Jubilation in Croatia as generals cleared of war crimes
Date November 18, 2012
Celebrating ... crowds in Zagreb on Friday. Photo: AFP
TWO Croatian generals cleared of war crimes have received a hero's welcome after flying back to Zagreb.
The decision by a 3-2 majority on Friday in the United Nations court's five-judge appeals chamber is one of the most significant reversals in the court's 18-year history and overturns a verdict that dealt a blow to Croatia's self-image as a victim of atrocities, rather than a perpetrator, during the Balkan wars in the 1990s.
The ruling was hailed in Croatia as vindicating its war of independence but the President of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic, deemed it ''scandalous''.
Acquitted ... former Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, left, and Mladen Markac, right, stand beside Croatian President Ivo Josipovic. Photo: AFP
In 2011, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia sentenced Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac to 24 years and 18 years for crimes including murder and deportation. Judges ruled both men had been part of a criminal conspiracy to expel Serbs.
Their convictions were one of the few at the tribunal to punish perpetrators of atrocities against Serb civilians. The majority of criminals convicted have been Serbs.
But on Friday the court said the original trial had erred in ruling that Croatian artillery had illegally shelled four Serb-held towns. The appeal judges also overturned the verdict that Croatia's Operation Storm involved a criminal enterprise to expel ethnic Serbs from Croatia's Krajina region.
The court ordered the immediate release of General Gotovina and General Markac.
The judgment was celebrated around Croatia, where General Gotovina is seen as a national hero and an embodiment of the country's fight for independence. Thousands of people took to the streets and children were sent home from schools.
Peter Galbraith, the US ambassador to Croatia in August 1995, when Croats began Operation Storm, said: ''I thought the verdict was consistent with my understanding of the facts. Serious crimes took place in Krajina after Operation Storm but I had no indication that there was a conspiracy to expel the Serbs.''
General Gotovina's defence lawyer, Greg Kehoe, said the appeal verdict showed Croatia's 1995 operation to regain control over the last Serb-run enclaves on its territory had been legitimate under international law.
An estimated 600 Serbs died in the aftermath of Operation Storm, some by summary execution. About 200,000 fled their homes. But the appeal chamber pointed to evidence that General Gotovina had taken steps to try to enforce discipline among his troops and prevent such crimes.
