Hundreds of Serb civilians were killed - mostly elderly people who stayed on after their families had left. Successive Croatian governments maintained that the flight of the Serb population was part of an organised evacuation on the part of the Serb authorities.
According to Zagreb, whatever atrocities may have been committed were isolated incidents carried out by undisciplined individuals. Following his indictment, Gen Gotovina was tipped off - apparently by sympathisers within the Croatian security services - and he became a fugitive from justice in the summer of The lack of enthusiasm for tracking him down had much to do with the widespread perception at the time among Croats of the general as a national hero, not an indicted war crimes suspect.
Gen Gotovina's escape and the subsequent half-hearted attempts of the Croatian authorities to locate him led to serious tensions between Croatia and the European Union, which Zagreb was seeking to join. In March the EU postponed the launch of Croatia's accession talks on the eve of their starting date because it judged that Zagreb was still failing to do enough to track down the fugitive general.
The postponement of membership talks led to a change of heart in Zagreb. That year, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's centre-right government began to take substantive measures to deal with those suspected of providing a support network for Gen Gotovina. In August , the Croatian forces conducted a rapid offensive attack against the Krajina region of Croatia which had the purpose of removing ethnic Serbs, and make the region suitable for Croats instead.
The Appeals Chamber considered that Trial Chamber I had erred in its analysis of the lawfulness of artillery attacks on four towns in Croatia. This, in turn, resulted in the reversal of all convictions entered by Trial Chamber I under this mode of responsibility.
The appeals hearing was held on 14 May the transcript is available here. Ante GOTOVINA failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent such serious violations of international humanitarian law or to punish the perpetrators thereof. At all times relevant to this indictment, a state of armed conflict existed in the Krajina region of the Republic of Croatia in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.
These alleged acts or omissions, constituting Crimes against Humanity, which are crimes punishable by Article 5 of the Statute of the Tribunal, were part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population. Individual criminal responsibility includes planning, instigating, ordering, committing or otherwise aiding and abetting in the planning, preparation or execution of any crimes referred to in Articles 2 to 5 of the Statute.
Ante GOTOVINA , while holding a position of superior authority as set out in the foregoing paragraphs , is also, or in the alternative, criminally responsible as commander for the acts of his subordinates pursuant to the provisions of Article 7 3 of the Statute of the Tribunal whereby a superior is responsible for the acts of his subordinates if he knew or had reason to know that his subordinates were about to commit such acts or had done so, and the superior failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent such acts or to punish the perpetrators thereof.
The general allegations contained in paragraphs 10 to 14 are re-alleged and incorporated into each of the related charges which are set out below. Between 4 August and 15 November , large numbers of Krajina Serbs fled or were forced to flee to Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia. The property of Krajina Serbs was plundered.
Between 4 August and 15 November , Croatian forces committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law, including the unlawful killing of at least Krajina Serbs and the disappearance of many hundreds of others.
Listed in the First Schedule attached hereto are some specific instances of such unlawful killings. Between 4 August and 15 November , Croatian forces plundered public or private property, including homes, outbuildings, barns and livestock of the Krajina Serbs. Listed in the Second Schedule attached hereto are some specific instances of such plunder of public or private property. Between 4 August and 15 November , Croatian forces set fire to and otherwise wantonly destroyed villages, homes, outbuildings, barns and livestock of the Krajina Serbs who fled as well as of those who stayed behind.
He also honed his taste for the high life. The Canary Islands became a regular haunt, and it was in Tenerife where Spanish police eventually arrested Gen Gotovina in to face trial in The Hague.
Originally he had headed to the Spanish islands to rest his war injuries, but he soon joined a paragliding club in San Agustin, Gran Canaria, becoming a familiar face in a string of upmarket resorts. The s also brought scandal. A French court convicted him of robbery and extortion, and there were reports of a growing involvement in right-wing politics. Chief among his allies was Franjo Tudjman, the nationalist leader later to become president of independent Croatia.
A criminal conviction prompted a move into the private security business, and eventually, as Tudjman declared Croatian independence in , a return home. Ante Gotovina quickly emerged as Croatia's top military commander, fighting on the Bosnian front in before taking control of Operation Storm. He is alleged to have failed to prevent the murder of Serbs killed by shooting, stabbing or burning during the offensive.
In , new Croatian President Stjepan Mesic ordered Ante Gotovina and six other generals into early retirement after they refused to co-operate with war crimes probes.
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