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Croatian general says he is not guilty

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - A former Croatian general arrested on war crimes charges pleaded not guilty Monday to seven counts of murder, persecution and expulsion of Serbs during the critical final months of the Croatian war in 1995.

Ante Gotovina, 50, who was arrested last week in the Canary Islands after four years on the run, has been accused of giving his troops unrestrained freedom to plunder villages when they retook the eastern frontier region, which Croatia's Serbian minority had proclaimed an independent state. He could be sentenced to life imprisonment if convicted.

He had been third on the tribunal's most-wanted list, preceded only by the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his top commander Ratko Mladic, who are both accused of genocide and still at large.

One by one, Gotovina replied, "your honor, not guilty," to the charges, including the killing of 150 Serbs during fighting to retake Croatia's eastern frontier region, the Krajina, which was seized by rebel Serbs at the start of the 1991-1995 war.

The suspect listened intently as the judge read him his rights and showed occasional impatience as the court clerk read the lengthy indictment for more than an hour.

Gotovina's lawyer Luka Misetic said his client was focused on his defense.

Tribunal spokesman Jim Landale said no timetable was set for the trial and Gotovina will have the time he needs to review evidence and prepare his defense.

The indictment charged that Gotovina - the senior Croatian operational commander during the August 1995 campaign to retake Krajina - conspired with the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman to conduct "the forcible and permanent removal of the Serb population" from the region.

His troops avenged a humiliating loss and regained a vital strip of territory for Croatia. But for three months they rampaged through village after village, setting thousands of buildings alight, pillaging houses and killing residents, his indictment said. Tens of thousands were evicted from their homes.

The judge read a list of 31 of the 150 Serbs allegedly killed by the Croatian troops, men and women ranging in age from 45 to 90.

Prosecutors said Gotovina knew what was likely to happen, failed to take steps to prevent atrocities or stop them once they began, and took no action against those who committed the crimes.

The capture of Gotovina and his appearance before the tribunal, which was created in 1993 to prosecute individuals committing atrocities during Yugoslavia's disintegration, has increased pressure on the Serbian government to step up the manhunt for Karadzic, Mladic and four other Serbs.

On Monday, NATO troops in Bosnia searched the home in Pale of Dragan Stajcic, a former radio station editor who is suspected of belonging to a network helping Karadzic evade arrest.

Separately, the judges adjourned the war crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic until Jan. 23, responding to his request for more time to rest.

[Last modified December 13, 2005, 01:31:15]