| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| Prce sentenced to 5 yrs | Foca incident | FMoI searches USK Govt | Prce sentenced to 5 yrs |
| BiH HoP in session | Prce sentenced to 5 yrs | Prce sentenced to 5 yrs | Foca incident |
| Cavic on RS war archive | | BiH HoP in session | Cavic on RS war archive |
| Election silence starts | 30 mil KM for terrorism? | 3rd mass grave in Gljeceva | Help to ICTY indictees |
| Oslobodjenje | Miroslav Prce sentences to five years of prison |
| Dnevni Avaz | Sklar, Terzic’s Economy Advisor; Ian Cliff: Silly speculations on spies; Bakira Hasecic: Criminals rule |
| Dnevni List | Judge Lovric dropped charges against 109 persons |
| Vecernji List | There is no prison for war criminals |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | 5 years in prison for Miroslav Prce because of his cooperation’ |
| Nezavisne Novine | Five years of prison for Prce; Destroying of tanks of RS Army has commenced; Prior Pavlovic does not want to restore harmony among HN canton Government and education workers; BiH Election Commission: Pre-election silence has commenced |
| Glas Srpske | Pumps are pouring reports |
| EuroBlic | The Law on Public Procurement in RS: the end of tenders for god-fathers and friends; Protests of hungry people, the authority promised 10,000 new jobs |
Hercegovacka Bank, Croat Self-Rule, Immunity | |
| HB case: Miroslav Prce sentenced to five years
| RTRS, Oslobodjenje cover splash, pg 2 ‘Miroslav Prce sentences to five years of prison’ by A. Nezirevic, Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Five years of prison to Miroslav Prce’ and pg. 3 ‘Prce was sentenced to five years’ by A. Durmo, Vecernji List pg 3 ‘Prce sentenced to 5 years in prison’, mentioned on cover, ‘Prce came to settlement and got 5 years in prison’ by D. Jazvic, Slobodna Dalmacijafront and last pg ‘5 years in prison to Miroslav Prce because of his cooperation’ by Z. Tulic, Dnevni List pg 7 ‘Prce received 5 years’, mentioned on cover, by E. Mackic, – The trial chamber of the BiH Court sentenced former FBIH Defence Minister Miroslav Prce to five years in prison. Judge Michael Simmons confirmed that the sentence reflected a plea bargain Prce had made with the prosecutor in charge of the Hercegovacka banka case, John McNair. BHT 1, FTV – Prce pleaded guilty on the accusations regarding the payments by FBiH Ministry of Defence in the period between 1999 and 2000 to companies, which were under control or linked with the Hercegovacka banka in amount of 4.3 million KM. In addition, he was accused of approving the housing credits of the Ministry in the period between 1999 and 2001 in amount of another 4.4 million KM. His lawyer Zarko Bulic, confirmed that Miroslav Prce would not testify against the other suspects in the case, although he will be an obligatory witness. The trial against the remaining accused persons in the Hercegovacka Bank case has been scheduled to resume on RHB – According to RHB, judge Simmons stated that the sentence to Prce is somewhat lower than the Court anticipated at the beginning of the process considering the nature of the crime. Simmon added that stated such sentence is a result of Prce’s willingness to help the Court with the evidence against the rest of the accused. On the other hand, Prce strongly reacted stating that this is untrue and asked his attorney Zarko Bulic to intervene stating that Prce hasn’t taken any obligation to help the Prosecution in the continuation of the trial. Prce stated that he never made any statements regarding the other accused. Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Prce facing five years of imprisonment’, mentioned on cover ‘Five years of imprisonment to Prce, Jelavic offers bail’ by M. Kukan – DA adds that Prce will continue to be a suspect in Croat Self-Rule case. |
| Jelavic proposes bail
| RHB, Dnevni Avaz cover, pg 2 inset ‘Bail for Jelavic offered’, Oslobodjenje cover splash, pg 2 inset ‘Jelavic offered bail’– Lawyer Josip Muselimovic repeated the demand for release of Ante Jelavic. Muselimovic stated to defence is ready to offer bail in the amount of 250 000 KM, mortgage on Jelavic’s entire property and submit the passport to the court. The Trial Chamber stated that it would decided on such possible request if it receives it in written. Dnevni List pg 7 ‘Prce received 5 years’, mentioned on cover, by E. Mackic, inset ‘Jelavic changed decision after break’ – Inset carries that after the BiH Court Council offered lawyers to Jelavic, he stated that he could not have good cooperation with these lawyers since they are not familiar with his case and therefore he decided that he will defend himself. DL also says that after the break Jelavic changed his opinion and said that he wants that lawyer Dragan Barbaric represents him. In another inset under headline ‘Barbaric defends Jelavic, Zdravko Raic defends Father Sevo’ DL says that Father Ivan Sevo proposed Zdravko Raic to be his new lawyer, while Jelavic proposed Barbaric. According to DL, it will be known whether they will become their lawyers after the Vecernji List pg 3 ‘Prce sentenced to 5 years in prison’, mentioned on cover, ‘Prce came to settlement and got 5 years in prison’ by D. Jazvic, Slobodna Dalmacijafront and last pg ‘5 years in prison to Miroslav Prce because of his cooperation’ by Z. Tulic – also report on Jelavic’ bail offer. |
