Former Bosnian Muslim commander Naser Oric, hailed by many as the defender of Srebrenica, was acquitted on Friday of war crimes during the 1990s Bosnian war, prompting outrage in parts of the country and abroad.

Oric and fellow fighter Sabahudin Muhic were tried for the killing of three Serb prisoners in the Srebrenica area at the start of the 1992-95 war between Bosnian Serbs, Muslims and Croats.

But Judge Tihomir Lukes said the Sarajevo court "could not… establish beyond a reasonable doubt the responsibility" of the two men for the crimes. 

Awaiting the verdict on Friday, hundreds of people gathered in front of the court carrying banners that read: "Heroes, not criminals!"

Oric is celebrated by fellow Bosnian Muslims for commanding the defense of Srebrenica, a besieged town that fell in 1995 to Bosnian Serb forces, who then slaughtered more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in what's considered to be Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.

But his acquittal also sparked outrage from Bosnian Serbs whose president Zeljka Cvijanovic labelled it "practically an amnesty for all horrible (war) crimes against Serb inhabitants" of the Srebrenica region.

Many ethnic Serbs perceive Oric as a "butcher" responsible for war crimes against them. Victims groups estimate that nearly 2,500 Serb soldiers and civilians were killed in the area during the war.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told state-run RTS television that the "fact that someone was not condemned due to political reasons does not mean that one did not commit crimes."

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acquitted Oric of war crimes against Serbs in 2008, but he was arrested again in June 2015 in Switzerland on a warrant from Serbia accusing him of killing three Bosnian Serb prisoners of war early in the conflict.

Two decades on from the war, Bosnia remains deeply divided along ethnic lines, with Bosnian Muslims making up half of the country's population of 3.5 million, while ethnic Serbs and Croats account for about 30 and 15 percent respectively.

(Cover: Former Srebrenica commander Naser Oric leaves the court in Sarajevo, after being acquitted of war crimes, November 30, 2018. /VCG Photo)