Former Bosnian military commander Naser Oric, hailed by supporters as the heroic "defender of Srebrenica", was acquitted Friday of war crimes during the country's 1990s conflict.
The ruling sparked mixed reactions in the country deeply divided along ethnic lines -- slammed by ethnic Serbs as an "amnesty for war crimes" and welcomed by Muslims as the "final victory of justice".
Oric was acquitted along with fellow fighter Sabahudin Muhic of "crimes against prisoners", judge Tihomir Lukes said.
The two men were tried for the killing of three Serb prisoners in the Srebrenica area at the start of the 1992-95 war between Bosnian Serbs, Muslims and Croats.
Awaiting the verdict, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Sarajevo court carrying banners that read: "Heroes, not criminals!"
Oric is celebrated by fellow Bosnian Muslims -- known as Bosniaks -- for commanding the defence of Srebrenica, where in 1995 Serb forces slaughtered more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
The massacre was the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
Bosnian Muslim military figures have already been tried and condemned in Bosnia for crimes committed during the inter-ethnic conflict, but none of them had Oric's standing.
- 'Amnesty for horrible crimes' -
His acquittal sparked outrage from Bosnian Serbs whose President Zeljka Cvijanovic labelled it "practically an amnesty for all horrible (war) crimes against Serb inhabitants" of the Srebrenica region.
Victims' groups estimate that nearly 2,500 Serb soldiers and civilians were killed in the area during the war.
Many ethnic Serbs perceive Oric as a "butcher" responsible for war crimes against them.
"We have been talking for 26 years and eventually got this," said Radojka Filipovic, head of a Serb victims' association.
"As of today we will speak no more, we have nothing more to say," she told AFP.
And Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told state-run RTS television that the "fact that someone was not condemned due to political reasons does not mean that one did not commit crimes."
For years, perpetrators in the most serious cases were tried by a UN tribunal set up after the 1990s conflicts in former Yugoslavia.
The Hague-based court overwhelmingly convicted Serbs in the Bosnian war: 52 in total, compared to 17 Croats and six Bosnian Muslims, according to a count by local media.
But with the UN tribunal officially wound up in December 2017, local courts have been left to carry on the work.
In 2008 Oric was acquitted on appeal by the UN court on charges of not doing enough to protect Serb prisoners of war.
Unhappy with the verdict, Belgrade in 2014 issued an international warrant, which eventually saw him extradited to his home country to face the charges.
His subsequent acquittal in October 2017 outraged Serb victims' groups.
A retrial was ordered for procedural reasons.
Oric's troops resisted a more than three-year-long the siege of Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic's soldiers.
But while Oric left the ill-fated town along with some of his officers for a meeting in Sarajevo, the UN-protected Muslim enclave was captured in July 1995 and the massacre took place in the following days.
The atrocity was deemed genocide by international justice.
The UN court last year sentenced Mladic to life imprisonment including for the Srebrenica massacre while Bosnian Serb wartime political leader Radovan Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in jail.
- 'Justice finally won' -
Bosnian Muslims, who make up half of the country's population of 3.5 million -- as ethnic Serbs and Croats account for about 30 and 15 percent respectively -- hailed Oric's acquittal.
"Justice has finally won," said Kada Hotic, from an association of Srebrenica women.
"He was persecuted all these years... on the basis of fake accusations."
Her son, husband and two brothers were killed in the massacre.
Oric, 51, told local media the ruling confirmed that his case was rigged.
"I believe that the time has come that I rest a bit. The persecution against me is lasting for too long."
After the war Oric kept a low profile.
In 2009 he was sentenced to two years in jail for arms possession, but was granted a presidential pardon.
Meanwhile, the Sarajevo court on Friday sentenced two Bosnian Serbs -- Darko Mrdja and Zoran Babic -- to 15 years in jail each for wartime killings of Muslim civilians in northeastern Bosnia.
