Vesna Pusić: It wasn't the Croatian people who were convicted, but the architects of the policy from the '90s

ZAGREB, (Patria) - Former Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vesna Pusić believes that the verdict handed down by the Hague Tribunal is "the epilogue of a bad and wrong policy from the 90s".

"I believe that these verdicts did not convict the Croatian people, but rather the architects of that policy who are in The Hague," Pusić said.

"It seems to me that we have known since the 90s that this policy was bad, that it was wrong, and this is the epilogue - Pusić added.

The Appeals Chamber of the Hague Tribunal sentenced the six leaders of so-called Herceg-Bosna to a total of 111 years.

The Hague Tribunal handed down convictions to six Croats from BiH.

Former Prime Minister of the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna, Jadranko Prlić, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Minister of Defense Bruno Stojić to 20 years in prison, two HVO General Staff chiefs Slobodan Praljak and Milivoj Petković to 20 years each, HVO Military Police Commander Valentin Ćorić to 16 years, and Head of the Detainees Department Berislav Pušić to 10 years in prison.

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today, as part of the appeals judgment for the former leaders of the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna, also determined that there was an international armed conflict in BiH and a state of occupation, and confirmed the existence of a Croatian joint criminal enterprise aimed at ethnic cleansing of parts of BiH.