Franjo Tuđman

On appeal, the ICTY rejected the six defendants' principal challenges concerning the common objective and confirmed that the first-instance findings on the role of Croatian leaders, including Tuđman, had not been shown to be erroneous.

State of the evidence

Documented

The Prlić Trial Chamber considered that Croatia's leadership, including Tuđman, shared an objective of creating a Croat entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina whose realisation involved changing the ethnic composition and, from 1993, ethnically cleansing Muslim populations.

In the Gotovina trial judgment, the Chamber considered Tuđman a leading participant in meetings and policies forming part of a joint criminal enterprise aimed at substantially reducing the Serb presence in Krajina.

In the amended indictment in the Prlić et al. case, the prosecution named Franjo Tuđman among those alleged to have participated in and contributed to the joint criminal enterprise concerning Herceg-Bosna.

State of the evidence

Alleged

Human Rights Watch documented increasing control of public media under Tuđman, the use of restructuring and economic pressure against independent publications, and a climate of intimidation towards critical journalism.

State of the evidence

Documented

Following the opposition's victory in Zagreb's municipal elections, Tuđman refused for approximately eighteen months to confirm several mayoral candidates chosen by the city council. US and HRW reports presented the episode as a visible example of political manipulation.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Tuđman chaired a meeting at Brioni with senior military officials to prepare Operation Storm. The transcript of this meeting became a central piece of evidence in several international proceedings.

State of the evidence

Documented

Following Operation Storm, the vast majority of Krajina Serbs left the region. Human Rights Watch denounced administrative obstacles to their return, state control over Serb-owned property and the resettlement of Croats in some properties.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Tuđman's attendance at the opening of the Holocaust Museum in Washington was challenged because of his book. In February 1994, he issued a formal apology to B'nai B'rith for passages he acknowledged were hurtful and for the misunderstandings they had caused.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

ICTY judgments in the Blaškić and Prlić cases examined Zagreb's political, military and strategic support for Bosnian Croat structures. They noted Tuđman's objectives concerning a Croat entity and changes to the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Human Rights Watch criticised Tuđman's government for fuelling interethnic tensions and failing to adequately reassure Croatia's Serb population during the break with Yugoslavia.

State of the evidence

Documented

Several witnesses before the ICTY alleged that Tuđman and Milošević had discussed dividing Bosnia and Herzegovina into Serb and Croat zones at Karađorđevo. An ICTY judgment in the Blaškić case found that Tuđman had aspirations towards partition.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

In his 1989 historical work, Tuđman challenged several established estimates of the number of Jasenovac victims and used testimonies portraying Jewish prisoners negatively. Researchers have characterised this methodology as revisionist and problematic.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated