The moment the sentence was read out to Ante Gotovina (L) and Mladen Markac (R)
Two Croatian military leaders have been convicted of atrocities against Serbs during the break up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, after a trial at The Hague.
Judges sentenced Ante Gotovina to 24 years and Mladen Markac to 18 years in jail for crimes including murder, persecution and plunder.
The men helped to plan an operation to retake Croatia's Krajina region and force out all Serbians in 1995.
The war crimes tribunal cleared another defendant, Ivan Cermak, of all charges.
The BBC's Mark Lowen in Zagreb says crowds who had gathered to watch the tribunal's hearing on big screens in the Croatian capital booed and hissed when the judge announced the guilty verdicts.
The men are regarded as heroes by many in Croatia.
Gotovina and Markac were convicted of a range of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed as their forces retook the Krajina region, which had been under Serb control since the start of the war in 1991.
About 200,000 ethnic Serbs were driven from Croatia in 1995 and at least 150 were killed.
Those defending Gotovina said he did all he could to prevent his troops carrying out crimes during the operation.
But judges at The Hague rejected their claims.
Presiding Judge Alphons Orie said there had been widespread and concerted attacks on the Serbian civilian population in Krajina.
"The Croatian military committed acts of murder, cruel treatment, inhumane acts, plunder, persecution and deportation," said the judge.
Both Gotovina and Markac had played a part in planning and overseeing this operation, the court ruled.
Judge Orie added that Gotovina had made "no serious effort" to follow up or report crimes committed by his troops against Serbian civilians.
Several of the former Yugoslav republics have helped international prosecutors track down former war criminals because they are keen to join the EU.
Gotovina's arrest in 2005 was considered crucial to Croatia's chances of joining the bloc.
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-europe-13092438
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