| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| Blaskic’s sentence reduced | Blaskic’s sentence reduced | Blaskic’s sentence reduced | Lajsic appointed to RS Gov |
| Higher Edu Law rejected | RS Army/ weapons | Reactions to ICTY decision | Higher Edu Law rejected |
| New leaders in HSP BiH | Education Law rejected | Session of BiH CoM | Session of BiH CoM |
| Statement of Martin Raguz | PBS Law before BiH HoP | Higher Edu Law rejected | Blaskic’s sentence reduced |
| Oslobodjenje | As of Monday Tihomir Blaskic free |
| Dnevni Avaz | What Tihic responded to Reis?; Blaskic’s sentence from 45 cut to 9 years of imprisonment; Radovanovic presented 13 generals’ Suspicious transactions in CIPS |
| Dnevni List | General Blaskic at home on Monday |
| Vecernji List | Blaskic does somebody else’s sentence |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Blaskic free as of Monday |
| Glas Srpske | Bless me, mother, to be a banker; They are spending without control |
| Nezavisne Novine | Blaskic will be free on Monday; BiH Armed Forces officially got 13 new Generals; I would not wish the stay in Mostar even to Karadzic; War crimes processing at the |
| Blic | SDA threats are rhetorical; Dodik: I will gladly respond to the Court summon |
| Ljiljan | Mafia clash in |
| Dani | Muhamed Ali Gasi: “Ramiz Delalic Celo is behind the attacks” |
| Slobodna Bosna | Divine life of the God’s servants: SB investigates how religious officials in BiH are financed; |
War crimes | |
| Tihomir Blaskic sentence cut to 9 years of imprisonment
| RHB, BHTV1, FTV, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz cover pg 9 ‘Blaskic’s senteces of 45 years cut to 9 years of prison’, mentioned on cover, Oslobodjenje cover page, pgs 4-5 ‘As of Monday, Tihomir Blaskic free’, Slobodna Dalmacija, front and pgs 2-3 ‘Blaskic free as of Monday’, by H, Vecernji List, front and pgs 2-4 ‘Blaskic does somebody else’s sentence’, by Sanja Pucak Hina, Dnevni List, front and pgs 2-3, ‘General Blaskic at home on Monday’, by Ivica Glibusic, Glas Srpske, pg. 11 ‘Amnesty from secret documents’, Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Blaskic will be free on Monday’ pg. 3 ‘Tihomir Blaskic will be free on August 2’ – The Appeals Chamber of the ICTY reduced the sentence to former commander of Operative zone ‘Central Bosnia’ of HVO, Tihomir Blaskic, to nine years imprisonment, stated the President of the Appeals Chamber, Fausto Pocar, yesterday. The original sentence, passed in the first instance, sentenced Blaskic to 45 years, and found him guilty for crimes committed in the Lasva valley, the worst of which were the Ahmici crimes when more than 100 Bosniak civilians were killed on |
| Mesic: Justice won after all
| FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘Justice won after all’, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 3 ‘Mesic: It has been shown that The Hague is not political court’, by T. Klauski, Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘It has been shown that The Hague Tribunal is not political tribunal’, not signed, Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘President Mesic: Verdict to Blaskic shows The Hague Tribunal is not political court’, not signed – the Croatian President, Stipe Mesic, stated: “The facts prevailed, as well as evidence presented in the appeals procedure. It has been shown that |
| Racan satisfied with Blaskic’s verdict
| Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘The statement of justice’, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 4 ‘Racan: True culprits were covered’, not signed – former Croatian Prime Minister, Ivica Racan, whose Government made possible that the ICTY receives documents that shed a new light on the Blaskic case, is happy with the verdict, noting that the motive behind hiding of evidences was to cover the real culprits. |
| Sanader on Blaskic’s verdict
| Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘It gave me shivers when I heard about change of terrible verdict’, by Marko Pecarevic, Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘Sanader: Whole of Croatia has reason to celebrate’, not signed – The Croatian Prime Minister, Ivo Sanader, is happy with the new verdict, saying it gave him the shivers. “It is a good sign that the truth about the Homeland war can be proven and ungrounded indictments overturned at the ICTY”, said PM Sanader. |
| Association of endangered people: Blaskic’s release scandalous
| Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Scandalous release of Blaskic’, Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Scandalous decision of the Appeals Council’. Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 6 ‘Reduction of sentence endangers confidence in The Hague’, by F – The Association for endangered peoples of BiH believes the verdict is ‘scandalous’ and that thousands of survivors of war crimes have lost faith in the credibility of the ICTY. |
| Covic, Tadic on Blaskic’s verdict
| Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Tadic: Blaskic is the biggest spot on HDZ conscience’ – The Croat member of the BiH Presidency, Dragan Covic, said that Blaskic’s sentence reduction is an encouragement adding that the very fact that the sentence has been reduced by five times is a proof enough that the first sentence had a political dimension. President of HSS, Marko Tadic, stated that “Blaskic case is the biggest spot in HDZ’s conscience… they knew he was innocent.” |
| HDZ says always believed in Blaskic’s innocence
| RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Expecting release verdict’, Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘We always believed in general’s innocence’, by Z. Zekic, Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘HDZ BiH: The Hague Tribunal undid grave injustice to Blaskic’, not signed – an HDZ BiH spokesman, Pero Pavlovic, says the HDZ BiH always believed in general Blaskic’s innocence, therefore the party expected the ICTY would decide the way it did. |
| SDA: Crimes in Ahmici must not stay unpunished
| BHTV 1 – “I believe that ICTY, on the basis of new facts, brought acceptable verdict for what he is being held responsible; this means that somebody else has to be found responsible and imprisoned” said Halid Genjac, SDA member. Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘Crime in Ahmici must not stay unpunished’, Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘The crime must not stay unpunished’ – SDA member Sefik Dzaferovic stated that “SDA demands from ICTY to establish who had the effective control over military units that commited crimes in Ahmici… The crime in Ahmici cannot stay unpunished.” |
| VL, DL op-eds on Blaskic’s verdict
| Vecernji List pg 2 ‘Verdict to those who were covering crucial evidence’ by M. Jajcinovic – VL carries an editorial which says that by the last verdict pronounced against Blaskic the ICTY will regain a part of trust of Croatian citizens. According to the author, by the new verdict the ICTY actually admitted its mistake and someone in Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Partial justice for general Blaskic’, by Ivica Glibusic – Te author claims that despite the verdict considerably reduced the sentence, one cannot says the justice has been completely done. Glibusic continues: “The justice would be done only in case general Blaskic was acquitted of all the deeds he was charged with…It is too big a sentence to a man, who only worked to protect his people and all the others who wanted the right to live”. |
| CoM adopts set of laws on processing war crimes
| BHTV 1, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘War crimes trials as of January 2005’. Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Laws on processing war crimes before domestic courts adopted’ by F.C., Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 2 ‘Processing of war crimes at BiH Court as of January’ by M. Cubro, Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Trials at home’ by N. Z., Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Trials for war crimes before domestic court next year’, by Vedran Vujovic, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 6 ‘Agreement on work of department for war crimes with BiH Court adopted’, by B. Kristo – Council of Ministers on Thursday adopted a package of bills ensuring war crimes trials to start before a national court at the beginning of the next year. BiH Justice Minister Slobodan Kovac stated that the Laws determined the procedure for the appointment of judges and prosecutors and set rules for the takeover of cases from ICTY. Under a special agreement between the CoM and OHR, international judges who will be trying war crimes will be appointed by the High Representative, while domestic judges will be appointed by an office of the Department for War Crimes, Organized Crime and Corruption of the FTV – “In a legal situation if HR mandate gets terminated over, than Chairman of High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council is to nominate judges,” said Kovac. |
| SFOR on Commissions findings regarding Starovlah
