A defence lawyer for Ante Gotovina, Luka Misetic, said in Zagreb on Sunday that the defence team was now entirely dedicated to drawing up an appeal against the verdict handed down by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) against generals Gotovina and Mladen Markac.
Misetic told press that the defence has 28 days to submit the announcement of the appeal. "We will submit that on time," said Misetic, adding that the deadline expires on 16 May.
The defence has to draw up an appeal submission by 1 August. After that the prosecution will have six weeks to respond.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Friday sentenced General Ante Gotovina to 24 years in prison and General Mladen Markac to 18 years in prison for their participation in a joint criminal enterprise, the aim of which was to forcibly and permanently remove the Serb population from occupied areas of Croatia during and after Operation Storm, launched on August 4, 1995. The Hague tribunal acquitted the third Croatian general in this case, Ivan Cermak. Cermak returned to Croatia on Friday.
