The statement said the verdict against Oric was the "biggest disgrace and the biggest manifestation of political influence on a judgement handed down by the Hague tribunal," and that Oric would have been punished much more severely "if he had been tried by any cantonal court in Bosnia and Herzegovina".
Oric, a former commander of defence forces in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, was sentenced by the UN court on Friday to two years in prison for failing to prevent the murder and cruel treatment of Serb prisoners in this UN 'safe area' in 1992/93.
Oric spent more than three years in detention, accused of being responsible for the death of at least six captured Serbs in the Srebrenica police station, as well as for the cruel treatment of detainees and the destruction of 12 Serb villages in 1992-93.
Oric arrived in Sarajevo today and was met at the airport by several hundred enthusiastic former fellow fighters and Bosniaks from Srebrenica led by municipal leader Abdurahman Malkic, who said the Hague tribunal's verdict clearly showed that Bosniaks did not plan crimes in Srebrenica.
Only three lower ranked officials of the Croat-Muslim Federation government were at the airport. Oric declined to make any statements and headed for Tuzla.