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| |  | | Ante Gotovina | | | context : | Former Yugoslavia  | | judgement place : | ICTY (Yugoslavia) | | status : | On trial | | particulars : | Arrested on 7 December 2005 in the Canary Islands; start of trial before the ICTY on 11 March 2008; end of Prosecution Case on 5 March 2009; start of Defence Case on 28 May 2009 | | position : | Commander in Chief of the Croatian Forces during «Operation Storm» launched to recover Southern Krajina in 1995. |
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| | | | Ante Gotovina was arrested in Spain (Canary Islands) on December 7, 2005 and transferred to the ICTY on 10 December 2005.
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued a first indictment against Ante Gotovina on 21 May 2001This indictment was modified on 24 February 2004.
Ante Gotovina was charged, based on his individual criminal responsibility (Art. 7 § 1 ICTY Statute) and also as hierarchical superior (art. 7 § 3 ICTY Statute), on 7 counts of crimes against humanity (Art. 5 ICTY Statute) and for serious breaches of the laws and customs of war (Art. 3 ICTY Statute), the 7 charges being for:
- persecutions;
- murder;
- plunder of public or private property;
- wanton destruction of towns and villages;
- deportation ;
- forcible transfer ;
- other inhumane acts.
At his first appearance before the ICTY on 12 December 2005, he pleaded not guilty on all counts.
The Office of the Prosecutor then proposed that Ante Gotovina be judged together with Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac (see "related cases"), two other Croatian generals involved in the re-taking of the Krajina in 1995.
On 14 July 2006, the Trial Chamber accepted the motion and ordered that the cases be joined for a common trial. A joinder indictment was filed on 21 July 2006.
On 5 December 2006, Gotovina pleaded not guilty to two new counts of war crimes and two of crimes against humanity.
On 13 December 2006, judges in the trial of Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markac and Ivan Cermak requested that prosecutors “propose means of reducing the scope of the indictment by at least one third” by limiting the number of crimes scenes and/or reducing the counts, in order to "ensure a fair and expeditious trial".
The prosecution turned down the request, but stated that, if ordered by the Chamber, it would nevertheless reduce the number of municipalities covered in the indictment from 20 to 14, removing Kijevo, Lovinac, Polaca, Smilcic, Titevo Korenica, and Ubdina. The prosecution also proposed reducing the period covered by the indictment by removing allegations relating to October and November 1995.
A first modified reduced version of the joinder indictment was then filed 2 March 2007.
The commencement of the trial was postponed indefinitely by the Trial Chamber on 19 April 2007 after judges ruled that both Cermak and Markac needed new defence lawyers because of conflicts of interest. They were replaced at the end of 2007.
On 27 November 2007 the Tribunal rejected a motion for provisional release to await trial under house arrest in Croatia judging that there was a risk he might flee.
The trial of Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac opened on 11 March 2008.
The case for the prosecution ended on 5 March 2009.
The defence subsequently applied for acquittal of all three defendants pursuant to Rule 98bis of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Tribunal.
This request was denied by the Chamber on 3 April 2009.
The case for the defence case is set to start on 28 May 2009. | |    | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Croatia | | | date of birth : | | | 12.10.1955 | | | last time seen : | | | The Hague (Netherlands) | | | period of charges : | | | 04.08.1995 - 15.11.1995 | | | judgement period : | | | 11.03.2008 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 08.12.2009 |
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