| Radio Herceg-Bosna (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30 hrs) |
| Del Ponte in Sarajevo | Carla Del Ponte in Potocari | Del Ponte in Sarajevo | Carla del Ponte in Sarajevo |
| BiH Presidency session | Case of Privredna Banka | Trial of Momcilo Krajisnik | Carla del Ponte in Potocari |
| SFOR vetting results | Trial of Kristina Silic | Jovo Simkic released | Municip elections |
| Equal national rights in BiH | Protest of BiH farmers | Car accident near Mostar | Trial of Momcilo Krajisnik |
| Oslobodjenje | Scandalous: One million and 229 thousands KM for politicians’ vehicles |
| Dnevni Avaz | Carla Del Ponte: Some in the RS authorities help Karadzic |
| Dnevni List | Mostar: Three dead in collision between Kadett and bus |
| Vecernji List | Trail of missing Croats of Bugojno leads to Zenica |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Background of conflict between two Croat prisoners: Blaskic and Rajic do not stand each other since the war |
| Glas Srpske | Tragedy in Visegrad are: He murdered his twin-brother |
| Nezavisne Novine | Audit report on BiH Presidency: They spent the budget by buying cars and gifts; Illegal grading at Medical Faculty in B. Luka: Grade 7 in index of Rector’s son paid BAM 50 thousand; Carla del Ponte announced: Five new war crimes indictment by end of year |
| Blic | Inspectors announced more rigorous controls: Gas stations are pouring both petroleum and water; Karadzic and Mladic are shutting down the Tribunal; The Government: We do not owe 50 million KM to the Health Care Fund |
War crimes/PfP | |
| Del Ponte meets with BiH Presidency members
| Herceg Bosna Radio, BHTV, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Five new indictments by the end of the year’, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Five new indictments by the end of the year’, Dnevni List pg 5 ‘Del Ponte: 5 new bills of indictment by end of year’, mentioned on cover, by R. Radic, Vecernji List pgs 2 and 3 ‘First domestic trials at end of year’ by D. Jazvic and Slobodna Dalmacija pg 5 ‘5 new bills of indictment arrive’, mentioned on cover, by Z. Tulic, Blic pg. RS1 ‘Arrests are priority’ by J. D. mentioned on cover ‘Karadzic and Mladic are shutting down the Tribunal’, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 2 ‘Five new war crimes indictment by the end of year’; Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Five indictments in an envelope’, ONASA – BiH cannot serve as a hostage for the Republika Srpska’s lack of cooperation with the Hague Tribunal (ICTY), and the RS has to be punished for violating its international commitments, BiH Presidency Chairman Sulejman Tihic said on Wednesday at a meeting the BiH Presidency held with ICTY chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte. Tihic told a press conference in Sarajevo that BiH’s full and unconditional commitment to cooperation with the ICTY had been reiterated at the meeting, but it had been pointed out that one BiH entity, the RS, had failed to cooperate, in spite of its obligations set by the Dayton Peace Accord and other international regulations. “We also discussed transfer of competencies form the ICTY to local courts and the problems that exist here in terms of establishment of a special department of the BiH court that will be tasked to prosecute war crimes,” said Tihic. According to Tihic, the state-level institutions are being set up and only when they are set up in full capacity, they will be able to function in an adequate way. “Until that happens, the responsibility for cooperation with The Hague lies on the entities, especially on the RS, since that entity failed to establish cooperation as well as to arrest the most wanted war criminals, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic,” said Tihic. Del Ponte said she had called on the BiH Presidency to provide full political support so as to make the RS to establish cooperation with the ICTY. “We expect results, apprehending of fugitives, access to archives, documents and witnesses,” said Del Ponte. Speaking of transfer of competencies to the BiH judiciary, she said The Hague was ready to send cases for which there were indictments and documentation, but the overall process depended on the BiH Court, which was still not ready to try cases. “This country has to be able to ensure fair trials in local courts. I will the first motion for transfer of cases before the Court goes on summer vacation in August. I expect that the BiH Court will be, after that, capable to launch activities on its own,” said del Ponte. At the meeting, the participants also discussed the activities of the future intelligence services, the BiH State Protection and Information Agency (SIPA) and the Security Ministry, and concluded that the RS could not be released from its responsibility to cooperate and arrest war criminals until those institutions be set up. |
