12/08/2004

OHR BiH Media Round-up, 8/12/2004

Latest radio news broadcast at 12.00 on8 December 2004

RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (12,00 hrs)

BH Radio 1 (12,00 hrs)

RTRS (12,00 hrs)

Tadic in Mostar

Tadic in Mostar

Tadic in Mostar

BiH Presidency in session

Brcko Assembly in session

Mikerevic in London

Covic attends celebration of

World news

Cavic expected to meet Dodik today

TV news broadcast on 7 November 2004

RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs)

BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs)

FED TV (19,30 hrs)

RT RS (19,30)

Tadic in Banja Luka

Indictment against Delalic

War Crimes Chamber Head

Human rights conference

NHI on Tadic’s visit

Dragomir Milosevic in ICTY

Health insurance in BiH

Tadic in Banja Luka

War crimes over Serbs

Decision of RS Gov.

BiH/Cro employment issue

BL Mljekara sold

Dragomir Milosevic in ICTY

Decision of Islamic Comm.

The HR met with Sanader

Humphreys in Banja Luka

 

Oslobodjenje

Nikolic wonders which Serb committed a war crime; General Dragomir Milosevic pleads not guilty; Srebrenica women vs. Holland : Lawyers to file lawsuit at the beginning of 2005; Delalic found guilty for murder of Serb wedding guest

Dnevni Avaz

Tadic’s apology is impudence and hypocrisy; Nothing out of admission to PfP for our country; Hays: BiH may face bankruptcy; A Swiss accuses Chief of PSC East Sarajevo: Dragan Andan interrogated us for 4 days in Vraca in 1995

Dnevni List

Mayor: SDA councillors will vote for Beslic

Vecernji List

Suspects on state salaries

Slobodna Dalmacija

10.000 cases before BiH Court

Nezavisne Novine

Boris Tadic in Banja Luka : Non-cooperation with the Hague is a national betrayal; Terzic to place veto on the appointment of Njegus; Indictment for the murder of Nikola Gardovic in 1992 pressed: Ramiz Delalic charged with the murder of Serb wedding witness

Glas Srpske

Dragan Cavic and Boris Tadic call on Hague indictees to surrender: Pressure is unbearable

EuroBlic

BAM 50 thousand to Hague fugitives for surrender

Vecernje novosti

Features Serbian related topics

Nacional

10000 Serbs bestially murdered in Sarajevo

 

LATEST NEWS OF TODAY

Tadic in Mostar

 

 

 

BH Radio 1, RHB at 12.00 – Serbian President, Boris Tadic, is in Mostar today. He was received at the MostarAirport by the Canton 7 Prime Minister, Miroslav Coric. Following a meeting with the FBiH President, Niko Lozancic, President Tadic stated that the basis of all political relations was economy, thus saying that the he wanted to open as many economic routes as possible i.e. to improve the economic cooperation. On possible constitutional changes in BiH, President Tadic said the changes must take into consideration economic consequences too and the principle that BiH can function only if all three people agree.

Brcko District Assembly in session

 

FENA – At today’s inaugural session the delegates of the Brcko District Assembly elected a new Speaker, Milan Tomic, a member of the SNSD, who won 20 out of a total of 28 votes. Ivan Krndelj, a member of the HSS, was elected Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, winning 19 votes. Running for the position of Speaker or Deputy Speaker was also Ratko Stjepanović, a member of the SDS, who got only 6 votes.  As the session continues, the delegates are supposed to elect the mayor of Brcko as well.

RTRS, BH Radio 1 at 12.00 – The candidature of Mirsad Djapo, SDP of BiH, for the position of Brcko Mayor was announced during today’s resumption of the inaugural session of Brcko District Assembly.

Osmanovic on possible sanctions against RS

 

RTRS at 12.00 – Speaking of possible measures by HR against RS and its officials, Adil Osmanovic, RS Vice President, says in a statement given to Novi Reporter that at this moment, it would not be appropriate to speak comment on this, adding that if Dragan Cavic were to be removed, one of two vice presidents should take over the position of the RS President. On this he adds: “In such a case, I have no reserves to say that Ivan Tomljenovic should take over the position of RS President.”

Salaries of civil servants in FBiH to be decreased

RTRS at 12.00 – The salaries of the civil servants in FBiH would be increased as of 1 January 2005, in accordance with decision of the FBiH Government. The lowest salary would amount 936 KM.

