| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1(19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| HR repeals law on pardons | HR repeals law on pardons | HR repeals law on pardons | Matijasevic met Del Ponte |
| Terzic at Portoroz summit | Jail cells in BiH | Law on Pardons issue | RS Gov. on ICTY cooper. |
| EUFOR in | Matijasevic met Del Ponte | Kovac on Law on Amnesty | |
| BIH agricultural policy | RS Gov. on Del Ponte | Reactions to HR decision | HR repeals law on pardons |
| Oslobodjenje | Ashdown destroyed plan to pardon criminals from government |
| Dnevni Avaz | Interview with Javier Solana: State must have all the jurisdiction over police |
| Dnevni List | Theatre in Mostar gets record sum of 355.000 Kunas |
| Vecernji List | Sarajevo is afraid of Croatian investments |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Highway via Rama cheaper by billion dollars |
| Nezavisne Novine | Soldiers from the Federation of BiH and from RS under the same flag; Paddy Ashdown annulled the BiH Law on Amnesty; The Presidency had granted an amnesty to a delegate sentenced to one year in prison; Darko Matijasevic met with Carla del Ponte: We, together with Serbia, will be arresting Hague fugitives |
| Glas Srpske | He has survived a strike of 10,000 volts! |
| EuroBlic | Serving army without a riffle |
| Vecernje novosti | Features Serbian related titles |
| Nacional | Massacre of Serbs in Brcko; 30 HOS agents are searching for Hague fugitives in |
Law on Pardons | |
| High Representative repeals Law on Pardons
| Herceg Bosna Radio, BHT, FTV, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 2, mentioned on cover ‘Paddy Ashdown repeals Law on Pardons’, Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5, mentioned on cover ‘Ashdown destroyed plan to pardon criminals from government’, Vecernji List, pg 2, mentioned on front ‘Ashdown annuls Law on Pardon’, by Eldina Medunjanin, Dnevni List, pg 3, mentioned on front ‘Ashdown: Politicians protecting criminals’, by Danka Polovina-Mandic, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 16, mentioned on front ‘Criminals pardoned before verdicts were reached’, by Zlatko Tulic, Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Paddy Ashdown annulled the BiH Law on Amnesty’ and pg. 3 ‘Ashdown: the authority has secretly enacted the law in service of crime’ by A. Sisic, Glas Srpske, pg. 3 ‘He annulled the Law on Amnesty’ not signed, EuroBlic, pg. RS1 ‘Stop to abuse of political mercy’ by Dusanka Stanisic, Vecernje Novosti, pg. 4 ‘Without punishments for RS’ by D. S., FENA – The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, on Friday repealed the State Law on Pardons, which he regarded as a great hole in the justice system through which, the best-connected criminals can escape the law, after being tried or even before they go to trial. Addressing a press conference in Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘The Presidency had granted an amnesty to a delegate sentenced to one year in prison’ and pg. 3 ‘A delegate, sentenced to one year in prison, was granted an amnesty’ by |
| BiH Justice Minister Kovac cannot remember the contents of the law on pardons
| FTV – Althoughthe Law on Pardons has been passed by the CoM in urgent procedure, BiH Minister of Justice Slobodan Kovac can not remember what was the actual content of the Law. “I cannot comment on the content of that Law because I do not have it here on my desk right now, and I would be therefore speaking without reliable foundation, but I will look into the Law so if it is possible to leave this for Monday and I will comment on it then”, said Kovac. It is a paradox that a minister, who’s ministry has drafted a law cannot remember disputable provisions, because of which the Law was annulled, and which predicts that Presidency can grant amnesty even before the court trial or during the process itself. |
| Covic says Ashdown does not trust the BiH Presidency | FTV was able to get in touch with one member of the BiH Presidency, so that only Dragan Covic commented on the Law on Pardons and the issues related to it. “Maybe it would be good if the annulment of the Law is commented by the one who has proposed it and who has passed it. All that I can say, because I usually do not comment on the High Representative’s decisions, is that only possible bed message is that there is no trust in the Presidency”, said Covic. |
| Oslobodjenje: Covic to be heard next week?
| Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Covic to be heard next week?’ Az.K. and A.O. – BiH Prosecution Office’s Special Department for Corruption, Organised and Economic Crime has launched an investigation into involvement of Croat member of the BiH Presidency Dragan Covic in tax evasion ceases related to the companies of Soko, Eronet and Mond. According to a source close to Prosecutor John McNair, Covic might be invited to a hearing on the issue as soon as next week. |
| Paravac’s advisor says abolishment of Law on Pardons not dramatic
| Herceg Bosna Radio, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Vukovic: Presidency had big authorities’, ONASA – BiH Presidency Chairman Borislav Paravac‘s advisor Drago Vukovic said on Friday that the High Representative Paddy Ashdown‘s decision to abolish the BiH law on pardons was not any dramatic development. “The law was adopted by the BiH Parliament, but pardons in every country are under the president’s jurisdiction,” Vukovic said, adding that the Presidency had pardoned Munib Jusufovic from Brcko, convicted of abuse of office and fraud, by changing his imprisonment sentence to parole. Vukovic said he does not know whether more pardon requests were filed, as the Presidency’s own Pardon Commission deals with these, adding that all pardons should be disclosed to the public. |
| SNDS Spiric on HR’s decision
| Herceg Bosna Radio, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘Right decision’, ONASA – BiH House of Representatives speaker Nikola Spiric, representative of the Union of Independent Social-Democrats (SNSD), said on Friday that the High Representative Paddy Ashdown’s decision to abolish the law on pardons was correct. “I do not think that laws are bad, but bad are certain politicians who are willing to abuse laws,” Spiric said, adding that judicial reforms would have no effect if judges will sentence and the Presidency pardon. “As long as representatives of the Serb Democratic Party, Croat Democratic Union and Party of Democratic Action comprise the authority, democratic reforms will be obstructed, which the Presidency once again proved,” Spiric said. |
| SDA’s Palavric says annulment of laws not HR’s authority
| FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Vukovic: Presidency had big authorities’, ONASA – SDA’s delegate to the state parliament Seada Palavric considers that annulling of laws harmonized within BiH is not High Representative Paddy Ashdown’s authority. “It is not in the jurisdiction of the High Representative to annul laws on which the authorities in BiH have reached a consensus,” she told Onasa. |
| SDP’s Krizanovic says he expected the Law on Pardons to be repealed
| Herceg Bosna Radio, FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Vukovic: Presidency had big authorities’, ONASA – The Head of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Caucus in the BiH Parliamentary House of Representatives, Jozo Krizanovic, said on Friday that the BiH law on pardons had been passed “too quickly” and that he was not surprised with the decision of High Representative Paddy Ashdown to repeal this law. |
| Party for BiH’s Belkic says he is surprised with HR’s decision
| Herceg Bosna Radio, FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Vukovic: Presidency had big authorities’, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Possibility to pardon exists in all countries’, ONASA – Party for BiH delegate to BiH House of Representative Beriz Belkic said on Friday that he was surprised with the decision of High Representative Paddy Ashdown to abolish the law on pardons, and that he did not know the real reasons standing behind his decision. “I don not think this law foresaw any secret procedures. All decisions passed by the BiH Presidency were public and legal,” Belkic said, adding that the law on pardons had gone through the regular parliamentary procedure. Belkic said that every democratic country has a mechanism of amnesty and BiH should not differ in the matter. |
| BiH MP Avdic says Law on Pardons adopted in haste
| ONASA – An independent delegate to BiH House of Representatives Sead Avdic said on Friday that the law on pardons was adopted in haste, in an urgent procedure, without the possibility to propose amendments, which is why the High Representative’s decision to abolish the law was expected. Avdic said that the idea of amnesty is noble, but it was ruined by the manner of adoption of the law. “If there had been more political wisdom in the Parliament during the consideration/adoption of the law, it would not have ended this way,” Avdic said. |
Cooperation with ICTY/political developments/reforms | |
| Matijasevic meets Del Ponte, promises arrest of war crimes suspects in RS
