Glavaš sentenced to seven years in war crimes retrial

Former hard-right politician Branimir Glavaš was sentenced to seven years in prison for war crimes committed in 1991 in Osijek.

His three co-defendants were also found guilty, receiving sentences of three to four years.

Under Croatian law, the verdict will not be final until all opportunities for appeal are exhausted.

In the initial trial of this same case, Glavaš and the others were also found guilty but the Constitutional Court overturned the verdict on appeal resulting in a retrial.

Prior to his first conviction, Glavaš fled to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he was later forced to serve eight years of his sentence.

Glavaš stormed out of the courtroom at the Zagreb County Court on Friday, firing off a barrage of expletives at the judge.

"I treated the judge to what was coming to him!" he told reporters outside.

"I'm not going to serve another day in prison. This is a farce, a show for the public, for the international community, and I absolutely don't care. This was a political show trial!" he said.

The Glavaš trial covered two war crimes cases both involving torture and murder.

Možemo PM Sandra Benčić said she was disappointed with the sentence.

"This is a defeat for the rule of law, a defeat for all of us who were expecting justice for all of the victims, both the Croatian civilian victims of the Homeland War, the Serb victims, and victims of any other nationality,” said Benčić.

HDZ MP Nikola Mažar declined to comment until the verdict was final.

"That way, I can respect the independence and impartiality of the court,” he said.

Independent Democratic Serb Party MP Milorad Pupovac also expressed disappointment.

"We can say that this is a good thing for the victims and for justice but for everything else, unfortunately, it is bad. We waited 32 years and we have no idea when the verdict will be final,” said Pupovac.