| EuroBlic, pg. RS 8 ‘Consequences of explosion and not of beating’ by J. D., Glas Srpske, pg. 5 ‘SFOR has produced beating’, mentioned on cover, carries the inset ‘Detonation’ by A. Rajkovic – Upon the report of the Investigative Commission of BiH HoR on SFOR action in Pale on April 1, in which Priest Jeremija Starovlah and his son Aleksandar sustained injuries, SFOR Spokesperson Mark Hope yesterday stated he has not received the report, therefore cannot comment on it. Nevertheless, he stated that the Starovlahs’ injuries were not caused by a physical force of SFOR soldiers, but were caused by a detonation of an explosion device used to break trough the entrance door. He added that SFOR has conducted an internal investigation on this case, compiled a report and forwarded it in accordance with NATO chain of command, yet he could not speak about results of the investigation. |
| Ljiljan interview with Terzic, on PfP and arrest of war crimes indictees
| Ljiljan pgs 18-22 ‘I hope BiH will be admitted to PfP by the end of year’, mentioned on cover, by Fuad Kovac – In an interview to Ljiljan magazine, the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic expresses hope that BiH will be admitted to the Partnership for Peace by the end of this year. “We have to be aware of the fact that arrest of Radovan Karadzic is not only the matter for RS, but also for the BiH authorities, regardless to the fact that RS bears the biggest responsibility to create atmosphere for his arrest. We don’t have only entities, but also State Intelligence Service, [and] SIPA will soon have its Department for arrest of war crimes suspects.” Asked whether OSA and SIPA will be able to fulfill the task Terzic answered: “Whether SIPA can arrest war crimes suspects depends… on when we will establish the intelligence department, we also have some financial and organizational problems, and we expect the assistance from the international community.” |
| SB: Mladic will be arrested by 15 August | Slobodna Bosna pgs 18-19 ‘Serbian authorities will arrest Ratko Mladic and extradite him to ICTY by 15 August’ by Mirha Dedic – According to the SB, the US administration regards the arrest of Ratko Mladic to be a priority and therefore has started a wide reaching to ensure he is extradited to the ICTY. SB’s source from ‘the top of Serbian government ’ says: “If things continue to move in this tempo, former RS Army commander will be behind the bars, that is in the Hague by 15 August and there is a full political agreement with Serbia on that!” |
Political issues | |
| BiH HoP rejects Higher Education Law
| RHB, BHTV 1, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Law on Higher Education rejected’, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘High Education Law rejected’ by Fena, Dnevni List, pg 4 ‘MPs reject law on higher education’, by M. R., Vecernji List, pg 6 ‘Proposal of law on education rejected’, by eme, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 19 ‘Law on higher education rejected’, by B. Kristo, Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘All over again’ not signed, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 6 ‘The Law on High Education was not adopted’ by Agencies – The BiH House of Peoples on Thursday did not adopt the proposal of the BiH Framework Law on Higher Education. Six delegates voted in favour of the Law, 5 were against and 1 abstained from the vote. The delegates failed to endorse it after the FTV, RTRS – BiH House of Peoples also the proposal law on changes and amendments to the Law on Refugees and Displaced Persons. |
| OHR on BiH HoP and Education law
| RHB, FTV – OHR press statement commenting the BiH HoP session says that the decision to reject the Framework Law on the Higher Education further delays putting in place European Higher Education standards across BiH. The legislation has been returned to the Council of Ministers, and it is “now for the CoM to show the political leadership to put the interests of young people, and indeed all those who want BiH to join |
| BiH HoP adopt PBS Law
| RHB, BHTV 1, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 6 ‘PBS Law was adopted’ not signed– The BiH House of Peoples adopted the first readings of the law on BiH Public Broadcasting System and the Law on the Public Broadcasting service. However, the delegates from the Croat caucus thought that the equality had not been achieved, and they requested an amendment to be adopted which would establish 3 channels for broadcasting on each of the three peoples’ languages. “We have some objections regarding the law on PBS where there is no guarantee that the rights of all peoples on equal access to information and usage of language will be respected” said Velimir Jukic, Croat representative. “The process is opened and by the 10 September new amendments can be proposed in order to solve this issue. This means that by the end of September acceptable version of the law should be brought, the one that would also satisfy European standards,” said Hasan Cengic, Bosniak representative. FTV – “The main motive of HoP is to consider opinions present in HoP which say that there is no clear mechanism to prevent national interests” said Cengic. |
