Croatia’s war crime suspect arrested in Spain

[Defensor Fidei]

Croatia’s war crime suspect arrested in Spain
December 8, 2005 (Belgrade/Brussels, DTT-NET.COM)- After four years of being at large Croatian former general Ante Gotovina, indicted for war crimes by International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was arrested Wednesday evening in Spain, the chief prosecutor of the ICTY announced on Thursday.

Carla Del Ponte told the media in Serbia’s capital of Belgrade that Gotovina was arrested in Canary Islands and is expected to be transferred soon to the detention center in The hague, Netherlands.
Gotovina was indicted in May 21th 2001 for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war that the prosecution says troops under his command committed over the Serbs in the self-proclaimed Krajina region during and after Operation Storm in August 1995 during which the Serb-occupied territories of Croatia were restored.

General Gotovina has been charged with the death of at least 150 Serbs in 1995, while forces under his command are accused of killing scores of Serbs and of having expelling up to 200,000 from the Krajina region.

Because of the non-arrest of Gotovina and non cooperation of Zagreb authorities with the UN court, Croatia’s EU membership negotiations started only in early October, after being scheduled first for March.

Zagreb has always argued that Gotovina was not hidening in Croatia and the start of talks was possible only when Del Ponte told EU nations that authorities have improved their cooperation with the court.

EU and NATO top officials hailed the arrest of Gotovina.

"I should like to voice my satisfaction at the arrest of General Ante Gotovina. The untiring efforts of the ICTY, in particular Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, to resolve this case have finally borne fruit. I welcome the cooperation in this matter from the Croatian authorities and the efficient work by the Spanish police. The arrest of Ante Gotovina should be a strong incentive to all authorities concerned to redouble their efforts to bring the remaining fugitives to justice", EU’s chief of diplomacy Javier Solana said.

"The arrest of Ante Gotovina is very good news. For reconciliation in the region of the Western Balkans and for ICTY to successfully accomplish its work, it is fundamentally important that all indictees are brought to justice.” European Commissioner in charge of EU enlargement, Olli Rehn said.

“It’s good news, and I think indeed it's also good news for Croatia" NATO’s Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer told reporters in Brussels.

http://www.caausa.org/articles/octno...n%20Spain.html

[Defensor Fidei]

War veterans say Zagreb behaving 'cowardly' over Gotovina
Agence France Presse -- English

December 8, 2005 Thursday 2:26 PM GMT

SPLIT, Croatia - Croatian war veterans on Thursday accused the government of 'cowardly' behaviour towards former general Ante Gotovina after the war crimes fugitive was arrested in Spain.

"It is sad that the Croatian government has behaved so cowardly towards Ante Gotovina," said Zeljko Strize, the head of the local branch of Croatia's veteran's association in the southern town of Kastela.

"This government does not deserve to remain on the political scene," Strize told AFP.

The UN war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, announced earlier Thursday in Belgrade that Gotovina was arrested last night in Spain and that he would be transferred to The Hague-based court.

On Wednesday, the war veterans group put up a set of giant billboards with Gotovina's picture along with greetings for Christmas and the New Year in an area near the coastal town of Split.

"We will continue to put up billboards. Even if he is in detention, general Gotovina can send his Christmas and New Year greetings," Strize said.

Gotovina -- who led a key 1995 military operation in which Croatia regained territory from rebel Serbs, practically ending the war of independence from former Yugoslavia -- enjoys widespread popularity in the country.

The head of the far-right Croatian Party of Rights, Anto Djapic, said the war crimes fugitive's arrest was a "sad day for Croatia and veterans."

"I do not have to explain why so many war veterans and Croatians are sad today," Djapic said.

"We should not forget that Gotovina's indictment is also an indictment against the Croatian state, army and (wartime) president Franjo Tudjman," he added.

Djapic stressed he believed Gotovina would prove his innocence and the "fact that Croatian people led a war against aggression and that there were no massacres against Croatian Serbs, but a genocide against Croatians" during the war.

Gotovina had been on the run since mid-2001, when the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) charged him with crimes committed against ethnic Serbs at the end of the 1991-1995 Serbo-Croatian war.

[Defensor Fidei]

ANTE GOTOVINA - CROATIAN HERO

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Originally Posted by Defensor Fidei

ANTE GOTOVINA - CROATIAN HERO

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