| SB says several other officials to be accused in Hercegovacka Bank case, including Covic
| Slobodna Bosna pg 11 ‘Prce settled for 5 years of prison and not to testify against Jelavic and others’ by S. Mijatovic – Referring to the settlement reached between Miroslav Prce and Prosecution, SB carries that according to the sources close to BiH Prosecution, indictment in regard to Hercegovacka Bank case will be expanded to several other persons. SB says that this will be done after the |
| SD op-ed on possible abolishment of immunity to BiH officials
| Slobodna Dalmacija pg 12 ‘New arrests of officials are being prepared’, mentioned on cover, op-ed by M. Erceg – Editorial says that according to an anonymous police official new arrests of few Croat and Bosniak officials follow. The author says that this information is not a big surprise having in mind the situation in BiH in general and still unconfirmed but probable decision of the |
| SB praises decision to cancel immunity to politicians facing charges
| Slobodna Bosna pgs 8&9 ‘Bicakci, Covic and other politicians will not be able to ‘get away’ using immunity!’ by D. Savic – SB carries that BiH Constitutional Court has brought decision to abolish a right to immunity for the former and current high-ranking officials against whom charges were filed on different accounts. “Ratification of the decision of the BiH Constitutional Court to cancel immunity to BiH politicians, which should be announced at the Court’s plenary session at the end of October,… is of great important as it will finally create conditions for local officials to face the charges that accuse them of office misuse and crime, and for beginning of proceedings against them,” SB reads. Article further says that politicians who will be included in this decision are member of BiH Presidency Dragan Covic, former FBiH Prime Minister Edhem Bicakcic, former FBiH President Vladimir Soljic, former FBiH Minister for Refugees and DPs Sulejman Garib, Minister for Veterans Issues Fuad Purisevic, and others. |
| VL says indictment in the case of Croat Self-rule full of inaccuracies
| Vecernji list, pg 3, ‘Indictment full of inaccuracies’, by Miroslav Vasilj – VL claims that, apart from inaccurate personal data of defendants in the case of Croat Self-rule (Ante Jelavic, Marko Tokic, Ivo Andric-Luzanski, Zdravko Batinic, Petar Milic, Miroslav Prce and Dragan Curcic), the indictment does not state accurate functions they performed at the time. For instance, Marko Tokic is said to have been the President of the Inter-cantonal and Inter-municipal Council, while he was actually the President of the Croat Self-rule. His Deputy was Zdravko Batinic who is in the indictment said to have been the Vice-president of the mentioned Councils. It is also said that Jelavic, Tokic, Andric-Luzanksi, Batinic and Milic were banned from holding public of party functions by the High Representative on 7 March 2001, but this was actually done by the then OSCE Head of Mission Robert Barry a year and a half before the Self-rule was established. VL adds that the indictment is written in a mixture of Bosniak and Serb languages. All these VL allegations are confirmed by Petar Milic. VL concludes by saying that, should the indictees be found guilty, the lowest sentence they can get is 5-year imprisonment. |
War crimes / incidents | |
| Local population prevents ‘Women – War Victims’ Association to put up memorial plaque in Foca
| BHT 1 – Around 300 Bosnian Serbs from Foca prevented members of the “Women – victims of war” Association to out a memorial plaque on the building “Partisan” in Foca, where Bosniak women were held captured and raped at the beginning of the war. Local Serb population and representatives of the RS Association of the Prisoners of War put up a resistance. Unable to come near the building, association left the plaque at the nearest spot. However, representatives of the RS Association of Prisoners of War took the plaque with them, stating that they will send it back to the association by mail. FTV – According to the president of the association, Bakira Hasecic, said that RS police also didn’t do anything to enable them to complete putting up of the plaque. According