The UN war crimes tribunal today sentenced the Bosnian Muslim who led the doomed 1995 defence of Srebrenica to two years in prison for war crimes.
Former Bosnian Muslim commander Naser Oric, accused of killing Bosnian Serbs and of destroying their villages, at the Hague tribunal.
But wartime commander Naser Oric will be released for time already served.
He had pleaded not guilty to six charges of war crimes, including murder and cruel treatment of Bosnian Serbs in 1992-93.
He was in charge of forces which beat and killed Serb prisoners and torched Bosnian Serb villages.
"The accused was entitled to credit for the period of time he spent in custody since 10th April 2003 and the judges therefore ordered that he be released as soon as the necessary practical arrangements have been made," the court said in a statement.
Oric is one of at least half a dozen Bosnian Muslims to have been indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal in the Dutch capital, The Hague.
His arrest in 2003 marked a milestone for the court, which has faced accusations by Serbs that it is biased against them.
The indictment against Oric alleges that military police under his command beat Serb detainees with metal bars, baseball bats and rifle butts and extracted teeth with pliers.
He is accused of failing to prevent this or punish those responsible and with responsibility for wanton destruction of Serb villages around Srebrenica.
Prosecutors say he failed to take reasonable measures to prevent war crimes and to punish those responsible.
Oric is considered a hero by many Bosnian Muslims for spearheading the defence of Srebrenica in the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
Srebrenica, a Bosnian Muslim enclave in eastern Bosnia, later became a byword for mass murder after Serb forces overran the town in July 1995 and massacred up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Europe's worst atrocity since the second World War.