| BHT, RTRS, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Minister Matijasevic wants explanations from Prosecutor del Ponte’, by A. Beus, Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘RS committed to apprehension of war criminals’, Dnevni Avaz pg 12, Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 4 ‘We, together with Serbia, will be arresting Hague fugitives’ by Ivana Simundza, Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘We will fulfill our obligations’ by Beta– The RS Interior Minister, Darko Matijasevic, talked to the Chief ICTY Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, at The Hague yesterday (Friday), when he reiterated the determination of the RS MoI to fulfil tasks related to the cooperation with the ICTY. Matijasevic stated that, apart from the most important task, which is the arrest of war crimes suspects, there were other forms of cooperation, such as collecting of documentation, witnesses’ statements etc. He also confirmed that the (RS) Police has talked to around 80% of family members of war crimes suspects, who were informed about privileges that would be in place if the war crimes suspects turned themselves in. Matijasevic also stated that he did not believe that he would end up on the list of people, who could be removed by the High Representative for BiH because of objections that the RS did not cooperate with the ICTY. Vecernji List, pg 2 ‘RS Minister on arrests’, by gj – Notes that Matijasevic promised del Ponte that arrest of war crimes suspects would finally start on the territory of the RS. He also announced that del Ponte would soon visit BiH. |
| RS Government’s conclusions on Del Ponte’s report
| BHT, FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4 ‘The Government is surprised with accusations of Carla Del Ponte’ by D. Risojevic, Glas srpske, pg. 2 ‘Arrests are regional issue’ by G. Dakic, Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Apprehension of the Hague indictees a regional problem’, Dnevni Avaz pg 12 – As one of conclusions RS Government adopted on Friday after a discussion on the report of Chief ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, RS Government thinks that arresting of war crimes indictees is not only an individual issue but is an issue of a regional importance, as well as that failures with regard to this cannot be defined as “basic weaknesses of a system” but these are results of a lack in cooperation in the region. The Government sent an initiative to BiH Ministry of foreign affairs to initiate signing of an agreement between BiH, SiCG and Croatia on cooperation in fulfilling of obligations towards the Hague Tribunal. The Government was especially surprised with a statement of Del Ponte that there are some “crucial system weaknesses incorporated in the law enforcement structure and security structures in BiH and especially in RS”. The Government expects from international organizations to show understanding and support for measures it undertakes with regard to cooperation with the Hague Tribunal. |
| SNSD’s Dodik on possible measures upon failure to arrest war crimes indictees
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 8 ‘Punishments for individuals and not for RS institutions’ by V. P., Glas Srpske, pg. 5 ‘Srpska is not an obstacle’ by Srna – SNSD Main Board held a session in Modrica on Friday. After the session, SNSD leader Milorad Dodik has stated that SNSD demands from RS authority to comply to its obligations towards the Hague Tribunal and arrest war crimes indictees, primarily Radovan Karadzic. He said SNSD would not support sanctions against RS institutions. ‘Measures we expect to take place, should there are no arrests, can be applied on responsible individuals but not on RS institutions’, Dodik has said and added the party would oppose any demand on changes to the constitutional organization of BiH. |
| NN interview with US Ambassador to BiH
| Nezavisne Novine – Revija inset, Revija cover and pgs.4-5 ‘I want results, not shallow promises, from RS Government’ by Zeljko Kopanja – In this extensive interview, US Ambassador to BiH Douglas McElhaney has stated that RS Government has showed no readiness to cooperate in order to bring war crimes indictees before the face of justice in the Hague. He says representatives of RS Government have went to Belgrade, there had been many statements by RS MoI and he says ‘we will bring our assessment when we see results of their work, and such results still do not exist’. Ambassador McElhaney has stated: ‘We are worried because we are under an impression that structures under the control of Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, mostly military and police structures that should be dealing with this issue, have achieved no progress’. |
| Arrest of war crimes suspects: SIPA interested only in concrete results
| Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 16, mentioned on front ‘SIPA goes to hunt for war criminals’, by Zlatko Tulic – SD claims that according to confirmed information, the SIPA (Agency for Information and Protection of BiH) has started with arrests of war crimes suspects on the territory of whole BiH. Deputy Director of SIPA, Dragan Lukac, confirms that the SIPA arrested Nedjo Samardzic at Bileca some ten days ago, who was suspected of committing war crimes. According to Lukac, the SIPA will try to be effective in its operations, unlike other agencies and Interior Ministries, which failed to provide concrete results. “In this job, I am only interested is results and nothing else. We only want professionalism in our work”, says Lukac. Lukac also notes that the SIPA has plenty of information about whereabouts of war crimes suspects, however he did not want to go into details. |
