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Civilian authorities were responsible for preventing crimes, says Gotovina's defence

ZAGREB, April 6(Hina) - Croatian Army General Ante Gotovina's defence before the Hague war crimes tribunal will be based on the fact that at the time covered by the indictment for crimes committed before, during and after 1995's Operation Storm, he was engaged in military operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that responsibility for preventing crimes in liberated parts of Croatia and for prosecuting perpetrators lay with the interior and justice ministries and the military police.
ZAGREB, April 6(Hina) - Croatian Army General Ante Gotovina's defence before the Hague war crimes tribunal will be based on the fact that at the time covered by the indictment for crimes committed before, during and after 1995's Operation Storm, he was engaged in military operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that responsibility for preventing crimes in liberated parts of Croatia and for prosecuting perpetrators lay with the interior and justice ministries and the military police.

Gotovina's defence on Thursday submitted to the UN court a confidential brief presenting its strategy. An edited version for the public, without the confidential data, was released later.

According to the brief submitted by attorney Luka Misetic, the Croatian government decided on 4 August 1995 that the Interior Ministry should assume responsibility for peace and order as towns were being liberated from rebel Serbs. On August 7, the government was notified that the Interior Ministry had assumed responsibility in all liberated areas and that the same day the Justice Ministry had said that it was functioning in the liberated areas.

The military was no longer responsible for maintaining peace and order, this became the responsibility of civilian authorities, the defence said, adding that the Interior Ministry had authority over members of the army.

The brief said that during and after Storm Gotovina had taken every reasonable step that an operational commander should take based on the law of war and the international humanitarian law, and that he had issued orders to his subordinates to prevent and stop crimes. The defence intends to prove that Gotovina did not have authority over the military police which had the authority to act with regard to perpetrators of crimes.

The defence dismissed as incorrect that representatives of the international community had been informing Gotovina of crimes, and stated that no Croatian institution responsible for maintaining peace and order in the liberated areas had ever requested Gotovina's help.

The brief said that the Hague tribunal's Office of the Prosecutor misinterpreted Croatian provisions when stating that Gotovina had authority for the immediate punishment of perpetrators.

The defence went on to say that Gotovina had been the commander of joined Croatian Army and Bosnian Croat Defence Council troops and that his headquarters for the entire time covered by the indictment was in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and not in Knin as claimed by the Office of the Prosecutor.

The evidence will show that during the relevant time General Gotovina was engaged in Bosnia at the request of the Bosnian and US governments, the brief said, adding that Gotovina was ordered in early July 1995 to lead military operations in Bosnia with a view to defeating Ratko Mladic's troops.

The defence said that in the operational sense Gotovina ceased being the commander with regard to Knin on August 7.

The defence went on to say that it would prove that Croatian authorities were making great efforts to respect human rights in Croatian areas liberated in the Operation Storm.

The defence said that on the eve of the operation Croatian authorities were told that the US would not object to the liberation of parts of Croatia occupied by rebel Serbs, provided that human rights were respected and civilian victims were avoided.

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