| Top BiH CoM officials meet with Del Ponte | Herceg Bosna Radio, BHTV, FTV, RTRS,Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Five new indictments by the end of the year’, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Five new indictments by the end of the year’, Dnevni List pg 5 ‘Del Ponte: 5 new bills of indictment by end of year’, mentioned on cover, by R. Radic and Vecernji List pgs 2 and 3 ‘First domestic trials at end of year’ by D. Jazvic, Slobodna Dalmacija pg 5 ‘5 new bills of indictment arrive’, mentioned on cover, by Z. Tulic, Blic, pg. RS1 ‘Arrests are priority’ by J. D. mentioned on cover ‘Karadzic and Mladic are shutting down the Tribunal’, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 2 ‘Five new war crimes indictment by the end of year’; Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Five indictments in an envelope’, SRNA – Chief ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte reiterated in Sarajevo on Wednesday that the tribunal’s priority is the arrest of fugitives indicted for war crimes, and that the arrest of Radovan Karadzic is the “priority above all priorities”. “I hope that I will return to Sarajevo is several weeks’ or months’ time and congratulate the authorities on their cooperation and the arrest of fugitives,” Del Ponte told journalists after the meeting with Council of Ministers chairman Adnan Terzic, Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic, Security Minister Barisa Colak and Justice Minister Slobodan Kovac. Del Ponte said that she was told that BiH would assume control over security and intelligence in the field of cooperation with the Hague tribunal, adding that “it is the right moment to achieve concrete results”. Del Ponte added that by the end of the year her office would issue five new indictments against people of different nationalities who committed war crimes in the former Yugoslav federation. Terzic said that Del Ponte gave her views on the cooperation with The Hague. Terzic emphasized that the Security Ministry, together with the State Border Service, should ensure that the border with Serbia and Montenegro is protected 24 hours, in order to prevent fugitives from escaping. By implementing the adopted laws in the fields of intelligence and security we will have to show full cooperation, emphasizing that the security and intelligence agency, the State Border Service and the Agency for Information and Protection have the mechanisms which should be put at the disposal of the Hague tribunal. According to Terzic, these obligations of BiH do not diminish the responsibilities of the RS authorities. Terzic expects the international community to “sanction the RS’ failure to cooperate”. “Regardless of NATO’s stance and its decision whether BiH should be admitted to the Partnership for Peace at the June summit or not, we want to avoid the European Commission’s trap, which among the 16 priorities has included cooperation with the tribunal,” Terzic said. Blic pg RS1 ‘Five new indictments’ also carried Del Ponte’s announcement of five new indictments by the end of this year. |
| Del Ponte visits Srebrenica, Potocari Memorial site | Herceg Bosna Radio, BHTV, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 6, mentioned on cover ‘We have determined that the genocide had been committed here’, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Carla Del Ponte paid respect to Srebrenica genocide victims’, Blic, pg. RS1 ‘Karadzic and Mladic are shutting down the Hague’, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Carla del Ponte visited Potocari’, FENA – ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said during the visit to the Potocari Memorial on Wednesday that the main objective of her visit to pay her respects to people buried in Potocari. Talking to representatives of the Srebrenica and Zepa Mothers Association she called for patience because justice would come and those responsible would be arrested. “We in the Hague Tribunal know what happened in Srebrenica because we conducted a detailed investigation. We have so far achieved that in the trial of General Krstic we proved that genocide against Bosniaks took place here. We are still look for collaborators/participants in the genocide in Srebrenica and we hope that they will soon be arrested”, Del Ponte said. She added that great responsibility for the arrest of war criminals lies with RS and Serbia-Montenegro authorities. Del Ponte reminded that the ICTY has to complete all its trials by 2008, but that the Tribunal would not close its doors until Karadzic and Mladic are brought to justice. Del Ponte requested the support of Srebrenica mother and said that their voice on what happened in Srebrenica should not be kept silent. |
