Former Chief of Staff of the Yugoslav Army Momcilo Perisic arrives for his initial appearance at the War Crimes Tribunal on March 9, 2005 in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Former Chief of Staff of the Yugoslav Army Momcilo Perisic arrives for his initial appearance at the War Crimes Tribunal on March 9, 2005 in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Michel Porro/Getty Images

Convictions of crimes against humanity against Momcilo Perisic, a former Yugoslav army chief, have been reversed on appeal Thursday by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Perisic had been sentenced to 27 years in prison for crimes in Bornia and Croatia. He surrendered in 2005 and was to be immediately released, the tribunal said Thursday.

The tribunal was established to deal with war crimes that occurred during the fighting after the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.