19.12.2005
Ante Gotovina: Gangster, General, National Hero... War Criminal?
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Can Karpat, Balkanian section
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Turkish Version French Version
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| Former Pope John Paul II blessed Gotovina |
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Adventurer, delinquent, hero, icon, victim, scapegoat, war criminal … It is possible to multiply the qualifications for the Croatian General Ante Gotovina, who was captured on the 8th of December in Spain. Indeed his biography provides evidences to confirm each of these qualifications. Yet the everlasting mark, with which his name will be evoked ever after in history, will be decided in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia...
From a gangster to the legendary General of Croatian Army
“They must have found me one day anyway”. That is what the fugitive Croatian General Ante Gotovina allegedly said when he was arrested in La Playa de las Americas Hotel on Tenerife (Canary Islands) on the 8th of December.
General Gotovina was one of the most wanted accused of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) since the public accusation of the 26th of June, 2001. He is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Storm Operation (Oluja) between 4-7 of August, 1995 in Krajina region in Croatia (along the Bosnian border and in Eastern Slavonia adjoining Serbia). He was the commander of the operational zone Split (a big city along the Adriatic coast). However General Gotovina is not one of these “ordinary generals” with immaculate registers behind them. In fact his life story does not lack anything to be a perfect adventure and spy best-seller.
Ante Gotovina was born on the 12th of October, 1955 on the Adriatic Sea island of Pasman (near Zadar). When he was only 18 years old, he ran away from Yugoslavia to join the French Foreign Legion. He became a member of the 2nd Foreign Legion Parachute Regiment after qualifying from the Parachutist Training School at Pau, and joined the elite Commandos de Recherche et d'Action en Profondeur. During those years, he met his “brother of arms”, a certain Dominique Erulin, whose brother, Philippe is well known in France for his heavy past in Algeria.
Gotovina participated in Foreign Legion operations in Djibouti, Kolwezi in Zaire and Ivory Coast. After five years of service, he left the Legion with the rank of chief corporal and obtained French nationality in 1979.
During the 1980’s, Gotovina worked for a variety of French private security companies, including KO International company, which is a filial of VHP Security. This firm is known as a cover for the Service d'action civique (SAC), specialists of shady actions for the Gaullist movement. KO International also assured at that time Jean-Marie Le Pen’s personal security. In May 1981, with Erulin, Gotovina helped the French editor, Jean-Marie Mouchard, a close friend of Le Pen, freeing Mouchard’s press La Seyne sur Mer occupied by CGT strikers.
Gotovina and Erulin then fled to Latin America, where they trained right-wing paramilitary formations, notably in Argentina and Guatemala.
Sometimes in France sometimes in South America, Gotovina’s name was registered in French police records for the rubbery of jewellery in Paris in 1981 with his faithful company, Erulin. In 1986, he was condemned to five years imprisonment, though released in September 1987 for unknown motifs.
On the 30th of October, 1990, Gotovina, with two other accomplices, Paul Rochat and Christian Grégoire, took a certain Gérard Tourmetz hostage for several days in Paris. Tourmetz had to pay 350.000 Francs to his jailers before he went to the police. His accomplices arrested, Gotovina fled.
In 1993, he was convicted by default to two years in prison due to participation in an unlawful arrest, kidnapping and extortion. In 1995, he was sentenced to 30 months for extortion. All these crimes and the imprisonment are denied by Gotovina’s attorneys, arguing that France would have never given a passport in 1995 and renewed it in 2001 if their client had been a convicted criminal on the run.
During the 1990’s, his traces are found in Paraguay. There in 1991, in a bar in Iguac, his destiny was to be changed forever. He met some Croatian refugees, who told him about the massacres of Croatian police agents in Borovo Selo (on the outskirts of Vukovar). It was time to return to his native country, and to offer his services for its independence.
Once in Croatia, he climbed military echelons in high speed thanks to his military training and skills - qualities that few Croatian soldiers had at that time. First he joined the 1st Guard Brigade “Tigers” of Croatian Army with the task of training new recruits. Soon he left his task in order to fight in Novska region (along the Bosnian border, in Slavonia) where he was wounded.
On the 9th of October, 1992, Gotovina was appointed as Commander of the sixth operational zone, later Split military district. It is not known if the Minister of Defence, Gojko Susak and the President, Franjo Tudjman were informed of Gotovina’s past. However they could not do without the former legionary’s precious services at that time.
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| Ante Gotovina as Major General of Croatian army |
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In November 1994, Gotovina became Major General.
