Zagreb protests over tribunal jail sentence

THOUSANDS of Croatian demonstrators took to the streets of Zagreb yesterday to protest the stiff jail sentence handed to their wartime hero by a UN war crimes tribunal.

The court in The Hague sentenced General Ante Gotovina to 24 years in jail on Friday for atrocities committed during "Operation Storm" - a 1995 military offensive designed to drive the Serb rebels out an area of occupied Croatia.

The battle sealed Croatia's independence from the Serb-led Yugoslavia after four years of conflict with minority Serbs. The convictions of Gotovina and another general, Mladen Markac, dealt a blow to Croatia's self-image as a victim rather than perpetrator of atrocities. The protesters believe Gotovina is innocent and was convicted for political reasons.