Gotovina Must Stay in Hague Before Trial-Del Ponte

Former Croatian general Ante Gotovina should not be allowed to return to Croatia ahead of his war crimes trial in The Hague.

Former Croatian general Ante Gotovina should not be allowed to return to Croatia ahead of his war crimes trial in The Hague because of the risk he might flee, U.N. Chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte has told judges.

In response to a request by Gotovina for provisional release, del Ponte told the U.N. tribunal in a filing published on Wednesday that the Croat managed to avoid arrest for four years and release would be "inappropriate".

Earlier this month Gotovina, who has been in detention in the Hague since December 2005, asked to be allowed to await his trial under house arrest in Croatia and provided guarantees by the Croatian government that he would return to the court.

Judges are now considering his request.

However, del Ponte said the Croatian government had failed to arrest Gotovina when he was at large, and according to a Croatian report the former general had received protection and assistance from 100 to 200 former military personnel in Croatia.

Gotovina was eventually arrested on Spain's Canary Islands.

"Gotovina's past history demonstrates a determination to avoid standing trial... He evaded apprehension for four and a half years, using false identities and forged documentation," she wrote to the court.

Gotovina's lawyer said an electronic monitoring system could be used to track his whereabouts if granted provisional release and would immediately alert the authorities to any violation.

"For a fugitive of his means and resourcefulness, these measures are inadequate to guarantee that he will return for trial," del Ponte responded.

Gotovina's capture hastened Croatia's path towards membership of the European Union.

He and two other commanders, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, are accused of responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity including persecution and murder during a 1995 Croatian military offensive to retake the Krajina region from the Serbs.

A start date for the trial has not been scheduled.