"We shall immediately appeal the ruling," the secretary-general of the Bulgarian Interior Ministry, Bojko Borisov, was quoted by the AFP as saying.
"The Court believes that there is no reason for him to stay in custody. He arrived in Bulgaria as a member of a Serbian military delegation with a special status, which corresponds to the diplomatic status," the Sofia court spokesperson, Petja Gergova, said. Besides, "a list of the delegation members was forwarded before, and the Bulgarian side accepted it," she said.
After he was set free, Brankovic said that he had no connection with "the crimes he is charged with".
Cedomir Brankovic, 50, was arrested on Monday based on an international warrant which Interpol's office in Zagreb issued at the request of the County Court in Sisak, which had investigated Brankovic and another 31 suspects. Given that all were at large, the investigation was called off and an international arrest warrant was issued in November 1999.
Bulgarian authorities notified the Croatian Interior Ministry on Tuesday that Brankovic had been arrested and detained for 72 hours. The Interior Ministry notified the Justice Ministry, which said that Bulgaria would be asked to extradite Brankovic after his identity was confirmed.
Brankovic is suspected of attacking 21 villages in the Novska area on 17 August 1991 with his battalion and 31 other people. Thirteen people were killed in the attack. He is also suspected of pillaging and mining several Catholic churches in the area and destroying numerous houses and economic facilities.