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18. 04. 11. - 11:00

18. 04. 11. - 11:00

Croatian government forms team to help Gotovina, Markac

Croatian Times

Croatian government has sent a request to The Hague Tribunal for a status of amicus curiae or "friend of the court" with an aim to take a more active role as cases of generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac enter a new phase.

Gotovina and Markac were sentenced to 24 and 18 years in jail, respectively, for their role in the military action Storm (1995) that reclaimed parts of Serb-held Croatia. The court’s verdict delivered last Friday, 15 April was devastating for a large part of the Croatian population that considers the generals war heroes and the country’s liberators.

The Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor has announced the strengthening of its diplomatic offensive, with a team of experts that would help the generals’ defence as it prepares to appeal the verdict. In their brief reaction to the verdict, the generals’ lawyers have indicated they would lodge an appeal, for which they have 35 days. The second degree verdict should not be expected sooner than two years from now.

Contrary to some of the rumours that had surfaced in the media, neither of the generals plan to dismiss their lawyers but will continue the defence with the same core representatives. They may choose, however, to engage other expert consultants in addition to the current team, Croatian press has written.

Kosor put together a commission of respresentatives of veterans’ associations which will also included the third general liberated on Friday, Ivan Cermak. Minister of Justice Drazen Bosnjakovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gordan Jandrokovic, and leading legal experts form part of the team.

Minister Jandrokovic has already sent to all foreign ambassadors a 190-page study that challenges the court's theory of existence of a "joint criminal enterprise.  The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)'s verdict reads that Gotovina and Markac were part of the joint criminal enterprise that had as its goal the removal of the Serb population from parts of Croatia (Krajina).

The efforts of the team will be coordinated by Davor Stier, Kosor's envoy for Euro-Atlantic cooperation, the daily Jutarnji List writes.

Tag cloud experts  Croatia  joint  verdict  lawyers  population  Serb  Minister  Croatian  court  Jandrokovic  Gotovina  Markac  enterprise  government  generals  criminal  defence  appeal  Kosor

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