to FTV, EUPM members were noting but silent observers. RTRS – Members of RS Interior Ministry special forces prevented the escalation of the incident. Branislav Dukic, chair of the RS POWs Association, said that neither they were allowed to erect such memorial signs either in Dnevni Avaz pg 3 “Come, let us finish what we’ve started”, mentioned on cover ‘Bakira Hasecic: Criminals rule Eastern Bosnia’ by A. Basic – Author stresses that several hundreds of Serbs who prevented the plaque put up were shouting insulting and threatening paroles, such as “This is Serbia”, “Come, let us finish what we’ve started”, “We wont let you get Karadzic” and similar. In addition, DA journalist says that the gathered citizens were also throwing eggs and stones. “I came to erect the plaque to women who were tortured and raped in this facility. I will not go away. Bosniaks in Foca are on the bottom. International community and authorities in smaller BiH entity allowed Eastern Bosnia to be ruled by war crimes, which move freely. That is why there is no return to Foca,” Hasecic said. Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Putting up memorial plaque prevented’ by E. Kazagic – Daily adds that there were no representatives of the local authorities present before the building where the incident took place. Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3 ‘Citizens prevented Bosniak women from putting up a memorial-plate’ by Srna, Glas Srpske, pg. 3 ‘Plate awaits for the Law’ by I. Jankovic, EuroBlic, pg. RS3 ‘Incident was avoided’ by Tanjug – RS press focused on the Fact that Bosniak women from Sarajevo attempted, without consent of the Municipal authority, to put up a memorial-plate at “Partizan” Association building in Foca. |
| BiH HoP adopts 2 out of 5 laws necessary for war crimes trials in BiH
| RHB, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Two laws on judiciary adopted’ by Fena, Slobodna Dalmacija last pg ‘2 laws from judiciary area adopted’ by F, Dnevni List pg 6 ‘Law on taking over of The Hague cases on hold’ by D.K., Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4 ‘Wartime archives of Herceg-Bosnia was sent to the Hague Tribunal’ by M. Cubro, Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Additional time for the Hague’ by Srna – On Thursday, BiH House of Peoples adopted two out of five laws necessary to enable processing of the war crimes trial before the BiH courts. HoP adopted set of amendments and change to the BiH Penal Code and to the Law on Witness Protection, both of which had been passed by the House of Representatives. The Bill amending the Law on the BiH Prosecutor’s Office was adopted in first reading. HoP failed to consider the amendments to the the Law on the BiH Court and the Law on Transferring ICTY Cases to the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, because the House’s Constitutional-Legal Commission has not yet completed the debate on these legislative amendments. The Commission’s Chair, Ilija Filipovic, said that the OHR has requested additional time to consider the contents of the proposed amendments to these two laws. “This is why the House did not consider them [Thursday] and the commission phase is in progress. When the OHR is ready for further talks on our amendments, than we shall hold the next session of the Constitutional-Legal Commission and the House of Peoples”, said Filipovic. FTV – Filipovic adds that establishment of the Registry within the Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Agreement on Registry not signed’ – OHR denied information published by Vecernji list that Sulejman Tihic singed an agreement on establishment of Registry with Paddy Ashdown. Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Penal Code adopted’ by V. Zivak – The session of the HoP’s Constitutional-Legal Commission held on Thursday was attended by representatives of the OHR and |
| Cavic on RS archive wanted by ICTY
| RHB, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘Documentation still being searched for’ by Onasa, Glas Srpske, pg. 3 ‘Nothing secret’ not signed, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 5 ‘We are working on demands of the Hague Tribunal’ by Agencies – RS President Dragan Cavic has stated that RS authority has been intensively working for some time now on the demand of the Hague Tribunal, which has asked for wartime documentations from sessions of the Supreme Command. ‘This mystery regarding the documentation can be resolved by work of the competent institutions that have an obligation to determine the truth’, Cavic has stated. Cavic also rejected claims that he had recently agreed with Serbian President Boris Tadic on establishing of a special unit with a task to arrest war crimes indictees. |
| Mihaljevic: HB archive wanted by ICTY handed over
| Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Goran Mihaljevic hopes there will be no removals of Croat officials’ by F. Vele, Dnevni List pg 4 ‘Herceg Bosna documents handed over’, mentioned on cover, ‘Goran Mihaljevic: Herceg Bosna documents handed over to ICTY’, by A. Beus – Croat Liaison Officer for Relations with ICTY Goran Mihaljevic confirmed yesterday that he handed over to the ICTY office in Sarajevo war-time documents of the Croat Community of Herceg Bosna. Mihaljevic could not say whether these were the last documents that the Croat side handed over to the ICTY, however, according to Mihaljevic, it was agreed with the ICTY that this was not the end of activities of Mihaljevic’s office. Mihaljevic could not say yesterday where his Serb and Bosniak colleagues handed over their documents to the ICTY, however, according to his unchecked information his colleagues have not done it yet. |
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| BHT 1, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Boskic indicted for murder based on race’ by Az. Kalamujic, Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Boskic indicted for war crimes’ by S. Numanovic, Vecernji List pg 2 ‘US authorities arrested M. Boskic’ by Hina, Slobodna Dalmacija pg 16 ‘Serb from BiH arrested in USA’ by F – According to the Boston Globe, US authorities have also indicted a Bosnian Serb, Marko Boskic, for war crimes. Boskic was detained a month ago on charges that he concealed information in application for the refugee status, failing to inform the immigration authorities that he was a member of the RS Army that participated in the genocide of the Bosniaks in Srebrenica in July 1995. This part of Boskic’s life became known to US authorities after ICTY submitted a videotape showing him being given an award as a member of a RS commando unit in 1995. Forty-year-old Marko Boskic is awaiting trial and he faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of a couple of hundred thousand dollars. He also faces possible deportation to Bosnia-Hercegovina. |
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| BHT 1, FTV, RTRS – US Under Secretary for political affairs Mark Grossman underlined need to arrest and to extradite Ratko Mladic to the ICTY. He also stated in |
| DA int with Ian Cliff on RS cooperation with ICTY
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Dayton agreement is not long-term solution for BiH’, mentioned on cover ‘Silly speculations on spies’ by Mersiha Drinjakovic – In an interview to DA, British Ambassador to BiH, Ian Cliff, says that reason for BiH’s failure to join Partnership for Peace in June was lack of cooperation with the ICTY, especially from RS side. However, he adds that things did start to somewhat change is RS: “For instance, the statement by [RS] President Dragan Cavic on Srebrenica events is one of such signs. At the state level, we have Prime Minister Adnan Terzic who is very much dedicated to the issue of capturing war crimes suspects… Now, we are also on the path of BiH getting a single intelligence service. However, not a single war criminal has been extradited to |
| DL on suspension of investigation into 109 war-crimes suspects in
| Dnevni list, cover page ‘Judge Lovric dropped charges against 109 persons’, and pg 5, ‘Prosecution: No evidence of guilt’, not signed – as an exclusive news, DL carries that, after it recently published the list of 400 people which the ICTY Prosecution submitted to the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC) Prosecution with an order to establish all the facts and launch investigation with the aim to possibly issue indictments, the daily from a reliable source close to prosecutors got the copy of the list of 109 Bosniaks charges against whom have been dropped. The Decision registered as Ki-53/99, signed by investigation judge of the HNC Court in Mostar Vjekoslav Lovric, reads that the “Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office in Mostar has informed the Court that it stops criminal persecution of the suspects due to the fact that the ICTY Prosecutor, as explained in his opinion of March 3 2003, found that there was no evidence fro grounded suspicion that the listed persons, according to international standards, gravely violated the International Humanitarian Law.” The cases were therefore categorised under “B” group. The daily lists all the names. |
| VL says that still there are no prison capacities for future war crime convicts sentenced in BiH