Former Bosnian military commander Naser Oric, hailed by supporters as the heroic “defender of Srebrenica”, was acquitted Friday of war crimes during the country’s 1990s conflict.
The ruling sparked mixed reactions in the country deeply divided along ethnic lines — slammed by ethnic Serbs as an “amnesty for war crimes” and welcomed by Muslims as the “final victory of justice”.
Oric was acquitted along with fellow fighter Sabahudin Muhic of “crimes against prisoners”, judge Tihomir Lukes said.
The two men were tried for the killing of three Serb prisoners in the Srebrenica area at the start of the 1992-95 war between Bosnian Serbs, Muslims and Croats.
Awaiting the verdict, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Sarajevo court carrying banners that read: “Heroes, not criminals!”
Oric is celebrated by fellow Bosnian Muslims — known as Bosniaks — for commanding the defence of Srebrenica, where in 1995 Serb forces slaughtered more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
The massacre was the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
Bosnian Muslim military figures have already been tried and condemned in Bosnia for crimes committed during the inter-ethnic conflict, but none of them had Oric’s standing.
– ‘Amnesty for horrible crimes’ –
His acquittal sparked outrage from Bosnian Serbs whose President Zeljka Cvijanovic labelled it “practically an amnesty for all horrible (war) crimes against Serb inhabitants” of the Srebrenica region.
Victims’ groups estimate that nearly 2,500 Serb soldiers and civilians were killed in the area during the war.
Many ethnic Serbs perceive Oric as a “butcher” responsible for war crimes against them.
“We have been talking for 26 years and eventually got this,” said Radojka Filipovic, head of a Serb victims’ association.
“As of today we will speak no more, we have nothing more to say,” she told AFP.
And Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told state-run RTS television that the “fact that someone was not condemned due to political reasons does not mean that one did not commit crimes.”
For years, perpetrators in the most serious cases were tried by a UN tribunal set up after the 1990s conflicts in former Yugoslavia.
The Hague-based court overwhelmingly convicted Serbs in the Bosnian war: 52 in total, compared to 17 Croats and six Bosnian Muslims, according to a count by local media.
But with the UN tribunal officially wound up in December 2017, local courts have been left to carry on the work.
In 2008 Oric was acquitted on appeal by the UN court on charges of not doing enough to protect Serb prisoners of war.
Unhappy with the verdict, Belgrade in 2014 issued an international warrant, which eventually saw him extradited to his home country to face the charges.
His subsequent acquittal in October 2017 outraged Serb victims’ groups.
A retrial was ordered for procedural reasons.
Oric’s troops resisted a more than three-year-long the siege of Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic’s soldiers.
But while Oric left the ill-fated town along with some of his officers for a meeting in Sarajevo, the UN-protected Muslim enclave was captured in July 1995 and the massacre took place in the following days.
The atrocity was deemed genocide by international justice.
The UN court last year sentenced Mladic to life imprisonment including for the Srebrenica massacre while Bosnian Serb wartime political leader Radovan Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in jail.
– ‘Justice finally won’ –
Bosnian Muslims, who make up half of the country’s population of 3.5 million — as ethnic Serbs and Croats account for about 30 and 15 percent respectively — hailed Oric’s acquittal.
“Justice has finally won,” said Kada Hotic, from an association of Srebrenica women.
“He was persecuted all these years… on the basis of fake accusations.”
Her son, husband and two brothers were killed in the massacre.
Oric, 51, told local media the ruling confirmed that his case was rigged.
“I believe that the time has come that I rest a bit. The persecution against me is lasting for too long.”
After the war Oric kept a low profile.
In 2009 he was sentenced to two years in jail for arms possession, but was granted a presidential pardon.
Meanwhile, the Sarajevo court on Friday sentenced two Bosnian Serbs — Darko Mrdja and Zoran Babic — to 15 years in jail each for wartime killings of Muslim civilians in northeastern Bosnia.
