According to the ruling, which can be appealed, Petricic did not defame Mesic but made a serious criticism of a politician with no intent to slander or insult Mesic.
Mesic sued Petricic in late 2009 after Petricic said in the media that Mesic had links to the Albanian mafia, which allegedly financed his presidential campaign, and that he was one of the three richest people in Croatia.
Mesic, who did not appear at today's sentencing hearing, will have to cover the costs of the court proceedings.