Eurasia Press & News
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands – The Hague war crimes tribunal on Friday (April 3rd) rejected a request by lawyers representing Croatian generals Ante Govotina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac to drop charges stemming from 1995’s Operation Storm.
The Trial Chamber ruled that prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed with the trial. Gotovina’s lawyers argued last month that prosecutors had failed to provide enough evidence in a recently completed investigation that he is guilty of forcibly expelling Serbs that summer, as well as committing other war crimes. Lawyers representing Cermak and Markac made similar arguments.
The trial against the three will continue on May 28th, when defence attorneys are expected to present their evidence.
Also Friday, prosecutors at The Hague organised a conference aimed at strengthening co-operation among regional structures involved in investigating and prosecuting war crimes. It was “very successful”, said Serbian war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic. “Concrete forms of co-operation have been agreed with our regional counterparts,” he told Tanjug.
