THE HAGUE -- The Hague Tribunal has sentenced ex-Croat General Ante Gotovina to 24 years in prison and General Mladen Markač to 18. Ivan Čermak was acquitted.
The three generals were accused of persecution of Croatia's ethnic Serb population during and after the police and military Operation Storm in the summer and fall of 1995.
The court also found that former Croatian president Franjo Tuđman was a key member of a joint criminal enterprize to cleanse some parts of Croatia of the Serb population.
The prosecution requested earlier that Gotovina be sentenced to 27 years in prison, Markač to 23 and Čermak to 17 years. The defense called for the court to set their clients free.
Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor stated earlier that she “just like all of Croatia", expected just decisions "from all courts, including the Hague Tribunal”.
Members of special police units, guard units, volunteers and victims of the war gathered last night in Zagreb in support of the generals.
Gotovina was on the run until December 7, 2005 when he was arrested in the Canary Islands. The indictment against him was raised in 2001 and it was amended in March 2004.
He was accused of war crimes committed during and after Operation Storm which was carried out by Croatia from August 4 until November 15, 1995.
According to the indictment, as a Split Operative Zone commander and chief commander of the Operation Storm, Gotovina was a part of a joint criminal enterprise together with Croatian Army General Čermak, police General Markač and ex-Croat President Franjo Tuđman.
Their goal was to forcefully and permanently remove Serbs from Croata's Serb-controled area, the Republic of Serb Krajina, it is added in the indictment.
During onslaught, the Croatian Army attacked towns and villages in the municipalities of Benkovac, Donji Lapac, Drniš, Gospić, Gračac, Knin, Korenica, Obrovac, Šibenik, Sinj and Zadar.
By robbing and destroying Serb property, the Croatian Army tried to prevent their return.
According to the indictment, the Croatian forces killed at least 150 Krajina Serbs and drove “tens of thousands“ from Croatia.
However, Croatian Helsinki Committee NGO believes that Gotovina is responsible for the death of at least 700 Serb civilians. It is estimated that more than 20,000 homes of the Krajina Serbs were destroyed during the operation.
The trial of the three Croat generals began on March 1, 2008, the anniversary of Slobodan Milošević's death, which Croatian media commented as the “Hague irony“.
The trial ended on September 1, 2010. The prosecution called 81 witnesses and the defense 57, while judges called seven more witnesses.
Source: B92, Tanjug
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