| Del Ponte for Dnevni Avaz: Some in the RS authorities help Karadzic | Dnevni Avaz cover page, pg 5 ‘Some in the RS authorities help Karadzic’ – Chief ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte is an optimists and she hopes Radovan Karadzic will be in The Hague prison by the end of this year. In an interview with the daily she expressed her confidence the issue will be resolved and BiH will be allowed to reach European integration. Once again, Del Ponte emphasized an ignorant RS government’s attitude towards The Hague Tribunal. |
| VL on destiny of missing Croats of Bugojno | Vecernji List, front and pg 3 ‘Trail of missing Croats of Bugojno leads to Zenica’, by Milo Jukic – commenting on a statement by the Chief ICTY Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, who stated in Bugojno that she, among other things, came to the town to learn the truth about the missing Croats of Bugojno (23 of them), the author claims that del Ponte could have learned the truth at the ICTY from one of the indictees, namely general Enver Hadzihasanovic. Apparently, Selmo Cikotic, former Commander of the Operative Group ‘West’ of the BiH Army, sent the BiH Army’s 3rd Corps on September 19, 1993, a report about events in Bugojno, and the Commander of the 3rd Corps, Hadzihasanovic replied the following day. Allegedly, Cikotic reported that the BiH Army had captured 470 HVO troops “among which there are 23 prisoners who are not to be released, because of committed deeds that deserve special treatment”. Apparently, Cikotic asked Hadzihasanovic what to do with the 23 prisoners. In his alleged reply, Hadzihasanovic asked Cikotic to transfer the 23 prisoners to “my place at the Zenica penitentiary” where he (Hadzihasanovic) would be stalling the release with UNPROFOR, EUMM, ICRC and other international organizations. Having written all this, the author says that del Ponte should simply ask Hadzihasanovic whether Cikotic had sent the missing Croats to Zenica or not. |
| DL’s Statement of Day: Dragan Covic | Dnevni List, pg 2 carries in its ‘Statement of Day’, the Croat member of BiH Presidency, Dragan Covic, as saying: “Not a single Croat will be going to The Hague any more”. |
| Serb representatives in Mostar Council expressed distrust in work of HNC Prosecution | Dnevni List pg 9 ‘Serb representatives in City Council expressed distrust in Prosecution’s work’ by M.S. carries Mostar Deputy Mayor Ljubo Beslic as saying that during the talk with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte in Mostar two days ago, Vice President of the Mostar City Council Milan Jovicic and Councillor Radmilo Braca Andric expressed certain degree of distrust in independence of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Prosecution. |
| DNS responds to Tihic: Individuals not whole RS responsible for non-cooperation with ICTY | Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Citizens should not bear consequences for bad performance of authority’; Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘People is not responsible’ – DNS (Democratic People’s Alliance) yesterday released a press statement, in which it announced that individuals, and not the RS as a whole, should bear the responsibility over the failure to cooperate with the Hague Tribunal. DNS further denied claims of Sulejman Tihic, Chairperson of BiH Presidency, that RS must face consequences over the failure to cooperate with the Hague. |
| Radisic on BiH lawsuit against SCG | Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘No documents proving lawsuit is legal’ – Zivko Radisic, former member of BiH Presidency, claims that in four years of his mandate, he has never seen a single document that would prove that BiH lawsuit against Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) for aggression and genocide is legal and legitimate. He said: “I have never received a single document, which would prove this lawsuit was filed upon conclusion or decision passed by BiH Presidency. There is no records from such session, nor any other trace in writing.” |
| Novakovic on PfP | Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Closer to Partnership’ – Momcilo Novakovic, delegate at the BiH House of Representatives, who attended the session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Bratislava from 20 May to 1 June as a member of BiH delegation, said that the BiH position regarding its admission into the programme “Partnership for Peace” is pretty good. He said that through their work in various Committees, Slovakia, as host country, and former Yugoslavia states have expressed support for BiH admission into PfP. He further said: “At the Political Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the positive steps which BiH has made towards fulfilling conditions for its admission into PfP were brought up, while the issue of cooperation with The Hague Tribunal was not mentioned with specific regard.” |