| RS NA session on names of towns in RS
| RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Serb stayed Serb’, Vecernji List pg 6 ‘Foca is Foca again’ by bs and Dnevni List pg 16 ‘New names for 13 towns in RS determined’ by NINA, Glas Srpske, pg. 3 ‘Foca was added in writing to Srbinje’ by G. D., Nezavisne Novine, pg. 10 ‘One town and 12 municipalities got new names’ by V. P., Vecernje Novosti, pg. 5 ‘The final goal is abolishment of RS’ by Sl. P. – RS NA adopted the Law on Changes and Addenda to the Law on Territorial Organization and Local Self-governance, by which names of Serb Sarajevo and 12 municipalities in RS were changed, on Thursday evening. The name of the Law was changed in the Law on Territorial Organization. RS NA did not accept amendments of SDP and NHI, in accordance with which pre-war names of towns should have been returned to towns and municipalities with prefix “Serb” in RS. In majority of cases, RSNA adopted the usage of ‘Republike Srpske’ instead of ‘Srpski’. |
| RS NA session on Tihic’s initiative
| RTRS, Glas Srpske, pg. 3 ‘On the expense of the Constitution’ by G. Dakic, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 6 ‘Tihic’s initiative was political and not legal’ by V. Popovic, Vecernje Novosti, pg. 5 ‘The final goal is abolishment of RS’ by Sl. P. – RS NA adopted a Draft Reply to the Constitutional Court regarding the Sulejman Tihic’s initiative on re-considering constitutionality of the Law on Symbols and Holidays in RS. RS NA proposed to the The article carries the inset ‘SDA: reply is groundless’ – SDA thinks that the initiative of Sulejman Tihic is constitutional and the reply of Serb delegates to Tihic is groundless. Sefik Dzaferovic (SDA) rejected claims that the final goal of the Tihic’s initiative is to abolish RS. He also emphasized that such a reply will not cause abolishing of SDA, SDS and PDP coalition. |
| Blic int with RSNA Speaker Stojicic
| EuroBlic, cover ‘SDA threats are rhetorical’ pg. RS2 ‘I do not have any great political ambitions’ by Rajna Radosavljevic – EuroBlic carries a full-page interview with RS NA Chairman Dusan Stojicic, in which he commented the reply of RS political parties to Sulejman Tihic’s initiative by saying that this country has neither time nor space for any further de-stabilization of political situation. He claims that a constitutionality of a people is jeopardized in the Federation of BiH, in which Serb people is still discriminated regardless of all Constitutional amendments. He also said that there would be no crisis in RS if SDA Ministers were dismissed. ‘No crisis would occur at the level of joint institutions either because SDA has the greatest responsibility there. Therefore, I think their threats have a rhetorical character’, Stojicic said. According to Stojicic, the adoption of the Resolution on cooperation with the Hague Tribunal was important because the contents and range of cooperation with the Hague Tribunal was not satisfactory. Asked whether RS authority is the main culprit for the failure of BiH at the |
| M. Raguz on meeting of EC prerequisites
| RHB, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘By the end of September to fulfil legal part of European conditions’, Dnevni List pg 6 ‘Member of Parliament to be very busy by end of September’ by E. Mackic and Vecernji List pg 6 ‘Agreement with EU before the end of the year’ by zvc – At the press conference held on Thursday, the Chairman of the BiH House of Representatives Martin Raguz stated that within 3 and a half months this body adopted 30 laws out of 40 of them that the EC set before BiH and there are still 10 laws to be adopted in order that BiH starts negotiations on stabilization and accession. Raguz also added: “We are very busy, however, we are expecting that by the end of September we shall be in the position to say that the laws from the area that the EC prescribed have been adopted.” FTV – “We believe that by 30 September we will be in position to say that laws from the field regulated by the European Commission will be adopted, and we believe that BiH will be in position to get positive answer regarding the [SAA],” said Raguz. |
