UN war crimes tribunal convicts 6 Bosnian Croats of persecution of Muslims during Bosnian war

Bosnian Croat Jadranko Prlic, back row left, shakes hands with his lawyer, next to Bruno Stojic, back row center, and Slobodan Praljak, back row right, prior to their judgment at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday May 29, 2013. The ICTY is set to deliver verdicts in the long-running trial of six senior Bosnian Croats on charges of crimes against Muslims and Serbs as they tried to carve out a Croat state in Bosnia during the country's 1992-95 war. Prosecutors have asked for sentences of up to 40 years for the suspects. (AP Photo/Jiri Buller, Pool) (The Associated Press)

Bosnian Croat Jadranko Prlic, right, looks at his watch prior to his judgment at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday May 29, 2013. The ICTY delivers verdicts in the long-running trial of six senior Bosnian Croats on charges of crimes against Muslims and Serbs as they tried to carve out a Croat state in Bosnia during the country's 1992-95 war. Prosecutors have asked for sentences of up to 40 years for the suspects. (AP Photo/Jiri Buller, Pool) (The Associated Press)

A United Nations court has convicted six Bosnian Croat political and military leaders of persecuting, expelling and murdering Muslims during Bosnia's war as part of a plan supported by leaders in neighboring Croatia to establish a Croat state in Bosnia.

The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal convictions Wednesday underscored Croatia's involvement in Bosnia's 1992-95 conflict.

A majority of the three-judge panel says that late-Croat President Franjo Tudjman was a key member of a plan to carve out a Croat ministate in Bosnia with the aim of later uniting it with his country to create a greater Croatia or leaving it as a separate independent state.

The court handed down sentences ranging from 10 to 25 years' imprisonment for the six suspects.