| Lagumdzija on BiH’s PfP, EU prospects | Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘PfP is the most important reform process’ – Yesterday in Washington, Zlatko Lagumdzija, President of SDP of BiH, stated that the PfP and the Stabilisation and Association Process with EU are currently two most important reforms’ processes, during whose implementation all international and local institutions and individuals must demonstrated assistance and understanding. Upon invitation of the NDI, Lagumdzija in Washington held a lecture on the topic “Local elections 2004: Chance for changes?” He also stressed that all domestic forces and opposition must unite in their request towards international organisations that assistance must be provided to BiH on its accelerated path towards EuroAtlantic relations. Dnevni List pg 2 ‘To implement reforms faster since citizens do not see results’ not signed, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘October elections chance for opposition’ also covered the issue. |
Economic/social affairs | |
| ‘Scandalous: One million and 229 thousands KM for politicians’ vehicles’
| Oslobodjenje cover page, pgs 4-5 ‘Scandalous: One million and 229 thousands KM for politicians’ vehicles’ by Vedrana Zivak – The BiH government has spent in the past year one million and 229 thousands KM of state funds for purchase of vehicles. Since May last year, the Council of Ministers bought a total of 38 cars, learns the newspaper. The best vehicle, Audi A8 Quatro, was bought for (the office of) BiH Council of Ministers Chair Adnan Terzic and it cost “only” 85,650 KM. |
| Audit report on BiH Presidency expenditures | Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘They spent the budget by buying cars and gifts’ – The Audit Office for Joint Institutions of BiH gave a negative assessment on the report into financial dealings of BiH Presidency for 2003. The auditor’s remarks related mostly to the buying of cars, repairs, and replacements upon principle “new for old ”, oil expenditures, purchase of tyres and other spare parts for cars. Apart from this, in some cases, BiH Presidency members, Sulejman Tihic, Borislav Paravac and Dragan Covic failed to respect Public Procurement procedure. The auditors also emphasised that the system of internal control, which ensures efficiency of financial dealings of President, is not reliable either. The report further says that last year’s travels of BiH Presidency members cost around BAM 386 thousand. In June 2003, the BiH Presidency demanded from Secretariat to buy “representational” cars, although there were not enough resources in the budget to buy a single car of such kind. The Audi A8 was bought for Dragan Covic for the amount of BAM 160 thousand. The purchase of car for Borislav Paravac was not even registered in the business registry and it cost BAM 57 thousand. This car was purchased on the principle “old for new”. According to NN inset, Dragan Covic admitted he spent BAM 2417 for a dinner on 23 June 2003 at Sports Centre “Cajusa” at Kupres. |
| Editorial on wastefulness of BiH officials | Dnevni List pg 2 ‘We are also responsible’ by I. Tabucic carries an editorial about wastefulness of the authority representatives, especially the BiH Presidency members, who cover costs of their family vacations, as well as, the costs of vacations of their drivers and bodyguards by the money from the BiH Presidency budget. The author says that due to such behaviour of the officials those 360 million KM that Principle Deputy High Representative Donald Hays is talking about is being lost every year. The author also says that these officials who are the most responsible ones have scored the poorest results when improving of BiH citizens’ life is in question. The author wonders whether the politicians only are responsible for this situation or also we who enabled them to behave in such way. |
| Sale of Hercegovacka Bank: Hadzipasic interested in destiny of 30 million KM | Oslobodjenje pg 3, mentioned on cover ‘Hadzipasic interested in destiny of 30 million KM’ by Azhar Kalamujic – FBiH Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic has recently requested from High Representative Paddy Ashdown an information on destiny of FBiH Budget funds of 30 million KM that had been blocked in April 2002 by Hercegovacka Bank Provisional Administrator Toby Robinson. The request/Hadzipasic’s address to Ashdown followed the selection of the Bank’s buyer, which is a consortium of eight Croatian companies. The daily asked Robinson for comment on whether the money would be returned to the FBiH Government and when but it did not get the answer due to Robinson’s busy schedule. |