| Ljiljan interview with Adnan Terzic on reforms
| Ljiljan pgs 18-22 ‘I hope BiH will be admitted to PfP by the end of year’, mentioned on cover, by Fuad Kovac – In an interview to Ljiljan magazine, the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic says of the reforms process: “Reforms we have initiated create precondition for Europe to look at BiH differently than two or three years ago… since we accept our obligations as true partners and we meet them before the given deadlines.” Terzic notes, however, that this was largely achieved due to the support of the international community who “applied big pressure and made it clear to those against reforms that they will be removed from the politics.” CoM Chair also notes that the cooperation in the CoM is satisfactory: “There was no bad word coming from CoM for the past 18 months, which indicates that BiH has a future. Because, if Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats can sit down and agree on reforms, that this is a guaranty that this country has a future.” Terzic concludes that upcoming local elections are also a kind of reforms: “For the first time the citizens will have to trust a person, and not to the list that will later elect a mayor. For me that is a progress in democratization of BiH.” |
| Dani interview with Dodik
| Dani cover, pgs 12-15 ‘Extraordinary elections to save the country’ by Vildana Selimbegovic – Characterized by magazine as the ‘most serious opposition leader in both BiH entities’, SNSD leader Milorad Dodik in an interview to Dani says that he strongly opposed to the appointment of Dusan Stojicic from SDS for new RS National Assembly Speaker as “there is a series of unsolved affairs he is related to in Teslic.” Asked how he comments the fact that SDS, PDP and SDA together opposed to his remarks, Dodik answers: “For a longer time now, the political theatre is occupied by the political coalition of SDS and SDA, which – I think – is completely unnatural and is not in the function of strengthening either BiH or RS institutions. There is also the hypocrisy which is always expressed in the same way and before the elections: at those times, they are trying to renounce each other, and than immediately after the elections they would call on higher goals with an aim to strengthen the joint coalition. That really says the most of their real goals: promotion of partisan interests.” Dodik, who also believes that announcements for removal of SDA ministers from RS Government were agreed between coalition partners, says that the only solution for BiH is to hold early, democratic elections. On HR’s decision to remove 59 RS officials, Dodik comments: “I really think that [Paddy] Ashdown should have done this and my only objection is that he should have done it earlier. I actually mind to HR for allowing those people to perform public duties at the first place and than to be removed… I am deeply certain that nobody in this country believes that those… nationalists, leaders in the past war, can be reformists now.” |
| Tihic to demand change of RS name
| Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Tihci prepares initiative to change RS name’ by Az. Kalamujic – The Chairman of the BiH Presidency Sulejman Tihic stated for daily that he was finalizing preparations for submitting to the BiH Constitutional Court a request for change of the Republika Srpske name. He said that he was currently working on the legal and factual aspects of the proposal, however rejected to give any details on when he would demand this. “If RS in its constitution has been defined as the entity of Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats, that it is logically and legally grounded to harmonize the name of the entity with its definition,” comments Tihic. |
| Raguz on constitutional changes
| Dnevni List pg 6 ‘Members of Parliament to be very busy by end of September’ by E. Mackic – At the press conference held yesterday Chairman of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly Martin Raguz explained two Resolutions passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe by saying that both Resolutions paid considerable attention to the fact that the public debate on constitutional changes in BiH is inevitable. Raguz added: “We cannot escape from the fact that the |
