A UN court freed a Bosnian Croat prison commander yesterday in a landmark judgement that may complicate prosecution of those behind a 1992-1993 ethnic cleansing drive against Moslems in central Bosnia.
Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia at The Hague found Zlatko Aleksovski (39) guilty on one count of violations of the laws and customs of war.
However, they acquitted him of two counts of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions in a complex ruling that determined prisoners at Kaonik detention unit during the Bosnian war were not protected under the 1949 international treaty which protects the rights of prisoners and civilians in wartime.
The court sentenced Aleksovski to 2 1/2 years in jail, then told him he was a free man because he had already been in detention for over two years and 10 months.
He gave prosecution and defence 15 days to appeal and the prosecution immediately indicated it would do so.
The judges' decision to acquit Aleksovski on the Geneva Conventions charges could have a far-reaching impact on three other cases before the tribunal linked to bloodshed in the Lasva Valley region of central Bosnia.
Bosnian Croat political leader Mr Dario Kordic, military commander Mr Mario Cerkez and Bosnian Croat Gen Tihomir Blaskic were all named on the same 1995 indictment as Aleksovski. All are accused of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.
The International Criminal Tribunal was established by the UN Security Council in May 1993 to track down those guilty of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.