| Old foreign currency depositors blame FBiH authorities and HR Ashdown for stopping of payment of their savings | Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘Omersoftic: Ashdown responsible for stopping of payment of old currency savings’, mentioned on cover, by Ivica Glibusic – commenting on the decision of the FBiH Parliament’s House of Peoples, which prolonged the moratorium on payment of executive claims of citizens to whom the FBiH owes money, the President of Steering Board of Association of Foreign Currency Savers, Amila Omersoftic, says the decision is discriminatory and unacceptable. According to her, on one side you have the executive and legislative authorities, and even the OHR, and on the other, you have deprived citizens. Omersoftic says: “It is not understandable that someone against whom there is an executive decision adopts a law which prolongs everything indefinitely, instead of paying out the citizens. It is an absurd in legal practice and we will explore constitutional possibilities to contest the decision (…) The biggest responsibility lies with Ashdown, who allowed the adoption of such law, and he should not have allowed it (…) If the current Government and the OHR keep behaving like this, they will be on the black list of those who did injustice and violated human rights of BiH citizens when it comes to old foreign currency savings”. Apparently, the Association will alarm the Council of Europe about the situation. |
| RS Law on Public Enterprises is being drafted | Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘RS Prosecution Office prepares first indictments’ by M. Vidovic – Following PDHR Donald Hays’ warning addressed to among others RS Minister of Industry Milan Bogicevic, Finance Minister Branko Krsmanovic and Transportation Minister Dragan Solaja with regard to the delay in public companies operation reforms, the officials in the RS Government say the process to draft law on public enterprises is underway. |
| Alleged corruption at B. Luka Medical Faculty | Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 5 ‘Grade 7 in index of Rector’s son paid BAM 50 thousand’ – In the letter addressed to Dr. Slobodan Bilbija, Medical Faculty Dean, and OHR, Jasminka Nikolic, the Associate Professor at the Medical Faculty in Banja Luka teaching biochemistry, claims crime and corruption have been ruling over this institutions for years. She claims that Dr. Zivko Sanicanin has taken the amount of BAM 50 thousand from Djordje Mirjanic, the son of Zeljko Mirjanic, Banja Luka University Rector, to sign in the passing grade of 7 (D) for the subject of biochemistry this professor is teaching at the Pharmacy Department of Med Faculty. After a thorough review of documentation related to this subject, Dr. Nikolic established that this is not the only example when the student did not attend the exam, but turned out to have passed it afterwards. According to her, she informed Dean of this, but he failed to do anything regarding it. Also, Dr. Bilbija, Dean, and Dr. Sanicanin, Professor, deny these claims. Dr. Nikolic also said that she was astonished over the observation of her colleagues that she could be liquidated if she continued to investigate. |
| Report against former BL Clinical Centre Director Kozomara | Nezavisne Novine pg 9 ‘Former Director suspected of having damaged Clinical Centre for BAM 61,779.33’ – The Banja Luka police has handed a report to the Banja Luka Prosecutor’s Office against Risto Kozomara (56), former Director of B. Luka Clinical Centre, who is suspected of having abused office and damaged the Clinical Centre for BAM 61,779.33. Kozomara yesterday did not want to make any comment on these claims. |
| Radivojac denies debts of RS Government to Heatlh Care Fund | Blic, pg. RS8 ‘We do not owe 50 million KM’ by T. V. mentioned on cover ‘The Government: We do not owe 50 million KM to the Health Care Fund’ – The Spokesperson of RS Prime Minister, Goran Radivojac, yesterday rejected public speculations that ‘the Government owes approximately 50 million KM to the Health Care Fund’. ‘Due to such speculations, the Government has sent a budgetary inspection to the Fund, and they have found out that their demands have not been entered in accordance with book-keeping standards’, Radivojac stated. |
| RS Government on Srpske Sume operations | Nezavisne Novine pg 9 ‘Srpske Sume” record no deficit’; Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Wood fills in the cash registry’ – Following yesterday’s session in Banja Luka, RS Government released a press statement, saying that the company of “Srpske Sume” made a profit of BAM 4.25 million. Out of this sum, BAM 3 million will be directed into RS budget. According to Rodoljub Trkulja, RS Minister of Agriculture, this Company has continued with a positive business trend. |
