The 35-year-old Furundzija, who came to Zagreb aboard a plane from Frankfurt, was welcomed at Pleso airport by his wife, nine-year-old daughter, and about 20 family members and friends.
Furundzija, convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of violations of the laws and customs of war, was released from jail in Kylmakoski, some 150 kilometres north of the Finnish capital of Helsinki, on Tuesday morning.
Furundzija, born in the central Bosnian town of Travnik in 1969, was sentenced to 10 years in jail on 10 December 1998. His sentence was confirmed by the Appeals Chamber on 21 July 2000. Furundzija, who was the commander of Croat Defence Council (HVO) special local units known as Jokers in central Bosnia in 1993, was found guilty as an aider and abettor in the rape and torture of a Muslim woman and a Croat soldier, which was qualified as a violation of laws and customs of war.
At the airport in Zagreb, he was also welcomed by his lawyer, Luka Misetic, an American attorney of Croat origin who is also known as a member of the defence team of the fugitive general Ante Gotovina.
Misetic said that Furundzija and his family would very likely begin a new life in Croatia.
Asked by reporters to assess the gravity of Furundzija's sentence, the lawyer said that "an injustice was done in the Furundzija case, as he should have been acquitted, but he got a higher sentence than many others who were convicted of murder".
Asked to comment on the possibility of issuing an indictment against Furundzija for the Ahmici crimes given that the Jokers, commanded by Furundzija, are believed to have committed a massacre in that Bosnian village, Misetic answered that he was sure the ICTY would not indict Furundzija for this crime.
"In my opinion, he will certainly not be indicted (for it), certainly not by the Hague-based tribunal. I would not agree that anything definite was established, and I disagree with the claim that the Jokers did it. This is a claim by one of the defence teams (of ICTY indictees)," Misetic said.
"I am convinced that the Hague tribunal will not indict him. This is not impossible, but according to all the information that I have, this will not happen," the lawyer said.
In compliance with rules of the UN war crimes tribunal which convicted Furundzija on 29 July this year, the tribunal's president, Theodor Meron, made a decision on his early release. In reaching his decision, Meron considered the fact that the Government of Finland notified him that "Mr. Furundzija will have served two thirds of his sentence on 17 August 2004 and will therefore, in accordance with the law of Finland, become eligible for early release".
In addition, Meron took into consideration "the gravity of the offences committed by Mr. Furundzija," that he "is resolved to be integrated into society, exhibited good behaviour in detention, and has a strong attachment to his family," and "as reported by the Finnish authorities, Mr. Furundzija has accepted the judgement he received as fair and has expressed remorse for the suffering of victims," according to a press release recently issued by the ICTY.
Furundzija's mother Ankica on Tuesday said that a welcome reception for his son was being prepared in the town of Vitez, central Bosnia.