| | Slobodna Dalmacija pg 17 ‘Competent ones are not being consulted with regard to new law’ by D. Juka – SD carries Education Minister of the Central Bosnia Canton Nikola Lovrinovic who says that the decision passed by High Representative Paddy Ashdown on imposing of changes and amendments to Law on Primary and Secondary Education was not necessary since it will bring additional confusion in the curriculum since it is impossible to implement this law. Lovrinovic also added that all the time he was offering his solutions for the aforementioned issue however his solutions were not acceptable for the OHR. Lovrinovic wonders why this was the case since he was offering the solution that guarantees equality of the language. |
Defence and security issues | |
| RS Army destroys surplus of weapons
| BHTV 1, FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘RS Army yesterday destroyed 2500 pieces of small and light weapons’ – Based on BiH Defence Minister Nikola Radovanovic’s decision to establish a moratorium on the sale of surplus small arms and light weapons made last week, the RS Army started the first phase of the pilot project of destroying surplus small arms and light weapons. The destruction of 2.500 pieces was carried out in the in Banja Luka and an additional 2.500 pieces will be destroyed on Monday.OSCE Spokesperson Vedrana Dimitrijevic said that with this move BiH has shown willingness “to join the regional and international fight against proliferation of weapons.” |
| Radovanovic officially appoints 13 generals
| Oslobodjenje pg 6 ’13 generals promoted’, Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Radovanovic officials nominated 13 generals’, mentioned on cover, by M. Kukan, Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘BiH Armed Forces officially got 13 new Generals’ pg. 4 ‘BiH and entities got new Commanders of Armed forces’ – BiH Defence Minister Nikola Radovanovic at the press conference on Thursday officially appointed 13 generals to the BiH Armed Forces. “By these appointments, all preconditions have been created for further fulfilling of the BiH Armed Forces and implementation of the reform processes. Our intention and the joint goal is to within two years build a system which will be of very little interests for media and in which everybody will do their job, “ said Radovanovic. |
| FBiH Govt on financial crisis in FBiH MoD
| Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Salaries for budgetary users cut for 10%’, Dnevni List, pg 4 ‘Rebalance of budget to remedy crisis in Army’, mentioned on front, by Miso Relota, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 6 ‘Difficult financial situation in army’, by Z. Rerig, Vecernji List, pg 6 ‘FBiH Army will sell weapons and its facilities’, by Eldina Medunjanin, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 6 ‘Federation of BiH Defense Ministry requests for 19 million KM of help’ by R. C – the FBiH Government, under chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister Gavrilo Grahovac, yesterday adopted a Programme on how to remedy the financial situation in the FBiH Defence Ministry. The Programme proposes that the crisis be solved through internal restructuring of budget funds and rebalance of the 2004 budget as much as collections of revenues allows. A part of funds would also be realized through sale of out-of-date weapons and sale of business premises and other facilities without perspective |
| Dodik did not show up in police
| RTRS, Dnevni List pg 7 ‘Dodik does not trust Police’ by De.L, Glas Srpske, pg. 10 ‘Dodik did not show up’ mentioned on cover by V. Janjic, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4 ‘Dodik does not trust to police’ by V. Popovic, EuroBlic, cover and pg. RS8 ‘Dodik: I will gladly respond to the Court summon’ by M. J. – SNSD leader Milorad Dodik did not go to an informative interview to Banja Luka Public Safety Center, after which the Prosecutor’s Office has stated it would not apprehend him. As according to Novak Kovacevic, the Chief Regional Prosecutor from Bijeljina, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office from Bijeljina will not be undertaking any further steps in relation to claims on Njegus because libel is not an act of crime and is not in jurisdiction of the Prosecutor’s Office. Rade Mutic, the Spokesperson of Banja Luka Public Safety Center, yesterday stated that the Center expects from the Prosecutor’s Office to undertake steps as in accordance with laws. SNSD has stated that Dodik did not reply to the summon order because he does not trust to the police. The party’s release reads that Dodik does not feel obliged to reply because of his stances brought in public, as well as that he was willing to present all facts in relation to this case before a Court. |
| DL int with Colak
