Nika Pinter, who is representing Slobodan Praljak, sentenced to 20 years, said they had plenty of legal arguments to dispute the joint criminal enterprise and other charges against her client.
She said the defence attorneys never claimed that there had been no crimes. She said the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acted as a criminal court for the first time in the ruling for Momcilo Perisic by finding that logistical aiding a war effort could not be equated with aiding and abetting crimes.
"This is not an international commission establishing the effects and consequences of war, but a criminal court that has to establish criminal responsibility. So, I think that we will return to criminal proceedings in the appeal and the dissenting opinion of Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti gives hope," said Pinter.
Milivoj Petkovic's attorney Vesna Alaburic said the joint criminal enterprise was a form of criminal responsibility that allowed the court to find someone guilty without establishing a concrete connection with the basis of the crime.
Bruno Stojic's attorney Senka Nozica accused the Croatian state of having done nothing to help the defence teams in disputing the joint criminal enterprise charge.
The prosecution, on the other hand, said it was satisfied with the sentences, stressing that justice had been done.
For the first time, the ICTY did not provide the press with the sentences.