 

War crimes / cooperation with ICTY

Tadic and Cavic call on PIFWCs at large to surrender

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RHB, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘RS future depends of the cooperation with the ICTY’ by M. Zgonjanin– On Tuesday, the presidents of Serbia and the RS, Boris Tadic and Dragan Cavic respectively, called in Banja Luka on all ICTY indictees to surrender voluntarily to the Tribunal, emphasizing that the future of the peoples in the region to a large degree depends on meeting this obligation. Cavic stated that RS Interior Ministry works on this intensively.

BHT 1 by Tanja AlavukCavic commented the fact that the cooperation with ICTY was the focus of their talks: “[This issue] is very often being used as a subject of various political manipulation and there is no full consensus in RS political ambient to approach this issue in this way.”  Tadic said that in Serbia there was also no policy consensus on all issues related with ICTY cooperation, and this was due to the fact that parties and leaders in Serbia were manipulating with the situation in RS.

FTV by Azra Pasukan, Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘Catastrophic consequences of non-cooperation with the ICTY’ by O.Vukovic  –  Undermining RS and Serbian capacities I consider to be a national treason, and that includes non-cooperation with the ICTY,” stated Tadic. He also announced that he will schedule meeting with Serbian authorities representatives upon his arrival back to Belgrade to discuss this issue.

RTRS by Biljana KnezevicTadic also met with SNSD Chairman Milorad Dodik, who said that the time of punishments should be stopped. At the meeting with RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic, Tadic discussed the ways to improve the cooperation between RS and Serbia in all areas. Today, Serbian president is in visit to Mostar.

Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Tadic and Cavic call on The Hague fugitives to surrender’, by De. L., Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘Lack of cooperation with The Hague is national treason’, by A. Macanovic, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘Non-cooperation with the Hague is a national betrayal’ by A. Sekulic-V.Popovic; Glas Srpske cover page story ‘Pressure is unbearable’ by G.D.-D.R. – also reports.

RS Govt brings decision giving 50.000 KM to PIFWCs

 

BHT 1 by Boris GagicThe RS government on Monday evening made a decision to pay 50,000 KM each to the families of all war crime indictees who voluntarily surrender to the Hague tribunal. The main condition for this is that the indictees enter the procedure of organized surrender with the RS authorities by 9 December. OHR and the European Commission welcomed this decision, however opposition parties in RS believe that RS Government is only showing the inability of RS institutions to arrest war criminals. RS SP member Miroslav Mikes said that was not very great move by the Government. SNSD member Milorad Dodik said it is unbelievable for war criminals to be given any kind of support. The decision of the RS Government has also doubled incomes of the persons indicted or accused of war crimes currently in the Hague detention. In this way, RS war criminals are going to receive an amount of two average salaries in RS per month. These means will be provided from RS budget, which has not got enough money for pensioners’ pensions. But, OHR and European Commission do not bring decision’s morality issue into question. The Head of the European Commission Delegation in BiH, Michael Humphreys, said: “If war criminals surrender, it would present a huge positive step in cooperation with ICTY.”

Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘OHR welcomed decision’ by Agencies, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘BAM 50 thousand to families’ by G. Dakic, EuroBlic cover and RSpg 1 ‘BAM 50 thousand to Hague fugitives for surrender’ by Marija Jandric, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ’50.000 KM offered to the ICTY fugitives’, Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘Families of indictees that surrender themselves to get 50.000 KMs’, not signed, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 8, mentioned on front ‘War criminals get 50.000 KMs each’, by F, Vecernji List, pg 22, mentioned on front ‘RS Government pays for surrender to The Hague’, by B. S. – reported on the decision.

Dragomir Milosevic pleads not guilty for Sarajevo shelling

 

RHB, BHT 1, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘General Dragomir Milosevic pleads not guilty’, mentioned on cover, by Sense, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Dragomir Milosevic pleaded not guilty’ not signed, Dnevni List, pg 8 ‘General Milosevic pleads not guilty’, by De. L, Vecernji List, pg 2 ‘Dragomir Milosevic says he is not guilty’, by kj, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 10 ‘Commander of siege of Sarajevo does not feel guilty’, by H, Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘General Milosevic pleaded not guilty’ by Agencies; Glas Srpske pg 12 ‘Not guilty’ by AgenciesDragomir Milosevic, charged with war crimes during the siege of Sarajevo, pleaded not guilty in his first appearance before the Hague Tribunal on Tuesday. Milosevic, 62, surrendered to authorities in Belgrade on December 3 and was transfered to the Hague on the same day. Since August 1994 Milosevic served as the commander of the RS Army Romanija Corps, which held Sarajevo under siege. He was indicted on April 24 1998 and the indictment remains sealed until December 20 1998.

