General Ante Gotovina on Tuesday evening addressed the crowd who gathered in his hometown Pakostane, southern Croatia, saying that he was happy to find his way home after so many years and that the common objective was to create conditions for the weakest and those most threatened to live happily in this country.
"Be happy, dear friends, this is our night, the night of our victory. After so many years, I have found my way home and tonight I am here with you," Gotovina told the crowd of 30,000 who gathered on the Pakostani waterfront.
The ICTY appeals chamber last Friday quashed the trial chamber conviction of Gotovina and general Mladen Markac, acquitting them and ordering they be immediately released from detention. The two generals arrived in Croatia that afternoon aboard a Croatian government plane.