| Zajedno do Istine association critical of Head of BL Department for Refuges and DPs | Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Radic is targeted again’, Blic, pg. RS8 ‘Radic illegally appointed to Department of Ministry for Refugees’ by N. B. Vecernje novosti, pg. 21 ‘Evictions against laws’ by M. L. – The members of the Association “Zajedno do Istine” yesterday reiterated their accusations against the Head of Banja Luka Department of Ministry for Refugees and DPs, Borislav Radic. The Association claims that “Radic has been illegally appointed to this position, therefore legality of decisions on evictions he had signed are brought in question. Radic has been appointed to the position without a vacancy notice.” The Association intends to request the competent bodies to re-consider Radic’s appointment. The Head of Banja Luka Department of the Ministry for Refugees and DPs, Borislav Radic, yesterday stated that “if it were a sin to evict multi-occupants, I am ready to go to prison.” |
| SDHR Wnendt visits Serb returnees to Tuzla area | Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘There is not return without jobs’, Dnevni Avaz pg 13 ‘Unemployment the main problem of returnees’ – Senior Deputy High Representative Werner Wnendt accompanied with Tuzla and Bijeljina Mayors, Jasmin Imamovic and Dragomir Ljubojevic, on Wednesday visited the Serb returnees to the village of Pozarnica, near Tuzla. Some 100 returnees informed the guests on problems they were facing every day mainly related to lack of jobs and poor health care. |
| Inspections at gas stations in RS | Blic, pg. RS3 ‘They are pouring both petroleum and water’ by N. Breberina mentioned on cover ‘Inspectors announced more rigorous controls: Gas stations are pouring both petroleum and water’ – The Chief RS Market Inspector, Zdravko Milicevic, has stated that the Inspection Services will start conducting a more intensive control of quality of petroleum and petroleum products at gas stations in RS. According to Milicevic, the Market Inspection Service has sealed containers at four gas stations, since they have discovered petroleum at those stations contained seven times higher quantity of water than allowed. |
Political developments | |
| BiH Presidency session
| BH Radio 1, Herceg Bosna Radio, BHTV, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Talks in Zagreb on Monday’, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Platform for the session of Inter-state council adopted’, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Embassies in Argentina, South Africa will not be abolished’, Vecernji List pg 4 ‘BiH supports resolving of property issues of two countries’ by E. Medunjanin, Dnevni List pg 4 ‘Paying 2000 KM for dinner should not be part of auditor’s report in Covic’s opinion’ by R. Radic– The BiH Presidency on Wednesday adopted a platform for a session of the Interstate Council for Cooperation with Croatia, which is to be held in Zagreb on 7 June. It also accepted the resignation of the chief auditor in the audit office for BiH financial transactions. The Presidency accepted the resignation of Ivan Miletic, chief auditor and appointed Samir Musovic as acting chief auditor. In the course of the next two days, relevant Presidency bodies, together with the chief auditor deputies, will debate numerous issues from a report so that the Presidency too can put forward its stand on it. Dragan Covic just briefly commented on an allegation in the report that the Croat Presidency member has paid more than 2,000 KM for one dinner alone. The dinner was paid on the occasion of a Croatian day, a Catholic day, which was marked in Kupres, where more than 30 priests from all over Europe had gathered and I was their host. If this is supposed to be included in the audit report, then I honestly would like to distance myself a little bit from it and I doubt the report’s intentions. At the session, the Presidency also appointed several ambassadors and discuss some other issues related to the diplomatic-consular network. |
| HDZ Mostar says City budget is not transparent | Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘Budget full of shortcomings’, by Z. Zekic, Dnevni List, page 12 ‘Proposed draft budget of city lacks transparency’, by NINA – the Mostar City Board of HDZ BiH held a regular session on Tuesday during which it discussed, among other issues, the issue of proposal of budget of City of Mostar. According to a press release of the said Board, the Board identified “several shortcomings, lack of expertise, irregularities, especially when it comes to transparency of the proposed draft”. Because of these reasons, the Board will be sending the proponents of the draft its positions, remarks and proposals in order to remedy the shortcomings. |
| On renaming of streets in Drvar | Vecernji List pg 7 ‘Tito and 2nd World War heroes are more important’, by F. Matic – VL reports that on the ground of the decision passed by Serb Councilors, who have absolute majority in the Drvar Municipal Council, the streets in Drvar were renamed again and they got the names that they had back in 1991. VL says that now the streets in Drvar are again named after Tito, names of the Serbian and Montenegrin cities, partisans etc. The article also says that Croat Councilors were against this decision, noting that before the decision was passed, the Croat Councilors had proposed to form a commission that would find appropriate names for the streets, however, Serb Councilors were against the proposal. |
