U.N. pleads for continued detention of Croatian general.
The last Croatian fugitive for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavian republic has requested a temporary release from The Hague. Ante Gotovina, a former Croatian general, has filed a motion from his release from custody at the U.N. facility in the Netherlands. Prosecutors, however, have produced formerly unknown charges against Gotovina for armed robbery in France and cite evidence that “past history demonstrates a determination to avoid standing trial.”
Gotovina evaded arrest for more than 4 years after being indicted in 2001. He, and fellow servicemen Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, were indicted for operating a joint criminal enterprise to remove the Serbian population from occupied Croatian territories. Gotovina has been charged with killing 150 Serbs and the forced displacement of at least 150,000 others. Croatian forces orchestrated the events to recapture land seized by Serbian rebels in 1995. Many Croatians view Gotovina as a national hero.
France has played an integral part in war crimes prosecutions recently. An appeals court in France ordered the release of two Rwandan men suspected of complicity in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, noting the arrests were improperly processed and ordered their immediate release. With cries of “that’s enough”, however, French officials have been leading international efforts to moderate the atrocities in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan. France, the former colonial overseer of Lebanon, also vowed its continued support for Security Council resolutions regarding investigations into assassination of former prime minister, Rafik Hariri.
Ante Gotovina was convicted in abstentia by French courts for armed robbery, extortion, and abduction. He faces prison terms of over 3 years if he were to serve his sentences for crimes committed in France.
August 30th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Gotovina’s lawyers responded to the Prosecution’s references about an alleged criminal past, and have demonstrated that Gotovina was in fact a victim in France, not a criminal. For the full brief, go to the following:
http://www.antegotovina.com/doc/motion-EN.pdf
August 31st, 2007 at 7:15 am
Mr. Baresic,
Thank you for taking the time to share more information on this. I really appreciate that.
My information notes that Gotovina was arrested in 1984 for various petty crimes. In the past, French officials have allowed fugitives seeking asylum, or other forms of exile, to remain free, but within French judicial control.
August 31st, 2007 at 11:43 am
Not a problem at all, Mr. Graeber. I would ask that you clarify your comment, as I am not sure what “fugitives seeking asylum” has to do with Mr. Gotovina. Respectfully, Mike Baresic
August 31st, 2007 at 12:12 pm
I did not mean to imply that the General was in that category. I was referring to a case in which an alleged conspirator in the Rwandan genocide, Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, was held under the judicial control of French authorities, but was not being imprisoned. I was presenting that argument that the French judicial system seems accepting of certain alleged perpetrators. Your statement regarding Gen. Gotivna being a victim in France made certain assumptions I was not attempting to present in my original thesis on the topic. It was more of a comment about the French judicial system than it was about Gotivina’s status or designation. To say either way - victim or criminal - speaks more about the system in place than it does Gotovina. I will let the official international courts make that decision.
Thanks for the brief. I will make sure to examine it. I’m interested to see how the allegations that Gotovina was a victim of a French criminal enterprise play out.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Ok, understood. cheers.
April 13th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Great job ICTY. All Croatian Generals are in the Hague awaiting trial for protecting their homeland and the two biggest war crimes suspects who commited genocide in the 20th century are walking free. The world unjustice is acting again. Gen. Gotovina led a sweeping military offensive — known as Operation Storm — stopped atrocities that would have made the massacre at Srebrenica pale in comparison.
Bakone Moloto presiding judge, said In October 1991, Croats in the villages of Hrvatska Dubica and Cerovljani were forced from their homes, beaten and used as human shields by Serbs. When they fled, Serbs moved into their homes, Judge Moloto said. On Oct. 20, 1991, Croatian Serb forces detained more than 40 villagers at a local fire station. Eleven were released or managed to escape, but the next day the remaining prisoners were taken to the banks of a nearby river and killed, Judge Moloto said. Their bodies were dumped in several graves, including a mass grave judges visited during the trial.
1991-1995, prior to the plight of Serbs, ethnic Serbs in Croatia, with hefty assistance from both paramilitary units from Serbia the Milosevic-controlled Communist Yugoslav Army (JNA), killed 15,000 Croatians and forcibly displaced, “cleansed,” 220,000 Croats from Croatian territory. More than 15,000 (FIFTEEN THOUSAND!) Croats were murdered in areas occupied by Serbs, and more than 4000 are still missing. ( If I am not mistaken, DM100 was paid for each dead Bosniak and Croatian citizens.) Croatians should indeed be proud of their own liberation from such a hell.