| Vecernji List front pg ‘There is no prison for war criminals’ and pg 5 ‘There are no prison capacities for war criminals’ by Z. Juirlj – VL says that still there is no reply to a question as to where war crime convicts from BiH will be serving their sentences in BiH and according to the article this is the question that BiH domestic judicial and political institutions, as well as, the International Community representatives cannot answer yet. VL goes on to say that none of prisons in BiH meet conditions prescribed by the ICTY and it has been speculated that the convicts will be placed in one of reconstructed Sarajevo prisons and Kula prison has been mentioned in that context. Acting President of the BiH Court Venceslav Ilic stated: “The |
| VL op-ed on Registry office | Vecernji List page 2 ‘Colonial holy cows’ by I. Barbaric carries an editorial which, among the other things, says: “Signing of the agreement between the BiH Presidency and the OHR on establishment of the Registry Office of the Department for War Crimes, Organized Crime and Corruption with the BiH Prosecution is the last nail driven in the coffin of the BiH (non)-independence created in Dayton…Since foreigners will have the main role in the court processes it is clear that according to a colonial principle processes will be in foreign languages and the process against Ante Jelavic, inwhich English language is being used exclusively and in which there is no right to lodge an appeal,is an introduction in such practice.” |
Political issues | |
| Election silence starts today
| RHB, BHT 1, FTV, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘First preliminary results will be known in Saturday on midnight’ by 0, Dnevni List pg 3 ‘2 300 000 voters elect local leaders’, mentioned on cover, by D. Polovina-Mandic, Z. Jukic, Vecernji List pg 2 First results of municipal elections tomorrow before midnight’ by D. Jazvic and Slobodna Dalmacija ‘Turn out at elections’ by Z. Rerig, Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 2 ‘Pre-election silence has commenced’ by R. Cengic, Glas Srpske, pg. 3 ‘First results at midnight’ by N. Z., EuroBlic, pg. RS2 ‘The day of suspense’ by J. D. and Lj. Lj.– The BiH Election Commission announced that media blackout period in the eve of the local elections a in BiH has started today at 7am and will last until all polling stations are closed on 2 October. The polling stations will close at 1900. The Election Commission will announce the preliminary results around |
| Todorovic invites citizens to vote
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 2 ‘Voting for future’ by Z. K. – The Executive Director of RS Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Branko Todorovic, has invited citizens to go out and vote at the local elections and emphasised that, in this way, they will show their sense of responsibility and readiness to give their contribution to democratisation of the society. According to Todorovic, voters should vote for those for whom they believe would work for the benefit of everyone, i.e. for those for whom they believe would lead the community to a better future without hatred, fear, violence or dividing. |
| DA int with Ian Cliff: DPA is not long-term solution for BiH
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Dayton agreement is not long-term solution for BiH’, mentioned on cover ‘Silly speculations on spies’ by Mersiha Drinjakovic – In an interview to DA, British Ambassador to BiH, Ian Cliff, emphasizes that Dayton Peace Accord is a foundation to building on, and not long term solution for either BiH or the region. Stressing that it is not up to the representatives of the International Community to change the Constitution, Cliff says that there is more understanding now among the domestic politicians that “a country with 13 prime ministers cannot function within the Euro-Atlantic structures.” “The expenses of the administration are huge in comparison to gross domestic product. In essence, every people in Bih has been connected to or identified with certain level of the authorities, therefore it is difficult to decide which level of the authorities would be reduced. As BiH moves towards European integrations, it will get more clear to BiH politicians that such structure cannot be maintained,” Cliff stressed. |
| DL carries UNDP research on citizens’ vies of OHR