Major General Gotovina launched the Blitz Operation Storm on the 4th of August, 1995 and liberated Krajina, which was occupied by Serbian separatists since 1991, in three days only. Storm Operation saved 230.000 Bosnians besieged by Serbians in Bihac, though a UN security zone in Eastern Bosnia along the Croatian border, for over three years, and also put an end to the Yugoslavian War creating the necessary military conditions, which would lead to Dayton Accords.
In August 1995, Gotovina became General. From the 12th of March, 1996 until the 29th of September, 2000, he was the Chief Inspector of Croatian Army. In September 2000 however, new Croatian President, Stjepan Mesic ordered General Gotovina and six other generals into early retirement after they refused to co-operate with war crimes probes. Gotovina was also accused of plotting a military coup by the editor of Croatian weekly Nacional, Ivo Pukanic. His name was crossed out of military staff.
In 2001, Gotovina’s destiny was to be changed forever once again.
Price that Croatia had to pay for the EU membership?
Once notorious in France, now legendary in Croatia, Gotovina was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ICTY on the 21st of May, 2001. He is allegedly responsible for exactions such as murder of 150 Serbian civilians, deportation of 150.000-200.000 Serbians, destruction of cities and plunder of public or private property committed by troops under his command in the self-proclaimed Serbian Republic of Krajina during and after Operation Storm.
The accusation writ was transmitted to Croatia on the 8th of June, 2001, and announced publicly on the 26th. However, long before that date, on the 11th of April, Gotovina, probably warned by his contacts, rejected the legitimacy of the Court and ran away with his French passport, which the French Embassy to Croatia did not oppose to renew although the official accusation was imminent.
From that date on, the hunt for General Gotovina began. On the 23rd of July, the Court of Zagreb emitted a warrant of arrest. On the 21st of August, the Interpol participated amongst the hunters as well. The United States placed a $5 million bounty on his head.
On the 28th of August, 2003, Gotovina’s name appeared for the first time along with Radovan Karadzic (former Bosnian Serb leader) and Ratko Mladic (military chief of the latter) in the Resolution 1503 of the UN Security Council.
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Poster with Christmas greeting from General Gotovina |
However at that time, Croatia was administrated by the central-left-wing government of Ivica Racan, who was unwilling to capture the General for fear of negative reactions of his sympathisers. It is claimed that among Croatian secret services, Gotovina had supporters, who helped him to remain at large.
On the 23rd of December, 2003 however Ivo Sanader was elected as Prime Minister. Sanader was the leader of the right-wing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), once chaired by the nationalist President, Tudjman (died in December 1999). With Sanader, HDZ, which softened its nationalist language and was rehabilitated in some way, also obtained the support of the Serbian minority. And the new Prime Minister was ready to do anything in order to make Croatia, which submitted an application for the EU membership in April 2003, a member of the European Club. And the price was Gotovina.
Sanader’s election was a turning point for Gotovina as well. His heroic image began to be tainted. The hunt was considerably intensified. Yet he remained inaccessible.
On the 18th of June, 2004, the EU granted to Croatia the candidate status. And on the 17th of December, the European Council fixed the start of negotiations for the 17th of March, 2005. Yet those positive evolutions put Croatian government into a state of languor.
However, it must be emphasised that by the end of 2002, Croatian constitutional Court confirmed the primacy of the ICTY over the national judicial institutions. A Bureau for the ICTY Prosecutor was established in Zagreb. Investigators had no obligation to inform Croatian government of their investigations. Croatia opened it archives to those investigators and allowed them to copy 57.000 documents. Until March 2005, 625 out of 626 requests of the ICTY were accomplished in a delay from 25 days to 60. Except one: the extradition of General Gotovina.
Croatian government almost swore that Gotovina was not on Croatian soil. However it was not enough for the EU. On the 16th of March, 2005, the European Council of Foreign Ministers postponed the negotiations sine die. The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and Sweden were decided: EU entry negotiations not before the extradition of Gotovina. Former Austro-Hungarian Empire bloc - namely Austria, Hungary and Slovenia - were not powerful enough to turn the tide.
In April 2004, a Task Force with current and future presidencies of the EU was established. The Task Force was charged with the evaluation of the ad hoc action plan of Croatian government. Croatian borders were so intensely controlled that the criminality rate decreased by 10 per cent. Every denunciation about the whereabouts of Gotovina, even the most fantastic ones, was investigated.
At last the ICTY Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte gave a favourable opinion and confirmed the full co-operation of Croatia with the Court. On the 3rd of October, in EU Luxemburg Summit, the resolution to start the negotiations with Croatia was adopted. Austria, has taken Croatia's side, and finally accepted to support Turkey's accession to those negotiations in exchange of Zagreb's one.
