Free Republic

UN judge reaffirms 3 Croat generals to go on trialFebruary 11, 2007 1:53 PM THE HAGUE, Netherlands-A judge at the U.N. war crimes tribunal reaffirmed at a hearing Friday that three Croatian generals will go on trial on May 7, unless requests for the dismissal of the cases are granted before then. The suspects are Gen. Ante Gotovina, formerly the top officer in the Croatian army, and generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac. Prosecutors accuse them of involvement in a "joint criminal enterprise" to drive Serbs from the Krajina region of southern Croatia in a campaign of murder and persecution....

BELGRADE (Reuters) - More than 30 war crimes suspects from the former Yugoslavia in custody in The Hague on Tuesday signed a tribute to Slobodan Milosevic, widely seen as the architect of the wars that ravaged the region in the 1990s. According to Serb custom, friends and relatives of the deceased publish newspaper advertisements with brief eulogies and a picture. The Milosevic ad in several Belgrade dailies was signed by ethnic Serb indictees from Serbia and Bosnia, but also by Macedonian Ljube Boskovski and Croat General Ante Gotovina, who crushed a Milosevic-backed Serb rebellion in Croatia. They bade "a last...

Former Croatian General Ante Gotovina stands accused of war crimes in connection with a 1995 military offensive. Some 150 civilians were killed in the advance. Now, it looks like he may have had help from the United States. His trial may not get started before the end of 2006 or the spring of 2007, but already the case against former Croatian general Ante Gotovina promises some surprises. Gotovina, who is accused of being responsible for the murder of at least 150 Serbian civilians and the eviction of some 150,000 Serbs from the Krajina region in August 1995, may have had...

A Croatian general charged with war crimes has been held in Spain, the UN's chief war crimes prosecutor has said. Ante Gotovina - the third most-wanted suspect from the 1990s Balkan wars - was arrested on Wednesday night in the Canary Islands, said Carla Del Ponte. Gen Gotovina, 50, is accused over the death of about 150 Serb civilians during a Croatian offensive in 1995. The Croatian government's failure to arrest him had hampered the country's entry talks with the European Union. Ms Del Ponte said she hoped efforts would now be stepped up to arrest the top two men...

War crimes general 'fled country' By a Correspondent A former Croatian general, wanted by The Hague on war crimes charges, has fled his homeland and could be hiding in Africa or South America, the country’s leader said yesterday. President Mesic said that a hunt for Ante Gotovina, accused of atrocities against Serb civilians in 1995, had led the Croatian authorities to conclude that he was no longer in the country. “He would be a very naive person to seek refuge in Croatia. We have no reason to protect anyone wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal,” Mr Mesic told The Times...

ZAGREB (Reuters) - A wave of resentment against the European Union is sweeping Croatia and popular support for a top war crimes fugitive, whose freedom cost Zagreb the start of EU membership talks this week, is evident everywhere. The 25-nation bloc postponed accession negotiations with Croatia on Wednesday, saying Zagreb had not done enough to find General Ante Gotovina, indicted by the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague for the murder of Serb civilians in 1995. Giant posters of Gotovina -- until recently found only in his native central Adriatic region of Zadar -- have sprung up in...

Barring a last-minute breakthrough, Croatia faces being told it cannot start EU membership talks this week as planned, because it is not fully cooperating in finding a fugitive war crimes suspect, diplomats say. Croatia, hoping to be the second former Yugoslav republic to join the European Union as early as 2007, was told in December that it could in theory start talks with Brussels on March 17 -- this Thursday. But that green light was conditional in providing "full cooperation" with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in a manhunt for fugitive general Ante Gotovina. And the...