Gotovina's defence questions witness's participation in Operation Storm


 ZAGREB, May 19 (Hina) - The trial of Croatian Army generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac resumed at the Hague tribunal on Monday with the cross-examination of former Croatian Army (HV) member Vladimir Gojanovic by Luka Misetic, an attorney for General Gotovina, during which Misetic continued to question Gojanovic's participation in the 1995 Operation Storm.

Gojanovic is the first Croat to testify for the prosecution in the trial of the three generals charged with crimes committed in Operation Storm.
Gojanovic today confirmed several times that his information about the situation on the ground was based on hearsay.

Misetic read out a statement by Ratko Despot, a Croatian Serb volunteer member of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the HV 113th Brigade who was in the village of Djevrske with six other soldiers during Operation Storm on 5 August 1995.

"The seven of us entered Djevrske in the evening. I am sure that Vladimir Gojanovic was not with us. He was not a member of my unit at the time of the operation," Despot said in the statement citing the names of his fellow soldiers.

Gojanovic claimed to have visited Djevrske as a member of the said unit, saying that the village "was in good condition at the time, but a week later it had been completely plundered and destroyed".

Attorney Misetic then cited Gojanovic's statement given in 2005, when he said that the booty was distributed in the Bribirski Knezovi barracks, "which brought disgrace on the 113th Brigade and the HV", asking him if he had personally seen the booty being distributed. Gojanovic replied that he did not see what was in the barracks and that his information was based on hearsay.

He also confirmed that he had never reported to his superiors the murder of a prisoner of war, the attempted rape of two women, and an attempt to set fire to a house with an old woman in it, which he claimed to have prevented.

At the beginning of today's hearing, Gojanovic said that he was concerned about the effect his testimony at the tribunal was having on the safety of his family in Sibenik.

However, the prosecution did not request any measures of protection for Gojanovic. Decisions on witness protection measures are made by the trial chamber.

The trial of Gotovina, Cermak and Markac started on March 11, 6 1/2 years after the first indictment in the case was issued.

At the end of the hearing, the prosecution introduced a new witness, a UN observer in Sector South in the village of Potkonje, Alexander Chernyicki.

According to his statements to the prosecution in May 2002 and December 2007, Chernyicki testified to plunder and arson in the wake of Operation Storm.

In the course of the operation, from 2 to 8 August, the witness was on leave.

The witness will continue his testimony on Tuesday.

After he completes his testimony, a Croatian Serb, identified only as witness 69, will take the witness stand.
(Hina)