SETimes.com

War Crimes Indictee Gotovina Speaks

12/06/2003

Gen Ante Gotovina disappeared in 2001 after being indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal. Now he has resurfaced.

By Natasa Radic for Southeast European Times in Zagreb - 12/06/03

After two years of silence, retired Gen Ante Gotovina has given an exclusive interview to the director of the weekly Nacional. The Croatian general has been at large since June 2001, when UN chief war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte unsealed an indictment against him for war crimes allegedly committed during an operation in 1995.

Gotovina has been indicted for crimes against humanity, chain-of-command responsibility for failing to prevent the murder of civilians, and overuse of weapons against civilian targets. He is the only Croat wanted by the war crimes tribunal that has decided not to surrender.

The Croatian government has attempted to capture him without success. A few weeks ago, the ministry of home affairs offered the equivalent of 50,000 euros to anyone providing useful information on Gotovina's whereabouts.

For many, Gotovina is a symbol of Croatia's war for independence. However, his ties to the political right led to his retirement from the Croatian Army in 2000, after he and other generals signed a letter opposing President Stipe Mesic. As supreme commander of the armed forces, the president could not accept this political engagement on the part of active generals, and retired them all.

In Nacional's latest issue, magazine director Ivo Pukanic claims to have talked to Gotovina a few days ago. Supporting the claim, several photographs of the general accompanied by Pukanic were published with the ten-page interview. Gotovina's lawyers initially refused to comment, but as questions concerning the authenticity of the interview emerged, some of them have said they believe it is genuine. Pukanic, who is now being questioned by police, has invoked the legal right of journalists to protect their sources and stories. Local media speculate that Gotovina, who is on Interpol's most wanted list, is hiding in Bosnia and Herzegovina or in Canada.

In the interview, Gotovina claims that he was not aware of any requests coming from the prosecutor's office in The Hague in 1998, when investigators wanted to interview him. Soon after, the indictment was unsealed.

After two years in hiding, Gotovina now says that he recognises the UN tribunal and is ready to talk. Meanwhile, Mesic said Wednesday (11 June) that he has sent a letter to the tribunal proposing that the preliminary hearing on the case be held in Zagreb. The first comments coming from del Ponte's office indicate that she expects Gotovina to surrender and be transferred to The Hague.