War crimes convictions of two Croat generals overturned Ante Gotovina, left, and Mladen Markac. Photograph: Bas Czerwinski/AFP/Getty Images Appeal judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal have overturned the convictions of two Croat generals for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against Serb civilians in a 1995 military blitz. Ante Gotovina, who was a commander in the Split district of the Croatian army, had been sentenced to 24 years in prison, and Mladen Markac, a Croatian police commander, to 18 years. Their supporters in the court's packed public gallery cheered and clapped as the presiding judge, Theodor Meron, ordered both men to be freed immediately. Gotovina and Markac were sentenced in 2011 for crimes including murder and deportation. Judges ruled both men were part of a criminal conspiracy led by the former Croatian president Franjo Tudjman to expel Serbs. But appeal judges said no such conspiracy existed.