Operation Storm
Following the rejection by both sides of the Z-4 plan for reintegration, the RSK's end came in 1995, when Croatian forces gained control of SAO Western Slavonia in Operation Flash (May) followed by the biggest part of occupied Croatia in Operation Storm (August). The Krajina Serb Supreme Defence Council met under president Milan Martić to discuss the situation. A decision was reached at 16:45 to "start evacuating the population unfit for military service from the municipalities of Knin, Benkovac, Obrovac, Drniš and Gračac." The RSK was disbanded and most of the Serb population fled. Only 5,000 to 6,000 people remained, mostly the elderly. The Croatian historian Ivo Goldstein wrote, "The reasons for the Serb exodus are complex. Some had to leave because the Serb army forced them to, while others feared the revenge of the Croatian army or of their former Croatian neighbours, whom they had driven away and whose homes they had mostly looted (it was later shown that this fear was far from groundless).".
Most of the refugees ended in Serbia, Bosnia and eastern Slavonia. Some of those who remained were murdered, tortured and forcibly expelled by the Croatian Army and police.
Between 2001 and 2012, the ICTY had prosecuted Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markač and Ivan Čermak for their involvement in crimes committed in the aftermath of Operation Storm. The indictment and the subsequent trial on charges of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war described several killings and widespread arson committed by Croatian soldiers. In April 2011, Gotovina and Markač were convicted to extended prison sentences, while Čermak was acquitted. In November 2012, the remaining two defendants were also found not guilty by the Appeals Panel of the ICTY.
Read more about this topic: Republic Of Serbian Krajina
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