| EUSR chairs first meeting of European Union principals
| Oslobodjenje back page ‘Reforms for European integration’, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Ashdown chairs first meeting’, FENA – The European Union’s Special Representative, Paddy Ashdown, on Friday chaired the first formal meeting of principals of EU organizations in BiH. This meeting, which will be convened every two weeks, brings together the EUFOR, EUPM, EUMM, EU Presidency, and European Commission. The EU Principals’ Meeting reflects the broadening and deepening EU engagement with BiH, highlighted by the forthcoming transfer of authority from SFOR to EUFOR and by the overarching focus of BiH’s legislative agenda towards the reforms necessary for integration with the European Union under the Stabilisation and Association process, according to EUSR’s office statement issued on the occasion. |
| Solana: Radical police reforms necessary
| Dnevni Avaz cover page ‘State must have jurisdiction over police’, pg 5 ‘Radical police reforms necessary’ by Sead Numanovic – In an interview with Dnevni Avaz, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana once again reiterated the significance of the police reforms in BiH including the establishment of a single police structure at the state level. “Why is EU so much interested in this issue? Simply because the current police system in BiH is not enough efficient,” said Solana. |
| Terzic at CEI summit at Portoroz
| Herceg Bosna Radio, BHT, FTV, Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Terzic seeks support from members outside EU’, not signed – Addressing a meeting of the Central European Initiative in Portoroz (Slovenia), the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, stressed that he expected the CEI to assume leadership in supporting the CEI members that were left outside the EU during its last major expansion. A press release from the Council of Ministers says that Terzic welcomed the full integration with the EU of CEI members |
| BiH Armed Forces establish Honorary Guard unit
| BHT, FTV, RTRS, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Armed forces get Honorary unit’, by Erna Mackic, Vecernji List, pg 3, mentioned on front ‘Honorary unit of BiH Army established’, by Fena, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 17 ‘Unit made of three military components’, by F, Oslobodjenje pg 3, mentioned on cover ‘Honorary Unit introduced’, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘BiH Armed Forces Honorary Unit inaugurated’ – For the first time in its history, BiH got its military Honorary Guard unit, which is the first joint structure of BiH Armed Forces. The unit, to be engaged in protocol ceremonies in BIH, is made of 67 members, and will have it first official appearance during the SFOR-EUFOR handover on |
| Draft RS Law on Non-combatant Military Service (civilian service) | EuroBlic, cover ‘Serving army without a riffle’ and pg. RS3 ‘Lining up human rights’ by M. Soja – The Spokesperson of RS Defense Ministry, Branko Trkulja, has confirmed the Draft RS Law on Non-combatant Military Service would be discussed at mid January next year. |
| Paravac’s statement for BN TV on HR Ashdown
| Glas Srpske, pg. 4 ‘Extensive authorizations of Ashdown’ by Srna – Chairman of BiH Presidency Borislav Paravac, in a statement given to BN TV on Thursday evening, has said that the authorizations of the High Representative to BiH were extensive thanks to poor functioning of BiH institutions. ‘The fact the High Representative is using his authorizations is in a great part a result of our inactivity. If we had functional institutions, judiciary and authority bodies, these authorizations would for sure be less extensive’, Paravac has stated. He also presented his stance that removals should be done only in accordance with court decisions. |
| GS interview with Doctor of Law Milan Blagojevic on
| Glas Srpske – Glas Plus inset, cover and pg. 2 ‘Low strikes of the High Representative’ by Slobodan Puhalo – carries a full-page interview with doctor of law Milan Blagojevic from Doboj. Blagojevic wrote a book under the title “Technology of OHR-ism”. This is Blagojevic’s second book. The first book he wrote was “Legislative nature and position of Brcko District in BiH”. Blagojevic describes his book and, among other, says the Annex 10 of the Dayton Agreement mentions no possibility for the High Representative to take over authorizations of any of domestic authority institutions. He says that HR has, in a way, granted these authorizations to himself. Blagojevic also says that one of measures HR uses to rule is fear of people, especially fear of public officials from losing their positions. |
Economic/social issues | |
| Croatian Government allocates 80,2 million Kunas to FBiH