Gotovina was still at large. However it is now known that Croatia located him in Spain in September though could not reveal that information for security reasons at that time.
The four-years-long flight of General Gotovina ended in a luxurious hotel on Canary Islands on the 8th of December while dining with a friend.
Though one question remains: Why did the EU and the NATO make Gotovina, the least “evil” among other accused on the “Carla List”, a symbol?
Reactions are divided in Croatia
Prime Minister, Sanader declared: “Nobody must forget that General Gotovina is one of those, who did the most for the liberation of Croatia”. Yet Croatian government is relieved since Gotovina was arrested outside Croatian soil. Gotovina’s fake passport contained border stamps of several countries, including Argentina, Chile, Russia, China, Czech Republic and Tahiti, but not Croatia. The attitude of Croatian government can be summoned as: Even in war, crime is crime.
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| Ante Gotovina in Spanish custody |
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Croatian Media is satisfied with the capture of Gotovina in the name of EU perspectives of Croatia. Jutarnji List, under the headline "The best news for Croatia", is read: "With the arrest of Ante Gotovina in Spain, the stigma of sheltering one of the world's most wanted fugitives has been removed from Croatia." One columnist in Globus said that the arrest was good for both Croatia and the General himself: "It is good for the General since he will be finally able to solve his case before a court and that is the only place where he can do that". As to Nacional, it sympathises with Gotovina although General’s supporters accuse the editor, Ivo Pukanic of fake compassion and political opportunism. Between 1999 and 2001, Nacional launched a series of violent attacks against Gotovina.
However Croatian public opinion suffers from a second shock after what Jutarnji List revealed about the French past of their mythical General on the 19th of February, 2005. A few weeks ago the capture of Gotovina, a TV-program asked its audience to make a choice between “the EU membership” and “to protect Gotovina”. 94 per cent of the audience chose the latter.
Since 2001, nationalist milieus mobilised in order to defend the General and to hinder his extradition to The Hague. What was done in his honour sometimes pushed the limits: to bottle Bordeaux vintage with “Gotovina” label, to establish a football club in his name, MNK Ante Gotovina. There are some web sites that resemble more to fan clubs than to serious political initiatives.
During his flight, Gotovina became a prominent icon of Croatian popular culture. Marko Perkovic and Miroslav Skoro, two popular Croatian musicians, known for their right-wing views, recorded songs with lyrics implicitly praising Gotovina and his flight. Both songs became huge hits, especially among young audiences. In 2001, the Croatian writer Nenad Ivankovic wrote a book, “Warrior - Adventurer and General”, a biography of Gotovina. Croatian film director, Dejan Sorak wrote and directed “Two Players from the Bench” [Dva igraca s klupe], a black comedy released in 2005. The main plot is inspired by the events surrounding the ICTY accusation against Gotovina.
As news filtered through of the General's detention in Spain, a few hundred mainly young protesters gathered in Zagreb's main square, Ban Jelacic, chanting "Gotovina you are a hero, you are a hero" and “Ante! Ante! Ivo Sanader betrayed you”. Protesters marched towards the government buildings protected by a special police unity. As stopped by the police, some protesters broke down some windows. Protesters called for the government to prepare Gotovina’s defence.
An association of war veterans pasted General’s gigantic posters on walls near Split and in Zadar. Zeljko Strize, a responsible from the association declared: “We shall continue to paste posters”. Upon a highway near Pakostane (in central Croatia), protesters put fire on tyres. According to Milivoj Kurtov, chairman on the municipal council, Pakostane where Gotovina grew up is “shocked and outraged” by General’s arrest: “Unfortunately our General lost the first part of his battle, and now he must face a judicial battle”. Other demonstrations were organized in Bosnia and Austria in favour of Gotovina.
The Association France-Croatia published a significant communiqué on the 8th of December. They criticised the ICTY’s allegations against Gotovina. The Court modified the accusation on the 24th of February, 2004, and suppressed four names of allegedly murdered Serbians, for they were alive. Moreover, the Association reminded that the Court brings justice only for 711 Croatian victims whereas more than 13.000 Croatians perished during the war.
Croatians are furious all the more that the United States supported Operation Storm at that time and even supplied CIA logistic support for the war. However the United States stipulated the extradition of Gotovina for the NATO membership of Croatia. Some consider this change of American (and also British) attitude as revenge over Croatia, which opposed to War in Iraq. It is known that Americans are concerned not to show Serbians as the unique responsible for Yugoslavia catastrophe and as the unique target of the international justice. Gotovina will be the Croatian counterpart for Serbian war criminals for international public opinion.