RS MoI files 501 criminals charges against 3650 persons for war crime against Serbs

 

RHB, RTRS – The RS Interior Ministry has filed 501 criminal charges with the prosecutor’s office in the RS against 3,650 persons for the war crimes against Serbs. The criminal charges, together with 12,000 pages of text and 50 video recordings, document war crimes in which 3,035 people were killed, 946 wounded, 164 raped and 86 disappeared, the RS MoI press office said. Interior Minister Darko Matijasevic also sent a letter to the RS institutions responsible to cooperate with the ICTY and associations of missing people from the RS and the BiH, suggesting initiatives and coordination of activities among all relevant bodies in order to speed up the gathering of archive material and processing of suspected and accused persons. The letter was also forwarded to the High Representative Paddy Ashdown, who was asked for his direct involvement in the analysis of the situation and to give guidelines for reaching a decision establishing the commission for the investigation of crimes committed in Sarajevo during the war.

Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘Denunciations against 3,650 persons’ by S. Karic; Glas Srpske pg 5 ‘500 denunciations filed’ by V.J.; EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘3,650 suspects for 3035 murdered’ by M.J. – report on the letter.

VL: ‘War crimes suspects being paid by state’

 

Vecernji List, front pg splash ‘Suspects on state salaries’ and pg 3 ‘War crimes suspects being paid by state’, by Zdenko Jurilj – Amid reports that some 10.000 people in BiH are connected to committing war crimes, VL reports that according to unofficial information some 2.000 of them are employed in various state services, military, State Border Service and Police. VL argues that all of them used good connections, through which they have been awarded with lucrative jobs.

Srebrenica victims to sue Holland?

 

Oslobodjenje, cover ‘Lawyers will file a lawsuit at the beginning of 2005’ and pg. 10 ‘Lawyers will file a lawsuit at the beginning of next year’ by S. R. – Unless Dutch Government and Defense Ministry accept the demand of Srebrenica women on out-of-court settlement in “Srebrenica ‘95” case, an international team of lawyers will file a lawsuit at the beginning of 2005. ‘To be hones, we do not expect from Holland to accept the out-of-court settlement because they had been rejecting our demands on three or four occasions already’, the lawyers have stated.

Marinkovic to head war crimes office with Prosecution?

FTV – After a number of speculations on who will be appointed as the Head of the Department for the war crimes within BiH Prosecutors’ Office, FTV finds out unofficially that this could be is current BiH Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Vaso Marinkovic.

GS update to Jankovic case

 

Glas Srpske pg 5 ‘Imagination can do anything’ by D. Todoric GS source claims that allegations that the attempted arrest of Gojko Jankovic on 30th October was undermined by the senior police officials represents nothing else but passing the buck onto RS Interior Ministry. The source claims this was done in order to undermine the position of the RS Interior Ministry during ongoing talks at that time on police restructuring. Source claims that information on Jankovic was tipped by the intelligence officer at the F BiH Army, suspected of war crimes against Serbs in the area of Foca. GS source further notes that all the claims initially alleged were investigated and evidence proving otherwise (proving that Gojko Jankovicwas not the man seen at the funeral) were handed to international community, but they seemingly not interested in this because their intentions were completely opposite.

 

Political and economic issues

Mikerevic meets Humphreys, discuss police reform, cooperation with ICTY

 

 

 

 

 

 

RHB, RTRS, Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘The Hague, then Europe’ by Z. Marceta; Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘BiH needs a unified police’ by S.G.; EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘Police reform according to Constitutions’ by T.V. – Head of EC delegation to BIH, Michael Humphreys, on Tuesday in Banja Luka had separate meetings with Dragan Mikerevic, RS Premier, and Dusan Stojicic, RS NA Speaker. Meeting Mikerevic-Humphreys discussed the progress achieved in reforms in BIH and BIH membership in EU. Mikerevic stressed RS Government was determined to respect RS and BIH constitution during the reform of BIH police forces. Humphreys stated that BIH needed a joint police force and added that local authorities would regain the trust of international community when war crime suspects were arrested. Statement from PM’s office says that Humphreys also stated that the first point in Feasibility Study is ICTY cooperation and the only way that will be met is if Chief ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte gives a positive report.

Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘RS future depends on the Hagueby Fena, Dnevni List, pg 7 ‘Organization of Police according to European countries’ model’, by M. Batarello – also reported.

FBiH HoR in session

 

RHB, FTV, BHT 1, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘New measures to help redundant workers’, by Ivica Glibusic – FBiH Parliament’s House of Representatives adopted a Report on status of workers who had been made redundant in Croatia . The report refers to 60.000 – 100 000 BiH workers, who had been working for 20 years in Croatia , but who were dismissed in the period between 1991-1995. After they lost their jobs, the workers lost right to social and health protection, rights to compensation, pensions and right to participation in the privatisation process. Along with the Report, FBiH Parliament’s HoR also adopted proposal of measures by which BiH Council of Ministers, together with Croatia , should solve the problem.

Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Destiny of workers from Croatia is not an exception’ by S. Sehercehajic, Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘FBiH authorized for dismissed BiH workers from Croatia’ by A. Basic – also reported.

BiH will not be admitted to PfP on 9/10 Dec

 

Dnevni Avaz, pg. 2 ‘There will be no accession of BiH to the Partnership for Peace’, mentioned on cover, by S. N., Oslobodjenje, pg. 7 ‘BiH was not invited to the session’ not signed– NATO Alliance has confirmed BiH would not be invited to join PfP at the session of Euro-Atlantic Council, which will be held on December 9 and 10. ‘There is no progress in cooperation with ICTY, which is the main pre-requisite for the continuation of your country’s journey towards Euro-Atlantic integrations’, an anonymous official of the Alliance has stated.

Cavic meets SNSD, Dodik accuses RS Govt for crisis

 

BHT 1 by Adela Malkoc – Following the NATO Summit to be held on 9 December, derious sanctions could be imposed against RS authorities due to failure to meet obligations regarding the cooperation with the ICTY. Today [Wednesday] in Banja Luka, SNSD is going to present the RS President Dragan Cavic with its solutions for the existing crisis. One of the solutions refers to punishment of all persons responsible for the crisis and SNSD is going to ask the president to investigate whether RS Government had any responsibility in this and to subsequently ask for its reshuffle. SNSD member Igor Radojicic said: “We think that waiting for the International Community to take some steps, which would result in the negative consequences for RS, is not the right thing to do and that responsibility of certain persons should be investigated.” RS Vice President Adil Osmanovic believes that it is too late for any kind of action to be undertaken. Osmanovic said: “I believe that there is no time for such political games; operative forces should try to do their part of a job by 9 and 10 December.” 

Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Mikerevic is stupid and doesn’t understand the job he does’ by F. Cardzic – Commenting to the statement by RS Prime Minister, Dragan Mikerevic, who said he will give his seat if Milorad Dodik could promise to arrest a war crime suspect by 9 December, Dodik said: “This only shows that Mikerevic is stupid, doesn’t understand anything, especially not the job he does.” Dodik also accuses both Prime Minister and the Government of hiding or protecting those who obstructed arrests of persons indicted for ICTY, concluding if he was on power this would not have happened. 

Reactions: Dodik-Cavic meeting welcomed, but belated

 

EuroBlic RSpg 3 ‘The list of wishes is late’ by Nedeljka Breberina’ – The article carries the statements of some politicians from RS (Nevenka Trifkovic, Tarik Sadovic, Milanko Mihajlica) commending the upcoming meeting between Dragan Cavic and Milorad Dodik, but also expressing doubt anything can be changed now. According to inset 1 ‘Nine years of delay’, Tanja Topic, prominent political analyst, is of the view that position and opposition in RS should hold a meeting and discuss the seriousness of the situation RS is facing with. According to inset 2 ‘Only Karadzic leads BiH to Partnership’, Antonio Prlenda, military analyst of the Sarajevo daily “Oslobodjenje”, says that only the arrest of Radovan Karadzic in the upcoming few days could ensure BiH admission into PfP.  