| Dnevni List, front pg splash and pg 6 ‘Theatre in Mostar gets record sum of 355.000 Kunas’, by J. Petrovic – According to DL knowledge, the Croatian Government should be approving projects of assistance to the BiH Croats next Tuesday. A source close to the Croatian Government confirmed for DL that this year the Hercegovacka TV received 255.000 Croatian Kunas (around 70.000 KMs), Radio Herceg Bosna 150.000 Kunas, whilst the Government decided to allocate 355.000 Kunas to the Croat National Theatre in Mostar. DL also notes that when it comes to 2005, the Croatian budget allocates 80.250.000 Kunas of financial aid to the FBiH. |
| VL: ‘
| Vecernji List, front pg splash ‘ |
| Corridor Vc to go via Prozor-Rama and save 1 billion US dollars
| Slobodna Dalmacija, front pg splash and pg 17 ‘Highway via Rama cheaper by billion dollars’, by Blanka Magas – Writing about the project of construction of Corridor Vc through BiH, the author notes if the economy were to have priority over politics, it could happen that a part of the future Corridor Vc from Sarajevo to Mostar goes via Kiseljak and Prozor-Rama. SD learns from reliable sources close to IPSA (one of makers of project documentation for Corridor Vc) that if the highway from Sarajevo to Mostar were to go via Prozor-Rama, around one billion US$ could be saved because of numerous advantages related to the construction of the highway, terrain etc. |
| BiH Trade Unions on review of privatisation
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Parliamentarians protect those who stole the capital from workers’, FENA – The BiH Association of Trade Unions announced on Friday it would remain persistent in ensuring that the law on review of the privatisation process be passed and implemented, the Association stated after some deputies to the FBiH House of Peoples either failed or refused to discuss the request of workers for the re-examination of the privatisation process. The Association reminded that it had sent this law into parliamentary procedure one year ago. “However, this law was being rejected by the people who used the privatisation process to transfer the property/capital, which was being created for dozens of years by thousands of workers, into private hands at extremely low price”, the Association stated. The Association thinks that this shows why certain parliamentarians are not interested in the review of the privatisation process since they have become “capitalists” for little money or protectors of those who have gained the capital by robbing workers. |
| ‘Aluminij’
| Vecernji List, pg 2 ‘Unions together against Zigic’, by mbm, Dnevni List, pg 15, mentioned on front ‘Milic: Zigic’s goal is to take over Aluminij’, by NINA, Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘Unions will know how to defend ‘Aluminij’’, by Z. Zekic – Following protest that were organized within the ‘Aluminij’ Company the other day, the Union of ‘Aluminij’ employees once again sharply protested against, as Union puts it, illegal and anti-constitutional draft law on selective privatization of FBiH Minister of Industry Izet Zigic. This time, the Union of ‘Aluminij’ employees were joined by the Union of employees of secondary schools in Canton 7 and Union of employees of Mostar Hospital, who note that eyes of all budget beneficiaries are fixed on the ‘Aluminij’ because the destruction of ‘Aluminij’ would mean the end to their existence. According to the Unions, Minister Zigic is “playing the game for SBiH and trying to take over the Aluminij”. |
| DL on Aluminij: ‘Paddy, where are you?’
| Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Paddy, where are you?’, by Vera Soldo – Commenting on recent events related to the revision of privatization in ‘Aluminij’, the author reckons it is highly likely, if the current situation continues, that the foreign diplomacy will have to get involved in the case. Noting that it will not be the first time that “a foreigner saves a company from domestic destructionists”, the author concludes the piece by a simple plead: “Paddy, please help!”. |
Commentaries on SFOR actions | |
| Drago Vuklic on SFOR raid of his apartment
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 5 ‘SFOR took 72,000 € from my apartment’ by S. Karic – Drago Vuklic, a former police officer whose apartment SFOR raided on Thursday in Banja Luka, claims SFOR soldiers have taken 72,000 € from his apartment during the search. He has announced he would demand from SFOR to buy his a new door to his apartment, as well as to return all items they took during the search. |
| NN op-ed on SFOR
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 7 ‘All failures of SFOR’ by Natasa Krsman – the author says another unsuccessful SFOR action took place on Thursday in Banja Luka, on which occasion SFOR soldiers have arrested a son of Drago Vuklis instead of Drago, whom they were looking for. The author reads this is neither the first nor the last time SFOR has made a mistake and she lists a number of examples. She wonders what kind of information SFOR does have at its disposal when it launches its actions “with an aim to reveal anti-Dayton activities”. |