The three Presidency members are officially visiting France, while Council of Ministers Chairman Vjekoslav Bevanda would not comment. His party, the HDZ BiH, said the verdict was not unexpected given the serious qualifications and accusations by the ICTY prosecution.
The HDZ BiH believes the argument of a joint criminal enterprise will be dismissed in appeal and that the trial sentences will be overturned or significantly reduced, the party said in a statement, supporting wartime Bosnian Croat leader Jadranko Prlic and the other defendants.
The verdict cannot diminish their contribution to the creation of Croatian freedom, the defence of the Bosnian Croat people and the creation of prerequisites for peace negotiations in Bosnia which enabled the survival of the Bosniak people too, the statement said.
The President of the Croat-Bosniak Federation entity, Zivko Budimir, told reporters in Sarajevo this was a trial verdict and that it was necessary to wait for the appeal.
Federation Prime Minister Nermin Niksic welcomed today's conviction. "I took part in the war and know very well what happened. Some people are trying to change history and prove that they were on the right side. The Hague tribunal has passed its ruling and there is nothing to add," he told reporters in Sarajevo.
Bosnian Serb entity Parliament Speaker Igor Radojicic said the conviction of Prlic and the others was serious because it spoke of a joint criminal enterprise, but added that it was worthwhile to remain restrained given that such sentences could be changed in appeal.
He told reporters in Banja Luka such sentences should not be used to impose collective guilt and especially not applied in qualifying current relations.
The president of an association of Herceg-Bosna Homeland War volunteers, Petar Zelenika, said in Mostar he condemned all crimes but that this verdict was political and that it punished the Croat people "because in 1992 we went to a referendum and voted for Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence."
He voiced hope that the appeal will rectify that and that the final verdict will be based solely on facts and not political judgements.