This information on the Prosecutor v. Gotovina et al. case is extracted from the press release issued today by the ICTY. For more details you can access the whole judgment, Vol. I and Vol. II (running up to 1377 pages); the judgment summary, or the case information sheet.
On 15 April Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted two Croatian Generals, Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač, and acquitted one, Ivan Čermak, of charges of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war committed by the Croatian forces during the Operation Storm military campaign between July and September 1995.
Gotovina, who held the rank of Colonel General in the Croatian army and was the Commander of the Split Military district during the indictment period, and Markač who held the position of Assistant Minister of Interior in charge of Special Police matters, were convicted of persecution, deportation, plunder, wanton destruction, two counts of murder, inhumane acts and cruel treatment. They were sentenced to 24 and 18 years’ imprisonment respectively. They were acquitted of charges of inhumane acts / forcible transfer. Čermak, who was the Commander of the Knin Garrison, was acquitted of all charges.
The trial commenced on 11 March 2008 and lasted a total of 303 days during which 4,819 exhibits were admitted. The Trial Chamber heard the testimony of a total of 145 witnesses of which 81 witnesses were called by the Prosecution, 57 by the Defence and seven by the Trial Chamber itself.
Since its establishment, the Tribunal has indicted 161 persons for serious violations of humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 2001. Proceedings against 125 have been concluded. Proceedings are currently ongoing for 34 accused.
Be First to Comment