Tudjman's Brijuni claims confirm Croatia's genocide intent

THE HAGUE - Serbia has filed enough evidence to prove that Operation Storm planned by the Croatian government bodies contains all elements of the criminal act of genocide and that Croatia violated its obligations according to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Serbia's agent to the court Sasa Obradovic stated before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The statement which Croatian president Franjo Tudjman made at the Brijuni on July 31, 1995 when the plan for Operation Storm was prepared together with Croatia's military top officials, can serve as the evidence of intention to destroy a part of the Serb national and ethnic group which lived in the Krajina region, the areas protected by the UN forces, Obradovic said.

Elaborating on the Serbian countersuit, Obradovic said before ICJ on Wednesday that the existence of Croatia's genocide intent is also backed by especially intense criminal activities against Krajina Serbs in the course and after Operation Storm.

The genocide intent was confirmed by non-selective shelling of cities in Krajina, forceful displacement of Serb civilians, mass murders of Serbs who decided to stay in areas under the UN protection, attacks on helpless refugee convoys, mass destruction and pillage of Serb property and introduction of administrative measures preventing the return of Krajina Serbs to their homes, Obradovic said.

He presented to the court abundant evidence on this matter and noted that according to the data of NGO Veritas, 1,719 Serbs were killed in Operation Storm and around 200,000 more were banished as stated in the UN report.

Refuting the Croatian charges according to which the Serbian government committed genocide in the...