One of the most important topics of Croatia accession to the EU was cooperation with International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in Den Haag. ICTY was created by the ...international community to prosecuted war crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990es. In Croatia, there was an opinion that the court will prosecute only Serbia and there was a shock when the first indictments were sent for war crimes committed by Croatian forces. A personification of this process was general Ante Gotovina, who was accused among others as a member of a joint criminal enterprise but, in the end, he was found not guilty. At the same time, some parts of Croatian society and media started to build a mythical status around Ante Gotovina. This paper will analyze this type of media coverage and how it did shape opinion and consequentially created a modern myth around Gotovina.
One of the most important topics of Croatia accession to the EU was cooperation with International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in Den Haag. ICTY was created by the ...international community to prosecuted war crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990es. In Croatia, there was an opinion that the court will prosecute only Serbia and there was a shock when the first indictments were sent for war crimes committed by Croatian forces. A personification of this process was general Ante Gotovina, who was accused among others as a member of a joint criminal enterprise but, in the end, he was found not guilty. At the same time, some parts of Croatian society and media started to build a mythical status around Ante Gotovina. This paper will analyze this type of media coverage and how it did shape opinion and consequentially created a modern myth around Gotovina.
From November 2012 to May 2013, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia(ICTY) rendered its verdicts in four trials involving eight former Croatian, Kosovo, and Serbian military, ...police and intelligence officials. These acquittals drew the attention of politicians,human rights organisations and victims’ associations, each for different reasons. This article focuses on internal political contexts in Croatia, Serbia and Kosovo, following the return of the acquitted officials to their countries. It analyses the use of these verdicts by domestic political elites to legitimise their exclusive narratives of war and shows that these verdicts will be used to achieve goals quite different from those envisaged by international tribunals. The reactions to the acquittals will be analysed as a manifestation of conflicting national political contexts,resulting from a combination of multiple factors between local, national and international actors.
In 2005, Croatia's prospects for Euro-Atlantic integration depended entirely on one man. Surprisingly, it was neither the country's prime minister, nor the president, nor any other government ...official, but rather a former French Foreign Legionnaire and retired Croatian Army general who determined the progress of Croatia's bid for membership of NATO and the European Union. The arrest of General Ante Gotovina, who had been in hiding since his indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was made public in the summer of 2001, was the litmus test for Croatia's cooperation with the Tribunal in The Hague, and correspondingly the country's readiness for further European integration. The fugitive general and hero of Croatia's war for independence (Domovinski rat, or Homeland War, 1991-1995) had transformed from being merely one name on a long list of individuals suspected of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and had become the cause of Croatia's foremost political dilemma. The four and a half year drama of Gotovina's flight from justice epitomised the unresolved legacies of devastating interethnic conflict, Croatia's relations with the ICTY and the EU, and internal political struggles in the wake of the post-communist transition. By 2005, Gotovina's transfiguration into a political symbol reached a high point, both domestically, where radical nationalist opposition groups used him to challenge the pro-EU policies of the government, and internationally, where he was cited as evidence of Croatia's alleged non-cooperation with the ICTY.
"It is entirely unreasonable that Ante Gotovina is sentenced to 24 years based on a finding of unlawful attack on civilians through shelling where there are no identified shelling victims," reads the ...defence brief submitted on September 30 and made public by the ICTY on Monday. Gotovina's defence maintains that in its judgement the trial chamber made no finding of any civilian deaths or injuries from shelling and that no civilian was identified claiming to have been terrorised by, or left Croatia because of, any projectile fired into what the chamber describes as "civilian areas". "The Respondent's Brief is further undermined by the failure to address the critical Chamber finding that 'at the orders of Gotovina and (his artillery commander Marko) Rajcic, the HV (Croatian Army) fired artillery projectiles deliberately targeting previously identified military targets'," in four towns because that finding is irreconcilable with the finding that "whole towns were treated as targets", reads the defence reply brief.
Zagreb, 25 February: The team of lawyers representing Croatian General Ante Gotovina reported on Friday they reached a settlement deal with the Dutch NCRV television station which agreed it would ...correct its report aired on 14 January 2011 which linked Gotovina with crimes that were allegedly committed against Serbs in Bosnia-Hercegovina in 1992 and in exchange Gotovina would withdraw a defamation lawsuit against TV NCRV.
Zagreb, 8 October: The defence team for Croatian Army General Ante Gotovina supports the request by the Croatian Government to be granted a status of amicus curiae before the International Criminal ...Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), as the lawyers believe that Croatia has a clear interest in determining correct historical facts.
Pakostane, 25 April 25: Twelve Croatian war veterans have commenced what they called a pilgrimage to The Hague in support of the indicted General Ante Gotovina, who is awaiting trial before the ...International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the ICTY detention centre.
Zadar, 21 January: A concert of support for General Ante Gotovina was held in the central Adriatic city of Zadar on Saturday as part of events marking the 13th anniversary of the military operation ..."Maslenica '93".