Brcko Assembly meets today

 

Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Mirsad Djapo a mayor?’ by V.J. – The Brcko District Assembly on Tuesday had not even started with the session, postponing it for today [Wednesday]. Delegations of parties spent Tuesday in negotiations on establishing majority in the Parliament, however late afternoon 6 SDS delegates left the building of Assembly. During the day long negotiations, Oslobodjenje says that there was an agreement between parties to appoint Mirsad Djapo [SDP] as Mayor, Milan Tomic [SNSD] for Assembly Speaker, and Ivan Krndelj [HSS] as his Deputy. 

FTV – FTV reports that the reason SDS delegates left was because they were dissatisfied with the duration of the negotiations.

BHT 1 – BHT 1 also reports that Assembly representatives could also be in conflict over the issue of 2005 budget. SDS representatives stated that there were confidential negotiations under way, also participated by Supervisor of Brcko District Susan Johnson. BHT 1 also has same information alike Oslobodjenje concerning Mayor and Assembly Speaker.

Update to appointment of Mostar Mayor: SDA and HDZ reached agreement

 

Dnevni List, front pg splash ‘Mayor: SDA councillors will vote for Beslic’ and pgs ’16-17 ‘Croat a Mayor, most attractive city departments to Bosniaks’, by Zvonimir Jukic – DL learns from a source close to the HDZ BiH that all HDZ councillors, apart from Ivan Musa, will be supporting Ljubo Beslic as the party’s candidate for position of the Mayor of Mostar. The source also claims that the SDA councillors will be voting for Beslic too because the local party branches in Mostar made an agreement during the last weekend, however in order that the agreement be implemented, it has to be verified by the HDZ and SDA leaderships. DL explains that according to the agreement, a Croat is to be elected the Mayor of Mostar and a Bosniak the President of the City Council. When it comes to Departments with the City administration, DL says the Bosniaks will be leading the most attractive Departments, namely the Urban Planning and Finances. Finally, DL reports that the agreement contains a provision, which was proposed by the SDA and which should be built in the Mostar Statute, that no people can hold two consecutive mandates in offices of Mayor of Mostar and President of Mostar City Council.

Dnevni List, front pg splash and pg 17 ‘SDA councillors will vote for Ljubo Beslic’, by Nermin Bise – According to DL’s sources close to the SDA, Vice Presidents of SDA Bakir Izetbegovic and Sefik Dzaferovic, attended a meeting of SDA Mostar on Monday night when they suggested to the SDA councillors in the City Council to support Beslic. Allegedly, a part of the councillors opposed this proposal, however it would appear that the President of SDA of Mostar Hamdija Jahic and Sead Masle played the crucial role in securing the support to Beslic since Jahic and Masle agreed with Izetbegovic and Dzaferovic.

Nezavisne Novine, pg 2 ‘Pavlovic: Ljubo Beslic a new Mayor’, by V. C. – Spokesman of the HDZ BiH, Pero Pavlovic, confirmed on Tuesday that the HDZ and SDA had reached an agreement of electing Ljubo Beslic as the new Mostar Mayor.

Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘SDA and HDZ reached agreement, waiting approvals of Colak and Tihic’ by F. Vele – According to DA’s source from HDZ, Murat Coric will be appointed as the City Council Chair. 

Oslobodjenje pg 10 ‘Tomorrow, city council’s session’ – announcement of the session.

Reactions to Tadic’s apology

 

Dnevni Avaz cover splash ‘Tadic’s apology is impudence and hypocrisy’ and pg. 3 ‘Sidran: Tadic’s apology is impudence and hypocrisy’ by F. Cardzic – The article carries several reactions on Boris Tadic’sapology. Munira Subasic, the President of Association of Mothers from Srebrenica and Zepa, welcomes every apology but thinks it would be better if the he had come to say that Karadzic, Mladic and other war criminals were sent to the ICTY. Because of this, she thinks the apology was made with a political purpose. Miro Lazovic, SDU President, welcomes the apology but says the apology must not be used to equalize BiH Army and other citizens of BiH with crimes committed by Milosevic’s and SDS’s politics. Apart from this, Lazovic thinks the apology should not influence the outcome of BiH lawsuit against SiCG. Abdulah Sidran, a writer, assessed the apology as “impudence and hypocrisy”. DA inset ‘Tihic: there is no need for us to apologize to Serbian citizens’ – BiH Presidency member, Sulejman Tihic, welcomed the apology as a moral act, however he thinks BiH does not need to apologize to Serbian citizens because neither units of BiH Army nor any BiH institution has caused any damage to Serbian citizens.

RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Tadic’s parade’ by Fena, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 21 ‘NHI: Tadic’s dust in eyes’, by M. Landeka“Serbian President Boris Tadic’s visit to BiH is a mere parade before the eyes of our public, and especially before the eyes of the representatives of the IC. They are throwing dust in our eyes in order to divert attention from the failure of Serbia and RS to cooperate with the ICTY and are trying to ameliorate the predicted sanctions,” reads a statement of NHI Main Committee.

Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘We don’t need apology, but justice’, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Justice is necessary’ by FENA Zlatko Lagumdzija, SDP of BiH President, comments: “The statements of apology have been devalued here a long time ago. What we need is justice. Words demand acts, in order to make the words themselves worthy.”

Oslobodjenje cover splash, pg 7 ‘Nikolic asks which Serb had committed war crimes’ by B. Boskov – The article quotes the President of SRS, Tomislav Nikolic, as asking: ‘On behalf of which Serb had Tadic made the apology and which Serb had committed war crimes?’.

Op-eds on Tadic’s apology

 

Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 21 ‘Apology only after the punishment’, by Petar Milos – Commenting on the statement by the Serbian President, Boris Tadic, who apologized for the crimes committed “in the name of his people”, the author argues that an apology foremost refers to good manners and that an apology, as such, can only improve political relations. However, the author argues that an apology for war crimes can never replace proper sanctions for committed war crimes.

Nezavisne Novine op-ed pg 7 ‘Apology’ by Dragan Risojevic – The author commends the apology of Boris Tadic, stressing that: “The statement was criticised by some media in F BiH, who call themselves non-national. As we could have read, they were hurt by his second sentence, equally important as the first, when he said that we all have good reason to apologise to each other for the evil caused. Many people in Sarajevo have chosen the wording they preferred and in which they believe amongst those lines, that carried a clear and unambiguous message the time has come to look each other in the eyes, irregardless of what that truth may be.”

Oslobodjenje, op-ed pg. 9 ‘Sorry’ by Senka Kurtovic – the author ironically criticizes Serbian President Boris Tadic’s apology for war crimes.

Hays: BiH may face bankruptcy because of expensive administration

Dnevni Avaz, pg. 9 ‘Hays: BiH might soon face a bankruptcy because of expensive administration’, mentioned on cover, by E. Huremovic, Oslobodjenje, pg. 5 ‘Citizens must takeover the initiative’ by A. Avdic, Dnevni List, pg 21 ‘New possibilities and opportunities for heads of municipalities’, not signed, Nezavisne Novine pg 8 ‘Change of authority or bankruptcy’ by E. Grahovac – Forum of Mayors from North East BiH was held Tuesday in Tuzla under the auspices of OHR. 43 Mayors from this region signed the initiative that was forwarded to the Federation of BiH Parliament, by which they have asked for an urgent adoption of amendments to the Federation of BiH Constitution, Law on Local Self-Government and Law on Allocation of Public Revenues. PDHR Donald Hays has stated that BiH has an expensive administration and would soon face bankruptcy if something does not change.

Ashdown meets Sanader

FTV, RTRS, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Ashdown with Sanader’, by De. L.– The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, met with the Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader in Zagreb on Tuesday. The meeting forms part of the regular meetings, which the HR has with government leaders in the region. Discussions covered the efforts being made by BiH and the Croatia to move towards Euro-Atlantic integration.

DL criticises IC for not unifying institutions in Mostar

 

Dnevni List, pg 9 ‘How did Ashdown ‘unify’ Mostar’, by Nermin Bise – Carries an article dedicated to the process of unification of Mostar institutions, in which the author heavily criticizes the IC for not unifying a single institution. The author stresses that the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, in order to have the Mostar Statute implemented, appointed Richard Williams as the leader of the Mostar Implementation Unit, who together with Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Mostar, was supposed to unify the City administration and public services. In this context, the author says the job should have been done by the October elections, and to make matters worse, says the author, Mostar does not have a new Mayor even two months after the elections. Having said all that, the author reckons that it would appear that nobody is being held accountable for the situation in Mostar.

