One of the tribunal's three most-wanted indictees, he went into hiding in mid-2001, shortly after UN prosecutors charged him with war crimes over his alleged role in the killings of 150 Krajina Serbs and the expulsion of 150,000 others towards the close of the 1991-1995 conflict in Croatia.
Gotovina, jedan od najtraženijih optuženika tribunala, u bekstvu je od sredine 2001. godine, neposredno nakon što su tužioci Haškog tribunala podigli optužnicu protiv njega zbog navodne uloge u ubistvu 150 krajiških Srba i proterivanju još 150.000 krajem sukoba u Hrvatskoj (1991-1995).