I received the news about the decision this morning and was very surprised, because Gotovina and Markac were convicted by the trial chamber. It was a big, big surprise. I intend to read the ruling to see what went wrong between the trial chamber verdict and the appeal, said del Ponte.
The tribunal's appeals chamber acquitted Gotovina and Markac of liability for participation in a joint criminal enterprise and crimes committed during and after the 1995 Operation Storm, first dismissing the trial chamber ruling that had sentenced them to 24 and 18 years respectively, and then re-examining the evidence and finding that they could not be held accountable as aiders and abettors in a joint criminal enterprise or on superior responsibility.
Today's ruling established that the two generals were not members of a joint criminal enterprise and were not responsible for unlawful shelling of civilian targets, on which the trial chamber conviction rested.