Prosecutor: General murdered elderly Serbs

(CNN) -- A former Croatian military commander went on trial Tuesday for war crimes stemming from a 1995 operation against Croatian Serbs.

General Ante Gotovina, 52, faces charges including murder, wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, inhumane acts and plunder. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Investigators say he was one of the leaders of "Operation Storm," which aimed to retake the Krajina region of Croatia from the Serbs who lived there.

Attorneys made opening statements in the case Tuesday at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague.

"Although Operation Storm did not spell the end of the armed conflict between Serbs and Croats, it would mean the end for many Serbs of their lives on ancestral homelands," said Alan Tieger, counsel for the prosecution, in his opening statement.

By the time the three-month operation ended in November 1995, Tieger said, "almost the entire Serb population had been driven out and the Serb community was a scarred wasteland of destroyed villages and homes."

The Serbs who remained were largely elderly and infirm, and they were arrested, harassed, or even murdered, Tieger said.

Also on trial are Ivan Cermac, a former Croatian military commander, and Mladen Markac, commander of the Croatian Special Police.

All three were instrumental in the "appalling and systematic" crimes of Operation Storm, Tieger said. E-mail to a friend

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