The prosecution has failed to prove any count of the indictment that charges Croatian general Ante Gotovina with complicity in a criminal enterprise aimed at permanent removal of the Serb population from the areas regained by the Croatian army in a military offensive known as Operation Storm in the summer of 1995, Gotovina's defence team says in its final trial brief, calling upon the trial chamber to acquit him on all counts.
The defence began by quoting the former US ambassador to Croatia, Peter Galbraith, as telling the tribunal in his capacity as a witness for the prosecution that the purpose of Operation Storm was not at all to expel the Serb population, and that their departure, rather than expulsion, was a side-effect of the military operations.
The defence said that one of the most important prosecution witnesses "refuted the core of the Prosecution case. He concluded that expulsion of Serbs was not the purpose of Operation Storm, but that their departure would be an unavoidable side-effect."
In its 315-page submission, which was filed on Tuesday, the defence claims that the prosecution did not prove the existence of a joint criminal enterprise the aim of which was to expel the Serbs through indiscriminate shelling, destruction and arson of civilian properties, deportations, killings, and ill-treatment.
The prosecution has failed to prove that any of the attacks was unlawful, let alone that it was a widespread and systematic crime against civilians during Operation Storm. The Croatian Army under the command of Gotovina respected the laws of war despite the strong resistance of the joint forces of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, Republika Srpska and Yugoslavia, the defence said.
The prosecution and the defence are due to present their closing statements on August 30.
