Martic was convicted by the Hague war crimes tribunal on 18 of 19 counts of the indictment, which includes crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. The verdict reveals the political background and links between Serb rebels and the regime of Slobodan Milosevic and the goals of that movement - secession of one-third of Croatian territory and expulsion of non-Serbs, said Ivo Josipovic, member of the SDP advisory committee on human rights and civil society.
From the legal point of view, the verdict is interesting because it includes the doctrine of criminal enterprise in the context of which Slobodan Milosevic is mentioned by name, Josipovic said. The verdict contains some of the gravest crimes such as torture, rape, murder, expulsion and persecution, and correctly describes what happened on the occupied Croatian territory, he added.
Milan Martic was sentenced by the Hague war crimes tribunal on Tuesday to 35 years in prison for war crimes in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.