The head of the Croatian National Theatre (HNK) Ballet in Split, Almira Osmanovic, who was among 18 HNK ballet dancers wounded in rebel Serb artillery attacks on Zagreb on 3 May 1995, said on Tuesday that the prison term given by the Hague war crimes tribunal to the wartime Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army, Momcilo Perisic, was "ridiculously short".
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today sentenced General Perisic to 27 years in prison for aiding and abetting the siege of Sarajevo and the murder of thousands of Muslims in Srebrenica, as well as for failure to punish his subordinates for missile attacks on Zagreb. He was acquitted of charges of aiding and abetting extermination as a crime against humanity in Srebrenica.
Osmanovic said it was ridiculous that Perisic, "who commanded an aggressor army, got 27 years in prison, while our General (Ante) Gotovina, who led a defence army, got as many as 24 years, only three years fewer than General Perisic."
"When everything is considered, one cannot expect justice from the Hague tribunal," Osmanovic said.
