Trial of Milan Martić

Prosecutor v. Milan Martić was a case (no. IT-95-11-I) judged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, for crimes against humanity.

Martić was born near Knin (present-day Republic of Croatia) on 18 November 1954. From January 1991 to August 1995, he held various positions within the government of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina, which later evolved into the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), including Chief of the Police in Knin, Secretary for Internal Affairs of the SAO Krajina, Deputy Commander of the Territorial Defense of the SAO Krajina, Minister of Defense of the SAO Krajina, Minister of the Interior of the SAO Krajina and of the RSK and, from 25 January 1994 onwards, President of the RSK.

The events giving rise to this trial took place between August 1991 and December 1995 in the SAO Krajina and the RSK. The Trial Chamber found that Martić participated in a joint criminal enterprise (JCE) with other individuals, the common purpose of which was the establishment of an ethnically Serb territory through the displacement of the non-Serb population.

Martić participated in the JCE by providing substantive financial, logistical and military support to the SAO Krajina and the RSK, by actively working together with the other JCE participants to fulfill the objective of a united Serb state, by exercising his authority over the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) of the SAO Krajina and the RSK, by fuelling an atmosphere of insecurity and fear through public statements, and by participating in the forcible removal of the non-Serb population.

The trial lasted for 143 days. During the trial the prosecution called 45 witnesses and had 901 exhibits. The defense presented 22 witnesses and had 90 exhibits. The Trial Chamber concluded that Martić incurred individual criminal responsibility pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Tribunal’s Statute ("Statute"). Martić was convicted of the following crimes:

The Trial Chamber further found that Martić ordered the shelling of Zagreb on 2 and 3 May 1995 with Orkan Rockets, containing cluster munitions. It held that he incurred individual criminal responsibility pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Statute for ordering under Count 15, murder as a crime against humanity; Count 16, murder as a violation of the laws or customs of war; Count 17, inhumane acts as a crime against humanity; Count 18, cruel treatment as a violation of the laws or customs of war; and Count 19, attacks on civilians as a violation of the laws or customs of war. The Trial Chamber did not enter convictions under Counts 16 and 18, having found that these crimes were impermissibly cumulative with Count 19. The Trial Chamber sentenced Martić, in absentia, to a single sentence of thirty-five years imprisonment.

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