| Dnevni list, pg 9, ‘Serbs and Croats dissatisfied with Ashdown’s work’, by Jurislav Petrovic – UNDP research on how satisfied with the OHR’s work citizens are shows that OHR reforms were in June assessed as very positive by 13.3% of Bosniaks while this percentage in September increased to 21.4%. 48.6% Bosniaks in June thought the reforms were mainly positive, while the percentage dropped to 38.4% in September. 22.8% of Bosniaks had mainly negative opinion on political reforms, 5.5% of them had very negative opinion, while 11.9% did not reply. As for Croats, 36.3% of them have very negative opinion on political reforms, while 20.7% of them replied that they see reforms as mainly negative. 31% of Croats assessed the reforms as mainly positive, 6.7% have very positive view of reforms while 5.3% did not respond. Serbs are of similar view as Croats: only 4.5% of them see reforms as very positive, 20.4% find them to be mainly positive. Over 50% of Serb interviewees do not consider that the High Representative implements the reforms well so 39.8% assessed reforms as mainly negative, 23.1% assessed them as very negative, while 12% did not respond. Speaking of struggle against corruption, 11.3% of Bosniaks are of the view that the HR does it very well, while 7% of Croats and 6.1% of Serbs share the Bosniaks’ views. Some 40% of Bosniaks, 50.1% of Croats and 65.9% of Serbs are in favour of reducing the HR’s powers, while 28.6% of Bosniaks, 8% of Croats and 8.2% of Serbs would like the HR’s powers to increase. |
| RS CoP to discuss amendments re names of towns in RS | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3 ‘On towns with “Serb” prefix soon’ by D. R. – RS Council of Peoples has confirmed that it will discuss the amendments on names of 12 towns and Municipalities in RS with “Serb” prefix on October 14. The main item of the agenda will be the amendments submitted by CoP Chairman Remzija Kadric and CoM Deputy Chairman Pejo Krnjic. |
| Chair of
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3 ‘To define who will choose the Council for protection of national interest’ by Srna, Glas Srpske, pg. 3 ‘Vague Council’ by M. Dz., EuroBlic, pg. RS3 ‘The Law is blocking the Council’ by Srna – The Chairman of RS Constitutional Court, Mirko Zovko has stated that, by the Law on changes and addenda to the Law on RS Constitutional Court, it will be necessary to define who will appoint the Council for protection of vital national interests. He state yesterday that complaints in relation to jeopardised national interests cannot be resolved until the Council is established. |
Economic and social issues | |
| Project for 10.000 jobs in FBiH
| BHT 1, FTV, Dnevni List pg 8 ’10 000 places of work for unemployed persons announced’ by I. Glibusic, EuroBlic, pg. RS3 ‘Jobs for 10,000 citizens in BiH’, announced on cover ‘Protests of hungry people, the authority promised 10,000 new jobs’ by Srna – The Federation of BiH Labour Minister, Radovan Vignjevic, announced a new project of the support to employment, which will be implemented in 10 Cantons of the Federation of BiH and 5 regions of RS. The project will be implemented in the course of four years and it is expected that approximately 10,000 unemployed people older than 45 years should get a job through this project. |
| Richard Sklar to be economic advisor to Adnan Terzic
| Dnevni Avaz cover splash ‘Sklar, Terzic’s Economy Advisor’, pg 2 ‘Richard Sklar, Economy Advisor to Adnan Terzic’ by F. Cardzic – In a statement to DA, the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, confirms that Richard Sklar was appointed as his Economy Advisor. Sklar was envoy of former RHB – Terzic, BIH Finance Minister Ljerka Maric and BIH Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Minister Dragan Doko currently participate the annual saession of assemblies of the World Bank and IMF which take place in |
| GS on petroleum of poor quality | Glas Srpske, cover page story ‘Pumps are pouring reports’ by D. V. M. – the article carries a list of gas station from RS for which RS inspectors have found out were selling petroleum of a poor quality. ‘We have decided to publish names of firms selling petroleum of poor quality. Consumers have the right to know what kind of petroleum they are buying and they need to know we are hiding nobody…’, Deputy RS Minister for Energy and Development, Zdravko Milovanovic, has stated. |
| Dani claim Covic and Lijanovici cooperated in 100 mil KM worth tax fraud | Dani pgs 20&21, 61 ‘Luncheon meat for 100 million KM’ by Emir Suljegic – Article refers to the tax frauds, noting that more than 100 million KM did not end up in the budget of Federation of BiH due to unpaid taxes and customs. According to the “documentation Dani exclusively obtained”, BiH lost over billion KM due to customs frauds carried out “with an approval, coordination and active cover up from the top of FBiH authorities.” According to the sources close to the BiH Prosecution, because of this the Prosecution has recently launched investigation against “key figures in this network. Their focus, in addition to a number of both real and fictitious companies, as well as customs officers, also include Slavo Ivankovic, director of meat manufacturer Lijanovici and member of BiH Presidency Dragan Covic, who at the time of this fraud occupied position of FBiH Finance Minister.” Article further gives claims on a number of frauds apparently carried out by Lijanovici company in cooperation with “Megacom” and “Globustrade”. As for the “biggest fraud conducted by Lijanovici”, SB says this was done with support of Dragan Covic. Covic apparently suspended the decision of the FBiH Government and cancelled taxes to “used chicken and turkey meat”. According to SB, these products imported from |
