Generals Gotovina and Markac freed from Hague prison

The two generals remained impassive as the verdicts were read out but the decision was greeted with cheers and applause in the public seats in the chamber and with celebrations around Croatia, where Gotovina is seen as a national hero and an embodiment of the country's fight for independence. Thousands of people took to the streets and children were sent home from schools. Gotovina and Markac are expected to leave the detention centre on Friday afternoon and fly back to Croatia.

Several thousand Croatian veterans and citizens who were following the live transmission on a big screen in Zagreb's main square on Friday morning of a sentencing hearing for Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac before the Hague war crimes tribunal hailed the acquittal of the two generals with expressions of enthusiasm and shouts of approval.

I am very satisfied with the the Hague tribunal's acquittal which means that our generals were innocent but it also requires further responsibility of the country to investigate what had happened and to penalise crimes, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said on Friday commenting on the ICTY acquittal of Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac.