Munib Suljic, Igor Mikola and Sinica Rimac were convicted of the murder of a man, Sasa, whose last name is unknown and who until yesterday, when the indictment was amended, was referred to as Aleksandar Antic.
The longest sentence, of 10 years, was given to Suljic, who was allegedly the first to shoot at the victim. Rimac was given an eight-year sentence, while Mikola was given five years in jail as an accessory to murder. The crimes were committed in the village of Pakracka Poljana, some 100 kilometres southeast of Zagreb.
Mikola's sentence also includes the penalty for unlawful arrest and extortion, which according to the judgement he committed with Miroslav Bajramovic and Branko Saric, who were given four and three years in jail respectively.
Judge Rajka Tomerlin Almer ordered detention for Suljic, Mikola and Rimac, but only Rimac left the Zagreb County court in handcuffs. Suljic and Mikola, who had been provisionally released, were not present at today's declaration of the verdict.
Explaining her judgment, the judge said the defendants had taken part in the creation of an illegal camp in which people were treated as in Nazi death camps. "Those were not war crimes, but crimes committed in war conditions," she said.
Although satisfied with the ruling, which was handed down after 13 years of proceedings, prosecutor Ivan Plevko said he would nevertheless appeal the sentences.
The defence, which too announced appeals, said nothing had been proven against their clients and that the high sentences were given to "true warriors and heroes".