Gotovina et al Judgement Volume I - ICTY

393061. Introduction1. The Accused, Ante Gotovina, Ivan Čermak, and Mladen Markač, are jointlycharged in the Indictment with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws orcustoms of war allegedly committed from at least July 1995 to about 30 September1995 against the Serb population in the southern Krajina region of Croatia.2. According to the Indictment, by the time Croatia declared independence on 25June 1991, an armed conflict had erupted in certain areas of Croatia between the JNAand other Serb forces on the one hand and the Croat armed forces on the other. By theend of 1991, the JNA and various Serb forces controlled approximately one-third of theterritory of Croatia. On 21 December 1990 the Croatian Serbs announced the creation ofa Serbian Autonomous District of Krajina, which on 19 December 1991 proclaimeditself the Republic of Serbian Krajina and appointed its own president.3. According to the Indictment, by at least July and early August 1995 Croatianleaders, officials and forces conceived, planned, established, and implemented a militaryoperation called “Operation Storm” to re-take territory in the Krajina, a part of the areain Croatia that had been self-proclaimed as the RSK and that was largely inhabited bySerbs. The major part of the military operation began in full on 4 August 1995, and on 7August 1995 the Croatian government announced that the operation had beensuccessfully completed. Follow-up actions allegedly continued until 15 November1995. The Prosecution alleges that before, during, and after the major military operationof Operation Storm there was an orchestrated campaign to drive the Serbs from theKrajina region. The Prosecution further alleges that from at least July 1995 to about 30September 1995, Croatian government, military, police, security and/or intelligenceforces persecuted the Krajina Serbs through deportations and forcible transfers;destruction of Serb homes and businesses; plunder and looting of Serb property;murder; the shelling of civilians and cruel treatment; unlawful attacks on civilians andcivilian objects; the imposition of restrictive and discriminatory measures;discriminatory expropriation of property; unlawful detentions and disappearances.4. The Prosecution alleges that from at least 4 August 1995 to 15 November 1995,Ante Gotovina was the Commander of the Split MD of the HV and the overalloperational commander of Operation Storm in the southern portion of the Krajinaregion. It further alleges that from at least July 1995 to about 30 September 1995, he9Case No.: IT-06-90-T 15 April 2011 `