ARRESTED ON THE CANARY ISLANDS After many years on the run Gotovina was arrested on the Canary Islands on 7 December 2005. He was in the company of Croatian national Jozo Grgic, and was carrying a forged passport under the name of Kristijan HorvatIt was with soldierly dignity and restraint that General Ante Gotovina took the latest proposal from the prosecution of the Hague tribunal that he be condemned to 27 years behind bars. He believes that his defence team has succeeded during the trial in demonstrating his innocence. So say the associates and friends of Ante Gotovina, those who communicate with him through various channels in The Hague with whom we spoke these days following the tribunal's announcement that the prosecution has demanded very lengthy punishment for Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markac and Ivan Cermak. His friends have also had the following to say about his reaction to the latest news that the prosecution - in spite of the way the trial has gone to date - has demanded a verdict of this severity.

"HE IS CONFIDENT that his defence team has succeeded during the trial in demonstrating his innocence. Just as he said at the start of the trial, he considers himself innocent and truly believes that he will be acquitted. The only thing he fears is politics. It was because of politics that he fled from Croatia when he realised that politics was doing him a great disservice. Gotovina was always a professional soldier and it bothered him that he was aligned to any political option. He was considered to be Minister Gojko Susak's man, but he was never in fact a member of the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) or otherwise politically active. Far from it that he would disown anything or anybody now, but he always wanted to be seen above all as a professional soldier and commander. For him Susak was the defence minister and his superior in the chain of command. He was not at all interested in politics." His attorney Luka Misetic is even more to the point in this regard:

"IN THREE MONTHS TIME it will be five years since he was remanded to the tribunal's detention, and of course his is awaiting and would like to see the trial finally over. He is optimistic and hopes that what he has had to go through is finally nearing its end. He is a steadfast person, psychologically resolute, and has been so this entire time. From the first day, and even more so now, he could not believe that someone could accuse him of committing war crimes or of planning and ordering them, and especially that he had allegedly targeted civilians. Even before the trial he was convinced that no such evidence could exist, and he suspected the motives of those who had accused him of these acts. Now that we are nearing the end of the trial we can say that those who accused him of having targeted civilians could not have had good intentions when they raised the indictment. Even the prosecution admits that Gotovina issued orders to prevent crimes, but they claim he only faked it. And everyone in Croatia has seen the video footage of the meeting in Knin, where his outrage is evident over the criminal activity and disorder in the field, but the prosecution claims he was only faking. But the question is whom is he faking it to? Perhaps to his superiors? The prosecution's logic fails here."

HIS WIFE DUNJA visits Gotovina in the Hague detention unit every month; son Ante and daughter Ana speak with their father almost daily by phoneIT IS KNOWN THAT A GROUP OF FRIENDS led by Zadar-based businessman and a comrade-in-arms of Gotovina's, Zeljko Dilber, have seen to his needs during his past five years in prison detention. These are people who make very few media appearances, and who are helping the Gotovina family to get along, seeing to their needs and safety while he is detained by the Hague tribunal. Dilber, for example, now works with the Jadranska osiguranje insurance company in Zadar, but was in the armed forces up to 2000 when he was decommissioned at his own request. He started working and socialising with Gotovina in 1992 when Gotovina came to Zadar to take over the command of the Dalmatian theatre of operations. Gotovina had been in Slavonia up to then, in the Novska area, where he had been wounded. After recovering he was assigned to the Dalmatia region. When he became the defence ministry chief inspector in 1996 he also brought Dilber to Zagreb where they continued to work together. Dilber is, along with the family, one of the few people who regularly, every month, visit Gotovina in The Hague. Gotovina's friends also see to other matters. A few years ago a foundation was established dedicated to promoting the truth about the Homeland War, also providing a part of the financing for the legal team in Zagreb that has, among other things, been involved over recent years in collecting information for the trial. Ante Gotovina has been in prison in Scheveningen almost five years now, and has remained very reticent the entire time. This discretion also goes for his family and all those it communicates with. Nevertheless, from some of the answers we received from his friends we have succeeded in compiling a picture of his life in prison and the life of his family - his wife Dunja, their 11-year-old son Ante and his 16-year-old daughter Ana from a previous relationship. They all live in Zagreb and spend their summers, as is the case this year, in Pakostane where they have a house. In The Hague Ante Gotovina has the right to monthly visits, a total of seven days for all visitors. Dunja Gotovina and the children come every month and stay for a day or two, and others come during the rest of the available time, all scheduled in advance. Visits last from 9 am to 5 pm. There are many requests for visits we are told by Gotovina's friends, but it is Ante Gotovina himself that decides whom he will receive. Mentioned among the many people who have visited him are Ante Kotromanovic, Danijel Kotlar, a comrade-in-arms from Zadar, the priest Don Ivica of Pakostane. They discuss everything, but the court does warn visitors that their conversations may be recorded.

