[3] The ICTY indicted Croatian Army (HV) generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Čermak, and Mladen Markač for war crimes, specifically for their roles in Operation Storm, citing their participation in a joint criminal enterprise (JCE) aimed at the permanent removal of Serbs from the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) held part of Croatia.
[20] The areas were later named the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), which declared intention of political integration with Serbia and was viewed by the Government of Croatia as a rebellion.
[25] In January 1992, the Sarajevo Agreement was signed by representatives of Croatia, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and the United Nations (UN) to suspend fighting between the two sides.
[20][32] On 4 August 1995, Croatia launched the Operation Storm, recapturing bulk of the RSK-held territory within days in the largest European land battle since the World War II, encompassing a 320-kilometre (200 mi) frontline.
[49] The retreating RSK military, transporting large quantities of weaponry and ammunition, artillery and tanks, and evacuating or fleeing civilians often intermingled, having few roads to use.
The indictment alleged creation of a joint criminal enterprise whose purpose was to permanently remove the Serbian population through commission of crimes (plunder, inhumane treatment, murder, wanton destruction, looting and others) and prevention of their return.
He was widely believed to be at liberty in Croatia or the Croat-inhabited parts of Bosnia, where many view him as a hero, and his continued freedom was attributed to covert help from — or at least a "blind eye" turned by — the Croatian authorities.
Its application to join the European Union was rebuffed in March 2005 due to the Croatian government's perceived complicity in Gotovina's continued evasion of the ICTY.
[53] The prosecution of the ICTY alleged that the content of the meeting was evidence of existence of a joint criminal enterprise to forcibly remove the Serb population from Croatia, among other means by indiscriminately shelling civilian areas, and prevent their return.
[61] The Appeals Chamber focused on the lack of evidence in the transcript for the allegation of unlawful artillery attacks on four towns in the RSK which were meant to drive the population out.
Canadian general Alain Forand didn't want to comment on Leslie's claim, saying only that something like that was never registered in the situation reports drafted by the Sector South command.
[65]The Trial Chamber's judgement had directly identified President Franjo Tuđman as part of a joint criminal enterprise dedicated to expelling Serb residents of the country's Krajina region.
[56] The Trial Chamber stated that "members of the Croatian military forces and the Special Police committed deportation as a crime against humanity of more than 20,000 Krajina Serbs" (par.
[69] Serbian officials expressed their satisfaction with the judgement, some of them requesting that the Victory Day celebrations commemorating the Operation Storm in Croatia no longer be held.
While some saw the decision as justice done for the victims,[72] others saw the verdict as a politically inspired act meant to equalize blame between all sides in the war, representing a major coup for Serbia.
President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolić called the judgement scandalous, political and illegal and predicted that it will not contribute to stability of the region and reopen "old wounds".