The Hague prosecutors pointed out before the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Monday that the transcripts from the meeting of Croatian senior military and political officials on the Brijuni island in Croatia ahead of the Operation Storm confirm their intention to expel the Serb civilians, even if the Appeals Chamber decides that there had been no unlawful artillery attacks during the Operation Storm.

General Ante Gotovina, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for war crimes committed during and after the Operation Storm which was carried out in August 1995, is not a scapegoat, but rather a participant in the joint criminal enterprise, the Hague prosecution said in a statement before the Appeals Chamber chaired by Theodor Meron, the Croatian media reported.

Gotovina and other participants in the joint criminal enterprise had a common purpose - the exodus of civilians, which was carried out by excessive artillery attacks, said Prosecutor Helen Brady.

She underlined that Gotovina also ordered attacks on the entire Knin, which was, like other attacked towns, a civilian target in itself, despite the fact that certain military facilities were located there.

Gotovina was directly involved in the intention to forcibly remove the Serb civilians from Krajina, said Prosecutor Douglas Stringer.

He noted that the existence of the joint criminal enterprise is confirmed by the laws introduced shortly after the Operation Storm, whose aim was to prevent the Serbs' return to Croatia.

For the prosecutors, the Operation Storm was not a military attack which led to unwanted consequences, but the attack with the intention of deporting civilians.

The residents of Knin fled their town solely due to non-selective shelling which is confirmed by the fact that on August 4, 1995, 15,000 people were in the town, and a day later only 1,000.