(24 Sep 2011)
1. Close of Croatian flags
2. Wide of protest
3. Close up poster showing General Ante Gotovina and General Mladen Markac
4. Wide of protesters waving Croatian flags and singing
5. Zoom in from medium of protester waving flag and singing to close up of him singing
6. Zoom out from empty chairs on stage with General Ante Gotovina and Slobodan Praljak name tag to wide of speaker calling out names of Croats convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
7. Protesters applauding
8. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Mijo Maric, Vice-President of Croatian World Congress:
"Today we want to express our dissatisfaction with a verdict against generals Gotovina and Markac and the absurd assessment of our military liberation operation ''Storm'' as a joint criminal act."
9. Protesters listening
10. Priest speaking on stage
11. Three women waving Croatian flags singing prayer
12. Protesters holding large Croatian flag
13. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Josip Raspudic, Protester:
"For me General Ante Gotovina is a knight of Croatian people. Operation ''Storm'' is a sacred thing that happened in our homeland war."
14. Wide protest
15. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Petar Cosic, Croatian World Congress:
"We think that The Hague tribunal is a political organisation and not a just court. We want to protest against that and show a red card to The Hague verdict."
16. Various protesters holding up red cards
STORYLINE
A few hundred Croats gathered in The Hague on Saturday to protest against verdicts handed down by the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) against Croatian generals for their actions during the Balkan wars.
The protest was organised by the Croatian World Congress. Protesters travelled to The Hague from a number of European countries and, in a symbolic move, showed a ''red card'' to the UN court.
Earlier this year the UN tribunal convicted Croatian Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac for their roles in "Operation Storm" that seized back land along Croatia''s eastern border taken over by rebel Serbs early in the Balkan wars.
Dozens of Serbs were killed and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes. Gotovina and Markac were found guilty of murder, expulsion, plunder and other crimes against humanity, and sentenced to 24 and 18 years respectively.
The protesters believe the ICTY''s verdicts are unjust and politically motivated. They consider Croatian generals heroes and not criminals.
They also object to the court''s description of the Croatian military''s "Operation Storm" as a "joint criminal act" and say it was a legitimate military intervention that brought freedom to Croatia.
"For me General Ante Gotovina is a knight of Croatian people. Operation Storm is a sacred thing that happened in our homeland war," said protester Josip Raspudic.
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