Security and police issues | |
| FMoI searches Una Sana Cantonal Govt’s premises
| Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Federation MoI took part of USK Government’s archive’ by S. Dzanic, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 2 ‘A part of archives of Una-Sana Canton Government was confiscated’ by M. K., Dnevni List last pg ‘Building of Una-Sana Canton Government searched’ not signed – The Federation of BiH Ministry of Interior on Wednesday searched one of the buildings of Una-Sana Canton Government. A source from the Canton Government has confirmed that the police have confiscated a part of archives of the Government. The source could not have provided with details in relation with the documentation nor could he say from which period of time the documentation dates. The search was conducted upon an order of BiH State Prosecutor’s Office. FTV – Cantonal Interior Minister Hasan Kasic claims that MoI archive wasn’t subject of search. |
| Mektic: 30 mil KM blocked due to terrorism suspicions
| BHT 1 – More than 30 millions of KM have been blocked on the bank accounts of humanitarian organisations to date due to suspicion that those funds could be used for financing of terrorists activities in BiH, said BiH Deputy Security Minister Dragan Mektic. For the first time, BiH authorities sent a report to the United Nations in which they officially confirmed that there are organisations in BIH suspected of offering support to terrorism oriented activities. At the same time, no one has been convicted for involvement in terrorists’ activities in BiH so far, comments BHT 1. |
| SFOR destroys surplus of weapons | Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Destroying of tanks of RS Army has commenced’ and pg. 10 ‘Destroying of surplus of weapons’ by Sn. K., EuroBlic, pg. RS11 ‘Tanks for scrap’ by M. S. – Destroying of a surplus of RS Army weapons, including tanks and artillery weapons, commenced near Banja Luka on Wednesday. According to Deputy Spokesperson of SFOR Garett Jones, this is a joint program of RS Army Headquarters and Defence Ministry that has an aim to reduce the quantity of military equipment in accordance with downsizing of defence forces. Also covered by press. |
| SB on SIPA appointments | Slobodna Bosna pgs 28-30 ‘Despite claims by RS politicians that Serbs are against SIPA, dozens of high ranking police officials from this entity applied to work in state police!’ by Suzana Mijatovic – Article reads that according to unofficial information, the final list carrying names of 900 SIPA employees will be completed in mid October, “however it is already clear that Director and his top aids will not be election within set deadline.” SB claims that since the Council of Ministers has failed to start with the procedure of appointing SIPA top officials it is certain that there will be delays. However, author further says that under the inter-party agreement, director of SIPA will be a Croat, deputy Bosniak, and assistant director for Crime Investigation department will be a Serb. “This way,… the selection of the top people of undoubtedly most important police agency in the state was left in the hands of ruling political parties, which will certainly not miss an opportunity to appointed their already checked personnel to the key positions… This manner of appointing top SIPA officials was directly imposed by OHR, whose representatives participated in drafting the Law on SIPA.” Adding that even though CoM has not started with the official procedure the lobbying has already started, article says that the strongest candidates for SIPA Director are former Secretary of the Standing Committee for Military Matters Stjepan Pocrnja [apparently supported by IC] and current chief of SIPA VIP protection department Mijo Golub [apparently supported by Barisa Colak], stressing it is not excluded that former FOSS Director Ivan Vuksic also is considered. Article further gives list of other candidates for top positions in SIPA. It says that RS Police Director Radomir Njegus has also applied to the position of Chief Inspector, adding that according to the well-informed source from IC he will not be appointed. SB concludes that considering the number of applications from RS, “it seems that a majority of Serb police officers do not share an opinion of their political representatives who had obstructed SIPA establishment for months.” According to SB, the least number of applications are from Croat people. |