BiH losing 8 million US$ per year because airspace over Kosovo is closed

Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘BiH loses around 8 million dollars a year because of Kosovo’, by D. Polovina-Mandic – According to the Director of BiH Civil Aviation Directorate, Djordje Ratkovica, BiH is losing every year between 6 and 8 million US$ because of the fact that the airspace over Kosovo is closed. BiH Minister of Traffic and Communications, Branko Dokic, explains: “I really do not understand why the UNMIK, even after five years have passed from conflicts, is keeping the skies over Kosovo closed (…) This situation is costly for BiH and we are the biggest losers. I think it is absurd to tie this issue to the issue of final status of Kosovo, and it is obvious it connected to that.”

 

Judicial and police issues

NN claims Terzic seeks withdrawal of decision appointing Njegus to BiH Security Ministry

 

 

Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 5 ‘Terzic to place veto on the appointment of Njegus’ by M. Cubro NN collocutor from the BiH Council of Mnisters has confirmed that Adnan Terzic, BiH COM Chair, will demand withdrawal of decision on appointment of Radomir Njegus to the position of the Advisor at the BiH Ministry of Security. NN source claims that BiH COM has not so far interfered in this process, but this time he will use his right to make this demand. Terzic has expressed expectation that Minister and his Deputy why Njegus has been employed at this Ministry, adding: “According to information I hold, Njegus was dismissed over the failure to cooperate with the ICTY and I do not know who such a man can work at the BiH Security Ministry. NN claims that Njegus got the job few days before he tendered his resignation at the RS Interior Ministry.   

Delalic charged with the murder of Serb wedding guest

 

Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 2 ‘Ramiz Delalic charged with the murder of Serb wedding witness’ by A. Durmo; Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Celo charged’ by N.Z.; EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘Delalic charged with murder of Gardovic’ by SRNAOleg Cavka, Spokesperson of the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office, on Tuesday confirmed that the Sarajevo Cantonal PO had filed with Sarajevo Canton Court indictment against Ramiz Delalic Celo for the murder of the Serb wedding witness 12 years ago in Sarajevo. According to Cavka, bill of indictment was forwarded to Judge on Tuesday.

Secretary of the Cantonal Court, Slobodan Nikolic, said that the indictment was not upheld as yet.  

BHT 1, Dnevni List, pg 40 ‘Indictment against Celo’, by Dn. L, Sarajevo print media – also reported.

Update to trials of Purisic and Bojic

 

RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Confrontation of Njegus and Lukac soon’ by A. Durmo – East Sarajevo District Court Council, Presided by Judge Mirko Bozovic, at Tuesday’s resumption of trial against Vedran Purisic and Drazen Bojic, decided that Dragan Lukac, the removed former RS Special Police Unit Chief, and Radomir Njegus, former RS Police Director, would confront their testimonies on 5 January, owing to many discrepancies between their testimonies. Dusko Tomic, defence attorney of one of defendants, also demanded that Dragan Jerinic, Editor-in-Chief of Nezavisne Novine were also summoned as a witness, in order to hear his story about the article published in NN on 9th November (when the letter an anonymous special policeman was published offering completely different information).

FBiH Constitutional Court examines constitutionality of FBiH Urban Planning Law

 

BHT 1 by Gvozden SaracFBiH Constitutional Court will examine the request filed by the FBiH President Niko Lozancic on constitutionality of the Law on urban planning and environment. The Law was adopted two years ago by both FBiH parliamentary Houses, and Lozancic says that there was no constitutional basis for the law to be adopted as the FBiH authorities do not include the field of urban planning. However, the ministry in charge denies this.If FBiH Constitutional Court decides that the law is not constitutional, future urban plan will not be managed at the level of the Federation of BiH, instead Cantons will be in charge of it.

Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Verdict on Lozancic’s demand on 14 December’, Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Decision on jurisdiction on 14 December’  – also reported on the issue. 

Rep of FBiH Judges on salaries reductions

 

Dnevni Avaz, pg. 5 ‘Reduction of judges’ salaries might endanger national balance’ by M. KukanAleksandra Martinovic, the Chairman of the Federation of BiH Association of Judges, has explained a recent demand, sent to the international representatives in BiH with regard to more active engagement of domestic judges to the process of judiciary reform, with the fact that it is unacceptable that judges are not participating in development of new legislative regulations on their own status and material position. ‘Not only that we have not been consulted or engaged in form of submitting proposals, suggestions or concrete solutions, but we have not been informed by the competent drafters. We receive information through media only’, Martinovic has stated. She also stated that a number of judges work in one entity/region while their families are in another. Reduction of their salaries and travel allowances will certainly result in some of them quitting and thus national balance could be endangered, argues Martinovic.