| Registration of political parties for municipal elections | Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Withdrawal and then report’ – Decision of the BiH Election Commission to dispute the applications of 15 parties for the upcoming local elections, if these failed to remove from positions persons, against whom OSCE and OHR imposed penalties, surprised the RS Socialist Party and SNSD according to GS. The list of “unwanted” also includes the names of Milan Djuric and Nada Sevo. Petar Djokic, President of SPRS expressed hope that this decision of BiH Election Commission is not final. However, reacting upon request of BiH Election Commission, Nada Sevo, yesterday resigned from the position of the SNSD Chair Board member. She expressed her surprise over this decision and demanded for explanation from OSCE. Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Sevo Skaljic, Strukar, Halilovic and Tokmacija resigned yesterday’ and Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Resignations from disputed duties inside political parties’ also reported on Sevo resignations. The Sarajevo dailies however added that for the same reasons the resignations were yesterday submitted by HDZ’s Drago Tokmacija, SDA Main Board’s members Mustafa Strukar and Besim Halilovic. Fehim Skalic (Party for BiH) and Milan Djuric (SPRS) are expected to submit their resignations in 48 hours. |
| Dodik – Batic meeting | Blic, pg. RS2 ‘Dodik supported Batic’ by Lj. Lj. – SNSD President Milorad Dodik supported the candidacy of Vladan Batic for Serbian President. After a meeting in Bijeljina, Dodik expressed his hope that a positive development of the situation in Serbia would stabilize the situation in the region and direct efforts of all political options towards the path to Europe. Batic thanked for the support and invited the competent bodies of BiH to withdraw a lawsuit against Serbia and Montenegro because, as he emphasized, this was in the interest of citizens of the both countries. |
Defence/security/legal proceedings | |
| SFOR approves seven candidates for BiH armed forces generals’ posts
| Herceg Bosna Radio, BHTV, FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Sifet Podzic – candidate for Commander of BiH Armed Forces’, Oslobodjenje pg 7, mentioned on cover ‘Podzic to be appointed Chief BiH armed forces commander?’, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Susac, Brdar, Sejtanic, Balta, Gutic, Redzovic and Podzic new generals’, Vecernji List pg 4 ’First Croat Generals in BiH armed forces’, mentioned on cover ‘Croat Generals passed vetting procedure’, by E. Medunjanin Slobodna Dalmacija pg 16 ‘Susac and Brdar are becoming Generals’, by B. Kristo, FENA – The claims about Brigadier Sifet Podzic’s alleged offences are unfounded and there are no obstacles to his appointment to one of the generals’ posts, show the results of the checks done by SFOR’s Office of the General Inspector, which the SFOR command has forwarded to the BiH Defence Ministry. According to the Defence Ministry’s statement, SFOR has completed the checks for another five of the 12 suggested candidates and established that there are no obstacles for their promotion to the post of generals. They are the following Federation of BiH Army officers, brigadiers: Robert Susac, Esad Sejtanic, Nisad Balta and Mirsad Gutic, as well as colonel Jugoslav Brdar. Brigadier Emir Redzovic, one of the 12 proposed candidates, also received approval for promotion to the post of general on 4 May. The checks for the other six candidates are still in progress, and the results will be published subsequently. |
| Update to Trbojevic case | Nezavisne Novine pg 2 Investigation into the death of Judge Trbojevic has not completed as yet’ – The Prosecutor with the Banja Luka District Prosecutor’s Office, Gordana Mijatovic, said that the B. Luka District PO is still conducting investigation into the cause of death of Judge Mirjana Trbojevic, who died on 9th May from the explosion of hand grenade. Alun Roberts, EUPM Spokesperson, stated that EUPM is closely monitoring the investigation, without giving any further details. |
| Update to Bogdan Vasic case
| Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Detention against Bogdan Vasic expires today’ – If Criminal Council of BiH Court failed to extend detention against Bogdan Vasic by 13:00 hrs today, he will have to be released. Vasic has been suspected of having produced synthetic drugs from acetic acid anhydride. |
| Murder in Visegrad area | Glas Srpske cover page story ‘He murdered his twin-brother’ – In the village of Bjeljaci (20 km far from Visegrad), Slavko Sekulic (41) murdered his twin-brother Ranko. The brothers had an argument over something and then clashed. Ranko died of injuries sustained during the fight. |