Tarculovski's Supporters Protest ICTY Verdict

"I really expected that the court would amend the injustice it served two years ago. This makes me very unhappy. [Tarculovski] stood for the defence of Macedonia and this is not what he deserves. He is a true hero," protester Mitko Stafanovski told Balkan Insight

Some of the protestors wore t-shirts with pictures of Tarculovski and slogans including: “Johan-the greatest hero of Macedonia”.

“This is a scandalous decision. It is only a confirmation that the court in the Hague is a political court and not a court of justice,” Alaksandar Trajkovski, one of the protestors, told local media.

The Appeals Chamber at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, today delivered the final verdict in the case of Tarculovski and the former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boskoski. The first instance sentence in 2008 sentenced Tarculovski to 12 years' imprisonment and acquitted Boskoski on all charges.

Tarculovski was sentenced for his involvement in atrocities committed by the police in the ethnic Albanian village of Ljuboten near Skopje during the conflict. He was convicted on charges of murder, wanton destruction and cruel treatment.

The Chamber today “dismissed Tarculovski’s appeal in its entirety” and ruled that he is to be held in detention at the Hague until he is transferred to the state where he will serve the remainder of his prison sentence.

The court also dismissed the Prosecution's appeal against Boskoski's acquittal, thus confirming that Boskoski is a free man. Boskoski had been indicted for failing to take necessary and reasonable measures to investigate the atrocities and punish crimes committed by his subordinates during the conflict.

Boskoski and Tarculovski are the only people from Macedonia to have been indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague for war crimes allegedly committed during the 2001 armed conflict in Macedonia between the state security forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents.

Tarculovski’s defense attorney Nathan Dershowitz said he was disappointed by the court’s ruling. “If you ask me the tribunal should be closed. It is shameful that this is called a court,” he told reporters after the session, according to local A1 TV.

Tarculovski’s lawyers said they will ask that their client be permitted to serve the remainder of his prison sentence in Macedonia.

Tarculovski has been held in the Sheveningen prison in the Netherlands for five years and will be permitted to request early release after having served two-thirds of his 12 year sentence.

Today's hearing raised great public interest in Macedonia. Some 30 journalists followed the session in the Hague and a plane full of Tarculovski's supporters also flew in to attend the hearing.