The three generals are charged with involvement in a joint criminal enterprise the aim of which was to forcibly and permanently remove the Serb population from Croatian areas held by rebel Serb forces.

Opening the judgement hearing, Judge Alphons Orie, who chairs the trial chamber, said that the trial chamber would today render a verdict in the case of those three Croatian generals and give its summary of its conclusions.

The tribunal said earlier that the hearing was scheduled to last nearly three hours.

Apart from Judge Orie of the Netherlands, the trial chamber also includes Judge Uldis Kinis of Latvia and Judge Elisabeth Gwaunza of Zimbabwe.

Together with the three generals in the courtroom are also their defence teams, led by Luka Misetic, Gregory Kehoe and Payam Akhavan, representing General Gotovina; Steven Kay and Gillian Higgins, representing General Cermak, and Goran Mikulicic and Tomislav Kuzmanovic representing General Markac.

The prosecution is represented by Alan Tieger.

Before the announcement of the verdict, the defence teams told press that the generals were awaiting the verdict calmly and were optimistic.

In their closing arguments in August 2010, the prosecution asked that the generals be found guilty and that Gotovina be sentenced to 27 years in prison, Markac to 23 years and Cermak to 17 years, while their defence counsel asked that their clients be acquitted because the prosecution failed to prove their responsibility on any count of the indictment.

The prosecution issued a nine-count indictment against the three generals, holding them responsible, according to personal and command responsibility, for crimes against humanity and violations of laws and customs of war committed through persecution, killing, inhumane acts and cruel treatment, deportation and forcible transfer, plunder of public or private property and wanton destruction, committed during and in the aftermath of Operation Storm.