As to the EU, it wanted to make out of Gotovina an exemplary case in order to show that candidates cannot jest with its standards. European pressures over Gotovina’s extradition were warning to other candidate States like Bulgaria, Rumania and also Turkey. After the postponement of membership negotiations with Croatia, former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Michel Barnier stated: “This decision proves that one cannot join the EU just because gates are open, but one really wants to join it. There is no short cut”. A French diplomat pointed out at that time that this was a special warning for Turkey in order to show what would happen if it fails to accomplish European demands.
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| Ante Gotovina |
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Some pro-European Croatians saw the flight of Gotovina as an indirect intrigue of Serbia, which demands a simultaneous EU membership of Serbia and Croatia. That was also what offered the United Kingdom: to accept all of Balkan countries in a single wave of membership into the EU. However now it seems that Croatia has the upper hand over Serbia.
Serbian reaction is tempered. The President Boris Tadic was contended to state: “I congratulate Croatia. It is very important. We have to do this in all countries in the region”.
The capture of Gotovina, who allegedly committed crimes against civil Serbians, paradoxically put Serbia in a delicate situation. On the 1st of April, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Serbian Prime Minister, Vladeta Jankovic, in a statement to the Tanjug agency, underlined that the remaining cases of Hague accused would be resolved as previously, through voluntary surrender to The Hague, “as we do not wish to create a negative atmosphere and resentment, which could disable the work of the government and endanger the country’s stability”. When asked what conditioned such a large number of voluntary surrenders to the Tribunal over a short time period, Jankovic explained that those persons realised that it was in the interest of the country as well as their personal interest. However, everyone is not one General Rahim Ademi, who surrendered by his free will to the Court.
Now that Gotovina arrested, Serbia remained lonely under the lime lights, all the more that the ICTY Prosecutor, Del Ponte publicly accused Serbia of hiding Karadzic and Mladic somewhere in Bosnia or Serbia: “For ten years, the international community has been playing cat-and-mouse with Karadzic and Mladic. The cats chose to wear blindfolds and to allow the mice to run from one hole to another”. German Ambassador to Belgrade, Andreas Zobel told journalists that the EU’s patience with Serbia was “limited”. As to French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, in a visit to Belgrade rudely stated: “Croatia said it would do it and has done it. Asking for cooperation is one thing, getting it is another".
Thus the EU, the NATO and the ICTY gave the necessary message to Serbian government: Time is up now. Del Ponte said that the Croatian model of international incentives and the joint Croatia-ICTY operational plan for Gotovina’s capture could "serve us as a model to overcome the difficulties we meet in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Serbia-Montenegro".
Gotovina was an example, a precedent for other cases. Beside a Karadzic, a Mladic, who are both accused of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8000 Muslims and for the siege of Sarajevo, which claimed over 10.000 lives during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, Gotovina is a less important accused.
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Pro Gotovina Croatians demonstrating their
support for him |
Croatian government, although satisfied with these evolutions, seems to feel itself in a disturbing dilemma, since in its communiqué of the 8th of December, it took care of emphasising: “The patriotic war was a defensive, just and legitimate war of liberation. Croatia was victim of an aggression, and in this regard it had the right of legitimate defence and that of liberate its occupied territories”. Since the liberation of Knin (near Zadar) during Operation Storm on the 5th of August, 1995, this day is commemorated as a national day in Croatia. However now, Croatia risks to see its war of liberation put in trial along with its General at The Hague. And this indeed will be a much bigger even unbearable price for the sake of the EU.
On the 12th of December, Gotovina appeared before the ICTY. He pleaded not guilty to all of charges brought against him, and declared: “I am not the man described in each and every count”.
Croatian media reported that Croatian government is to contribute to Gotovina's defence fund, and unfroze his financial assets (frozen on the 14th of March, 2005). However, it is regarded as unlikely that he will be granted bail given that he was taken involuntarily to The Hague.
Coming trials will probably witness discussions between the Court and Gotovina whether or not the crimes in question were the exactions committed by some “uncontrollable” elements far behind the front line. And using amicus curiae, Croatia will attempt to save the honour of its “patriotic war”.
Related items:
Croatia and Serbia on Their Way to the EU, as Turkey Left Behind? (24.10.2005)
Croatia Still Aspires to Join the EU (25.09.2005)
Anti-Turkish “Croatia Front” Is Growing (19.07.2005)
Hungary and Austria Urge: No Turkey in EU Without Croatia (13.07.2005)
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