Generals Gotovina, Cermak and Markac on Trial

The trial of defendants from the Operation Storm will start in March, six and a half years after the lawsuits were filed.

The Hague Tribunal will start the trial of Generals Ante Gotovina (52), Ivan Cermak (58) and Mladen Markac (52) on Tuesday March 11, in the morning, six and a half years after lawsuits were filed against them. The three generals are charged of war crimes started during the military operation to free Croatia (Operation Storm) in 1995.

The trial will be held by a council of three judges and will be presided over by permanent judge of the Tribunal, Dutch, Alphons Orie. Next to him will be Zimbabwean judge Elizabeth Gwaunza and judge Latvian Uldis Kinis.

At the beginning of this year, Judge Orie produced a trial plan, according to which both sides should produce evidence within 14 months. The prosecution should produce evidence within 200 hours.

General Gotovina’s attorneys are American Muka Misetic, Greg Kehoe and Payam Akhavan, general Cermak’s are British Stephen Kay and Andrew Cayley, while general’s Marcak’s attorneys are Croatian Goran Mikulicic and American Tomislav Kuzmanovic.

During their first hearing before the court, the three generals pleaded not guilty, and also later when their charges were partially altered.

Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Marcak are charged of crimes against humanity and violation of war regulations during the Operation Storm in the Croatian areas occupied by Serbs, from July to September 30, 1995.

Gotovina was then commander of the Split Operative Zone, Cermak was commander of the Knin muster station, while Marcak was aid minister of internal affairs of Croatia.

Two weeks before the beginning of the trial, The Hague prosecution forwarded the revised indictment text against the three Croatian generals. The Text includes the alterations the court proposed a year ago, including the singular persecuting activities and an alteration in the number of people who took part in the criminal activity.