Croatia coughs up terrorist: Ante Gotovina behind bars just like Saddam, Melosovic...

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and Noriega.

Now the noose tightens around the other famous terrorists Radovan Karadzic, and his top general, Ratko Mladic.

BBC NEWS
Fast handover for Croatia suspect
Leading Croatian war crimes suspect Gen Ante Gotovina will be transferred to the UN tribunal in The Hague as soon as possible, Spanish authorities say.

The interior minister said the transfer of the third most-wanted suspect from the Balkans wars depended on logistics.

Spanish media says this could happen on Saturday three days after Gen Gotovina, 50, was seized in the Canary Islands.

The retired general is accused over the death of about 150 Serb civilians in 1995. He denies any responsibility.

The European Union says his arrest has cleared a key obstacle to Croatia joining the EU.

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told the BBC that it was an important turning point for the whole region.

‘Used passport’

The retired general was indicted in 2001 with persecution and war crimes charges stemming from an offensive to chase Serbs from their self-declared republic of Krajina in Croatia.

GEN ANTE GOTOVINA
Born 12 Oct 1955
Fought in French Foreign Legion
Commanded Croatian forces against Serb forces in Krajina region, 1995
Early retirement, 2000
Indicted for war crimes in Krajina, 2001
Arrested in Tenerife, Dec 2005

Gen Gotovina’s lawyer has said he will probably plead not guilty to the charges at the war crimes tribunal in the Netherlands.

Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso told a news conference his transfer to the court was “a question of logistics, of infrastructure”.

“As soon as it is possible, he will be placed at the physical disposal of the international criminal court,” Mr Alonso said.

Gen Gotovina was arrested in a hotel on the island of Tenerife on Wednesday night.

He had been travelling on a false passport with entry and exit stamps from around the world, Mr Alonso said.

Gen Gotovina was flown to Madrid on Thursday and taken to the High Court, where the judge approved his immediate transfer without an extradition process, Spanish news agency Efe reported.

‘Crucial’ arrests

The EU put off Croatian entry talks in March until more was done to find Gen Gotovina. Talks began only in October - after Ms Del Ponte said the Zagreb authorities were co-operating with efforts to track down the fugitive.

SUSPECTS STILL WANTED
Radovan Karadzic: Former Bosnian Serb leader regarded as the mastermind of the Bosnian war 1992-95. Accused of ethnic cleansing including Srebrenica massacre
Ratko Mladic: Bosnian Serb army commander charged with carrying out the Srebrenica massacre
Zdravko Tolimir: Worked under Ratko Mladic, accused of involvement with Srebrenica
Goran Hadzic: Self-proclaimed Serb president of the breakaway Croat republic of Krajina
Stojan Zupljanin Bosnian Serb commander accused of war crimes around Banja Luka, Bosnia

Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said the arrest proved Croatia was right when it said Gen Gotovina had fled abroad.

His supporters have staged small protests in Zagreb and other cities.

The chief prosecutor at The Hague says Gen Gotovina’s arrest will add pressure on Serbia to deliver the only two men above him on the wanted list - former Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

Carla del Ponte has set a deadline of 14 December for their arrest.
Story from BBC NEWS:

Published: 2005/12/09 15:38:27

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Re: Croatia coughs up terrorist: Ante Gotovina behind bars just like Saddam, Melosovic…

Just like Saddam, this Ante guy is not guilty. hahhaha.

Croatian Suspect in War Crimes Appears Before Tribunal
By MARLISE SIMONS
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/12/international/europe/12cnd-croatia.html

PARIS, Dec. 12 - Ante Gotovina, the retired general from Croatia, appeared today before the war crimes tribunal in The Hague and impassively listened to the list of international crimes brought against him for his role in military operations against Serbian forces and civilians in 1995.

It was his first appearance at the tribunal, where prosecutors had campaigned for his arrest for more than four years. During the hearing, he pleaded “not guilty” to all seven counts against him. He was arrested last Wednesday.

Mr. Gotovina, once a fighter in the French Foreign Legion and now seen at home as a hero of Croatia’s war of independence, remained polite and distant during the 90-minute proceeding, which could be watched via video transmission from the court.

When the United Nations judge asked him if he wanted to bring up any issues about the proceedings or about his prison conditions, he replied briefly: “No, I do not have anything to raise. Everything is fine. Thank you very much.”

His hands folded, his broad jaw set, Mr. Gotovina, 50, was flanked by two guards. He sat behind a lawyer assigned by the court until he is able to accredit his own lawyers. Mr. Gotovina is said to have been supported by wealthy benefactors while he was on the run, traveling in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and he is expected to bring his own defense team from Croatia. The judge reminded him that if he can demonstrate a lack of means, the court will pay for his defense, as it has in many cases.

The arraignment set the scene for what is expected to become a joint trial of three senior Croatian commanders. The two others are Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, who surrendered to the tribunal in March 2004. All three are held accountable for crimes committed by troops under their command during a 1995 offensive in the Krajina region of Croatia.

In the four-day military assault, the Croatian Army recaptured territory held by rebel Serbs for four years. But that operation was followed by weeks of actions against civilian ethnic Serbs who lived in the region, which the indictment says, included the burning and pilfering of tens of thousands of homes in hundreds of villages and the killing of at least 150 civilians. This campaign was intended to drive more than 150,000 people, most of them ethnic Serbs, permanently from their ancestral homelands, the indictment said.

Mr. Gotovina had told his lawyer he would waive his right to have the indictment read out in court and frowned when the United Nations judge, Carnel Agius from Malta, ordered a court officer to read out the entire text anyway. He seemed uncomfortable as a long list of atrocities against civilians rang though the courtroom. The judge then proceeded to read out the names of victims, many of them elderly, some of whom died when their homes were burned.

Mr. Gotovina was charged with persecution, murder, plunder, wanton destruction of towns, deportation and other inhumane acts.

He was arrested on Spain’s Canary Islands after a long international search and spent his first weekend in jail in The Hague with close to 50 other veterans from the wars of the 1990’s that tore apart Yugoslavia. They include Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Serbia, whose forces Mr. Gotovina fought against and whose trial has been ongoing for almost four years. It is not known if the two men are held in separate sections of the prison.