| Press Advisory |
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| (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) |
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The Hague, 26 August 2010
VE/MOW/PA408e
Gotovina et al. Closing Arguments to be heard from Monday 30 August to Thursday 2 September 2010
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| Ante Gotovina | Ivan Čermak | Mladen Markač |
Closing arguments in the case of Ante Gotovina, Ivan Čermak and Mladen Markač will begin on Monday 30 August at 9:00 in Courtroom III and will last until Thursday 2 September.
The Prosecution has been allotted six hours to deliver its closing arguments, and the three Defence teams will each have two and a half hours to deliver theirs. Prosecution will then have one hour for rebuttal arguments, and the Defence will have one hour total for their rejoinder.
The three Croatian Generals are charged with crimes committed during the 1995 Operation Storm military offensive in Croatia. Their trial commenced on 11 March 2008 and concluded on 11 June this year. Within a total of 303 trial days, 81 OTP witnesses and 57 Defence witnesses testified (25 for Gotovina, 19 for Čermak and 13 for Markač). Seven Chamber witnesses were called.
In its final brief, the Prosecution recommended that the Chamber sentence Gotovina to 27 years’, Markač to 23 years’ and Čermak to 17 years’ imprisonment. The Defence has asked for all three to be acquitted.
Since its establishment, the Tribunal has indicted 161 persons for serious violations of humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 2001. Proceedings against 124 have been concluded. Proceedings are currently open for 37 Accused.
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Media representatives wishing to attend the closing arguments should contact the Press Office at press [at] icty.org and provide the full name of the journalist, the media outlet and the dates at which the journalist will cover the closing arguments.
Media representatives not able to attend the closing arguments can follow proceedings with a 30 minute-delay on the Tribunal's website. Please contact the Press Office at +31 70 512 8752 to request satellite broadcast.
An information sheet on the case can be found at:
http://www.icty.org/x/cases/gotovina/cis/en/cis_gotovina_al_en.pdf
The Prosecution’s and Gotovina’s Final Trial Brief can be found at:
http://www.icty.org/case/gotovina/4#custom5
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
For more information, please contact our Media Office in The Hague
Tel.: +31-70-512-8752; 512-5343; 512-5356 Fax: +31-70-512-5355 - Email: press [at] icty.org