW1, WW2 and during the break up of Yugoslavia between 1990 and 1995. In this climate genocide occurred against the Serbs and Serbian historic territories: Krajina and Kosovo have been cleansed of ethnic Serbs.

It is quite odd that the UN and other international organizations as well as the most countries across the world, mention that from the Republic of Serbian Krajina and Croatia from 1990 tot 1995 only 220.000 Serbs were expelled?! However, this number refers in fact only to those Serbs who were expelled during the Croatian aggression against the Republic of Serbian Krajina – on 5th and 6th August 1995 Operation Strom. It is odd that that number is used, given that in fact 800.000 Serbs were expelled from Croatia and RSK in 1990-1995.

The UN and its members support the Croatian crimes, since they do not use the proper number of the expelled Serbs which the data in the reports of UN officials contain. According to the report of UN Secretary Ghali Boutros Croatia expelled until 18th March in 1993, 251.000 Serbs. So these two banishments give a figure of 471.000 expelled Serbs. When we add the 30.000 expelled Serbs during Croatia’s aggression against Western Slavonia – operation Thunder - on 1 May 1993, we get a number of 501.000 Serbs. Then we can add the number of expelled Serbs from Croatia between 18th March 1993 until 1 May 1995 and since operation Thunder up to 5th August 1995, which approximately constitute 600.000 expelled Serbs from Croatia’s towns and cities. In addition, the fact which is not take into consideration is that Croatia also expelled Serbs from Krajina and Croatia after the occupation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, operation Strom in 6th August 1995.

The Government of the Republic of Serbian Krajina had begged the UN’s Security Council and certain countries a lot of times to provide data on the expelled Serbs from Croatia and Krajina who arrived to the countries on all continents. Regardless that request, the UN SC, which possesses such information, did not want to surrender it.

The Government of the Republic of Serbian Krajina assumes that the diplomatic consular representatives of Serbia will at the scheduled meeting at the UN parliament (2013) next to the remaining facts on Croatia’s genocidal crimes against Serbs in the 20th century, also make issue of the in this letter mentioned facts which have been disregarded.

Many lawyers have drawn the conclusion that the UN is to a high degree responsible for the suffering of the Serbs and should face charges at an international trail because of that. The UN is according to the opinion of juridical experts responsible for the Croatian crimes of genocide against the Serbs in 1995, given the fact that the UN SC passed a resolution (743/1992) according to which the Republic of Serbian Krajina was an international protected area. Therefore, the UN installed its troops on the territory of Krajina and guaranteed the safety of the people living in that area. With the resolution 743/1992 the decision was made that Croatia was not permitted to implement its law in Krajina by means of military force. However, this decision relayed on the state-building rights which the Krajina Serbs enjoyed in Hungary, Austria, Austro-Hungary and Yugoslavia.

The Government of the Republic of Serbian Krajina supports a trail against the UN, since it did not condemn Croatia’s crimes against the Serbs and the occupation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (UN protected zone), neither did it take any measures to force Croatia to reverse the consequences of the occupation of Krajina. The fact of the matter is that the UN was obligated to meet these requirements. Serbia did not take advantage of these facts to notify neither its public nor the UN.

The Government of the Republic of Serbian Krajina believes that the Serbian representatives should be convinced of the anti-Serb character of the UN and the Hague. The UN did not condemn the Croatian occupation of Krajina which was according to its resolution 743 an international protected area, and the Hague Tribunal did not condemn the Croatian generals who invaded the Republic of Serbian Krajina and expelled its population.

The Government of the Republic of Serb Krajina in Exile is taking this opportunity to express its deep respect to all foreign diplomatic and consular missions in the Republic of Serbia.

[Maas]

However, Yugoslavia was on several occasions divided into regions. In 1939, Krajina was annexed to the administrative unit of Croatia. But this does not give the right to Croatia to consider Krajina Croatian territory

Why not. Its a fact that Serbs in Krajina were hardly a majority (52%) prior to war. The Serbs changed that to 88% during the couple of years that they were in charge. Talking about rights,.. what rights did the Serbs have to do that? Seems obvious the Croats had rights to undo the wrong.

given that in fact 800.000 Serbs were expelled from Croatia and RSK in 1990-1995.

indeed. No warcriminal left being shit scared that he had to be trialed for their crimes. They were all expelled..

[pikachu]

They were not trialed for genocide, but on charges of being part of a joint criminal enterprise.

My mistake, though the same procedure should follow for genocide as well, and it does when it's the Serbs who are being tried.
The fact is that they've successfully indicted many Serb leaders on similar charges AND on more severe charges with no evidence at all of any over-arching plan to commit anything, or when they try to present something as possible evidence (when they bother to even look for it that is), it is always clearly a joke that insults any thinking person's intelligence, such as when they've said Mladic's order to "create the conditions for the people of Srebrenica so unbearable as to induce surrender", essentially an absolutely standard military order you can find in any military whatsoever, as evidence of an intent to commit not just a "criminal enterprise", but genocide! No one but themselves will buy that, and they know it. But hey, they have to justify their double standards somehow, right?

While they're at it maybe they should also try FD Roosevelt for an intent to commit genocide when he said that "We have got to be tough with Germany and I mean the German people not just the Nazis. We either have to castrate the German people or you have got to treat them in such a manner so they can't just go on reproducing people who want to continue the way they have in the past". The European tribunals were kangaroo courts from the start and so they will remain.

According to the report of UN Secretary Ghali Boutros Croatia expelled until 18th March in 1993, 251.000 Serbs. So these two banishments give a figure of 471.000 expelled Serbs.

That numbers game doesnt work quite as simply, a lot of the serbs who left or were induced to leave croatia proper in 1990-1993 may have relocated to krajina, from where they were subsequently expelled in 1995, so the numbers cannot be simply added, not to mention the 1993-1994 figure that seems to have just been invented from thin air.

As for the whole "most croats and bosniaks are actually serbs" bullshit, i dont see any point of reiterating it. Even If their ancestors had identified as serbs at some point,no outside force could make them stop doing so. If they decided to identify as something else instead, it was their decision and there is nothing you can do now to reverse it or use it as a claim to anything. The only thing you can do perhaps is try to be nicer to the few minorities that Serbia still has ao they dont feel the need to change their identity.

[Franker65]

Croatian forces served extensively with the UN, they're a NATO member and they're on getting EU membership in 2013 so it isn't too much of a surprise really. I can understand the negative reaction in Serbia...