THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Croatian war crimes suspect Ante Gotovina pleaded not guilty Monday to seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes at The Hague international court.
The 50-year-old former general is charged with atrocities against Croatian Serbs during the Balkan wars, including the murder of 150 people in Krajina in 1995.
"Gotovina knew or had reason to know that forces under his effective control were about to murder Krajina Serbs," his 14-page indictment from 2001 said. "Gotovina failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent the commission of such acts or punish the perpetrators thereof."
He was the third most-wanted man by the court, after Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, who remain at large, the BBC said.
Gotovina was arrested by Spanish police in the Canary Islands Wednesday and was extradited to the Netherlands Saturday.