ANTE GOTOVINA HAS access to satellite TV and can watch Croatian television channels and regularly receives Croatian newspapers. He is able to inform himself of everything going on in Croatia. Whatever else he is interested in his visitors pass on to him. It is a well-known fact that Gotovina is a man of few words and is loath to comment events and political developments, but his friends say that he is disappointed with the situation in Croatia. When we asked if any Croatian politicians have contacted Gotovina in jail, we learned that former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, while in government, never indicated he wished to visit, while Jadranka Kosor visited him and other defendants in The Hague before taking on the post of prime minister. Some of the people around him regret that better contacts were not achieved with former President Stipe Mesic. Ante Gotovina has a brother, two stepbrothers and a sister. Gotovina's son Ante has completed the sixth grade of elementary school and has an excellent rapport with his father. Besides when they visit The Hague, both his son Ante and daughter Ana communicate with their father practically on a daily basis by phone, discussing school and other matters, and they feel that he takes part in their day-to-day life as if he were not in jail. His friends say that Ante Gotovina nurtures a "manly" relationship with his son, while Ana is his pet.

WOUNDED NEAR NOVSKA Ante Gotovina commanded units in Slavonia in the Novska area up to 1992, where he was wounded. After recovering he assumed the command of the Dalmatian theatre of operationsHIS WIFE DUNJA Gotovina is not employed, but not of her own will. She used to work at the defence ministry, but the ministry previously moved to force her into retirement, something she opposed. She sued the defence ministry and the courts ruled in her favour after five years of litigation. And while she had in the meantime fulfilled the conditions for regular retirement, the courts ruled she had a right to return to her workplace. She would have done so but it was Ante Gotovina's feeling that it would be detrimental to her if the defence ministry did not want her there. During that entire time, and now, Dunja Gotovina received no remuneration - no wages and no pension. It is known that Gotovina has taken up painting while in prison. He paints various themes, from fishers at sea to portraits. He painted two portraits of the Blessed Ivan Merz under commission by a Croatian priest from Rijeka. A few of the canvases from his cell in The Hague have been seen publicly, but Gotovina is very discrete on the subject. It is interesting that he has studied the works of famed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, whose art has long fascinated him, for some time now. He has done a number of her portraits based on her own self-portraits. He has read much about her, seen the film about her life starring Salma Hayek. He has read numerous books on artists, art and painting while behind bars, and he receives many non-fictional works published in Croatia.

THE TRIAL OF GOTOVINA, Cermak and Markac are entering their final phases. All three counsels for the defence and prosecution have presented their final statements to the tribunal on July 16th, each on some 300 pages. The litigants and the tribunal are now analysing these statements, and closing arguments will be given from August 30th to September 2nd. The prosecution goes first and has six and a half hours to deliver its closing arguments; each of the defence teams has two and a half hours to present theirs, after which the prosecution has an hour to reply to the statements of the defence. After that each of the defence teams has fifteen minutes to react to the replies of the prosecution, and then it is over. From September 2nd on we will await the verdicts. In practice the Hague tribunal hands down its rulings two to nine months after the closing arguments. The attorneys expect a ruling by around Christmas.