The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the "Gotovina and Markac" case will decide on the defence's motion to introduce new evidence in the appeal as soon as possible, Judge Theodor Meron said at a status conference in the case on Wednesday.
General Ante Gotovina's defence on 4 November 2011 requested that 25 new pieces of evidence be introduced in the appeal, including the minutes of meetings of the Serbian Supreme Defence Council held in Belgrade during a Croatian military offensive known as Operation Storm in the summer of 1995, U.S. diplomatic dispatches released by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, and expert reports by US officers.
Gotovina, a former commander of the Operational Zone Split, and General Mladen Markac, former commander of special police forces, were sentenced on 15 April 2011 to 24 and 18 years in prison respectively for the persecution of Serb civilians living in areas held by Serb rebels during and in the wake of Operation Storm.
An appeals hearing in the case was held on April 14, and the ICTY holds status conferences in cases every 120 days to consider procedural matters and give the detainees the opportunity to comment on prison conditions and their health. The last status conference in the case was held on January 26.
Gotovina said at today's brief status conference that his health was fine, while Markac requested to be allowed to comment on his condition behind closed doors.