| Dnevni List, pg 7 ‘SFOR’s confidence in domestic security institutions questionable’, mentioned on front, by Miso Relota – DL carries an interview with the BiH Security Minister, Barisa Colak, in which he could not confirm the information as reported by a British ‘Daily Telegraph’ newspapers that the CIA and US intelligence services have deployed hundreds of its officers to BiH in order to monitor Islamic terrorists. Minister Colak says his ministry does not have information that would confirm that. Talking about the cooperation between domestic authorities and SFOR and US Embassy, Minister Colak says the cooperation is good, especially with the US Embassy. He goes on to say that the cooperation with SFOR could be a lot better, especially when it comes to exchange of information and operative work in general. “If we analyse the moves made so far, we can clearly see that there have been SFOR activities that have not been coordinated with domestic authorities”, says Colak adding that ‘information leaks’ are one of reasons behind the insufficient confidence in domestic institutions. |
| Magazines on
| Dani cover page story ‘Muhamed Ali Gasi: Ramiz Delalic Celo is behind the attack’, pgs 18021 ‘Muhamed Ali Gasi: ‘I have nothing to do with a murder of Taib Torlakovic and explosion that destroyed Faco’s car’’ by Dzenana Karup-Drusko – Muhamed Ali Gasi, wanted by police to suspicion of his connection to the explosion of a bomb planted under the car of Amir Pasic Faco in Sarajevo downtown, stated for Dani that he had nothing to do with the explosion, or the murder to Taib Torlakovic. Gasi, speculated to be one of the strongest Slobodna Bosna pgs 28-31 ‘All explosions in Sarajevo are the act of 5-6 same bandits: Police still ‘gathers evidence’ against them!’, mentioned on cover, by Suzana Mijatovic – On the same issue, SB also wonders whether Celo has returned to BiH, connecting him to the explosion and adding that it is illogical that Gasi would dare to plant a bomb under Pasic’s vehicle, knowing he would be the first suspect. Ljiljan cover page ‘Mafia clash in Sarajevo, pg 25 ‘Policemen or observers’ by Mugdim Hasanovic – Author writes that having in mind the current situation, citizens of Sarajevo feel nostalgic about the time when Ismet Dahic was Interior Minister. “At some time Dahic had full support of the highest institutions. Together it is missing or is seriously belated. Secondly, |
Economic and social issues | |
| RS Government session
| Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Cheaper electricity next year’ by S. Radjen-Todorovic, EuroBlic, pg. RS4 ‘Powerful investment cycle’ by Ljubo Ljubojevic – RS Government held a session in Bijeljina on Thursday, at which it initiated changes to the tariff system of collecting electricity bills. Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic stated after the session that the final version should be enacted by the end of the year. He added that in this way the Government is trying to help economy to develop faster as well as to strengthen export capabilities of economy. The Government also discussed tender procedures for the construction of hydropower stations on Vrbas. The Government also considered a possibility of paying of approximately 60 million KM of debt to pensioners of RS. Through an adoption of certain legislative documents, pensioners can expect payment of a part of the debt from 200 as soon as on autumn. ‘We will try to pay 12 million KM from a special account during the third quarter of this year, in order to pay a part of obligations dating from 2000. We hope we will manage to harmonize this with IMF’, Mikerevic stated. RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Djordje Lajsic appointed to the Minister of Economy, Energy and Development – The RS Government also appointed Djordje Lajsic from Bijeljina as the new RS Economy, Energy and Development Minister. |
| OHR urges internal debt law in FBIH
| RHB, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Adopt the Law on FBiH Internal Debt as soon as possible’ by Fena, Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘Urgently adopt the Internal Debt Law’, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4 ‘To adopt the Law on Internal Debt as soon as possible’ by Onasa, Glas Srpske, pg. 3 ‘Evidence in writing’ by M. Mi.– OHR spokesperson in Banja Luka Ljiljana Radetic stated that OHR urges FBiH parliamentarians to adopt the law on internal debt as soon as possible. She told a press conference in |
| Magazines on internal debt issue
| Dani pgs 24-25, 61 ‘BiH a step away from inflation?!’ by Snjezana Mulic-Busatlija – “While International community applies pressure on the FBiH Government to adopt the proposed ‘Law on Internal Debt’ as soon as possible, claiming that economic collapse of the country can be avoided only in this way, representatives of a large number of parliamentary parties believe that this law will be the one to take the country over the edge,” writes magazine who notes that the fact that BiH faces such huge debt is the fault only of the politicians for whom it was easier to “hide the problem under the carpet” for very long time. After outlining the proposal of the Law, article reads the comment by SDP who opposes the law, saying that the Government never really established the amount of the debt claiming it is about 20-25% higher that currently stated. HDZ also opposes the law especially due to the article which foresees currency savings to be paid in securities. Article concludes noting that while holders of the old currency savings are fighting this law, for pensioners and invalids it may mean a salvation. “The truth is that this stat needs this law,… the question is whether it has to be like this.” Ljiljan pgs 40-41 ‘Business of public companies’ by Izudin Kesetovic – The article deals with the issue of internal debt in FBiH and the Law on public companies in FBiH. The article considers that the adoption of the Law on public companies, with clear definition of such corporation, would prevent further illegal transitions of state into private capital, and would also have an impact to the internal debt. The current economic situation, concludes the article, “demands urgency and comprehensiveness together with the support to the solutions worked on by the OHR expert team.” |
| FBiH Govt on transfer of Eronet shares onto HT Mostar
| Dnevni List, pg 4 ‘Transfer of share in Eronet onto HT Mostar postponed’, by J. P. – The FBiH Government, at its session held yesterday, discussed the HT Zagreb’s offer on transfer of HT Zagreb’s share in Eronet onto HT Mostar. According to the FBiH Minister for Traffic and Communications, Nedzad Brankovic, the commission, which was earlier established by the FBiH Government to handle issues pertaining to the transfer, has been tasked to improve the proposal on the transfer, especially in light of suggestions made at the yesterday’s session of the FBiH Government. A source close to the FBiH Government told DL that the commission has also been tasked to have another round of talks with HT Zagreb in order to finalize details of the operation. The session of FBiH Government also covered by |
| CoM and Prime Ministers to discuss the Mrakovica Agreement | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 5 ‘Discussion on Mrakovica Agreement’ by Srna – Chairman of BiH CoM Adnan Terzic, RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic and Federation of BiH Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic will discuss the implementation of the Mrakovica Agreement in |
Audits of BiH institutions | |
| Auditors report irregularities in BiH Treasury and Finance Ministry
| Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Ljerka Maric and Jusuf Kumalic dressed on state account’, mentioned on cover ‘They dressed on state account’ by A. Omeragic – Az. Kalamujic – The Office of the State Auditor published new set of audit reports of BiH institutions workings, and the biggest number of irregularities were found in workings of the Treasury and Finance Ministry [note: please see BiH Media Round-up for 29 July] and CIPS directorate. Auditors said that while two institutions did not spend more than allowed, they crossed “the boundaries of economic business.” Auditors established that Finance Ministry spend 43.000 KM for hospitality, while Minister Ljerka Maric and her Deputy Jusuf Kumalic were said to have spent money to purchase shirts and ties. Further irregularities were established around the purchase of oil, vacations, etc. |
| Audit report reveal discrepancies in CIPS work
| Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Suspicious transactions in CIPS’, mentioned on cover, by S. Numanovic – The Office of the State Auditor on Thursday published report on the financial business of CIPS directorate. The reports says that the auditors have found that the CIPS has “insufficiently reliable system of the internal control when it comes to rule and criteria of spending.” There were a number of irregularities noted maintaining two cashiers offices: for the director and the project itself; renting apartments for its staff without proper procedure; paying for oil used by staff and their private vehicles, etc. |