11.09.2001

BiH Media Round-up, 11/9/2001

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BiH state-related Issues

  • Lagumdzija leaves for Brussels
  • The BiH Council of Ministers proposed the state budget rebalance of 160 million KM
  • Vecernji List: How high are the salaries of the mayors of major cities in BiH?

Federation

  • Filipovic and Halilovic approve appointment of the BiH Federation Supreme Court judges
  • The Ljubic brothers remain in HDZ BiH
  • BiH Federation Deputy Finance Minister still refuses to approve payment of first out of five backlog pensions
  • BiH Federation Government orders audit of Aluminium financial operations
  • Party for BiH to leave the Alliance for Changes if dispute over Aluminium is not properly resolved
  • Residents of the five villages hold out peaceful demonstrations in front of OHR building against the High Representative’s decision on Zepce
  • Slobodna Dalmacija: The IPTF candidate Husein Delic was ‘an Islamic extremist’ for Carlos Westendorp
  • Vecernji List: Federation Parliament to adopt the Law on Secret Services
  • Vjesnik: Key witness in the Leutar case gone missing

Republika Srpska

  • RS Prime Minister dissatisfied with the efficiency of the judicial institutions
  • Deputy RS National Assembly Speaker says SDS problems should not affect global entity interests
  • RS Prime Minister’s Advisor for Privatisation resigned
  • Independent Journalists Association called on RS authorities to stop meddling in editorial policy
  • Momcilo Krajisnik requests Serbian Government’s guarantees

International Community

  • PDHR Hays visited Banja Luka
  • CRA calls users of radio frequencies to submit necessary data until September 24
  • Jutarnji List: Trial of Tuta and Stela opens

Editorial:

  • Nezavisne Novine: “God Be With You” in the first grade of elementary school

BiH state-related Issues

Lagumdzija leaves for Brussels

Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers and BiH Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija left on Monday for Brussels where he will attend upcoming session of the Peace Implementation Council. According to Dnevni Avaz, BiH Minister for European Integration Dragan Mikerevic, BiH Treasury Minister Ante Domazet, BiH Federation President Karlo Filipovic, and the entity Prime Ministers, Mladen Ivanic and Alija Behmen, are also expected to attend the session, which will discuss achievements made so far, as well as the future priorities.

The BiH Council of Ministers proposed the state budget re-balance of 160 million KM

According to Oslobodjenje, the BiH Council of Ministers proposed a re-balance of the state budget for this year of 160 million KM. BiH Treasury Minister Ante Domazet told journalists on Monday in Sarajevo that the re-balance had to be harmonized with the entity budgets until the end of this month in order that BiH meet requirements to make new three-year stand-by arrangement with the IMF.

Vecernji List: How high are the salaries of the mayors of major cities in BiH? (provided by OHR Mostar)

Sinisa Kisic, the Mayor of Brcko District has the highest salary in BiH – 3,900 KM. A lady at Kisic’s office said their salaries may be the highest because of their outstanding openness to the public. She said that none of the City Administration members have duties other than those and that all of them daily spend full working hours in office.

Sarajevo Mayor Muhidin Hamamdzic receives 1,368 KM a month, and Mostar Mayor Neven Tomic 1,320 KM. This has been confirmed by their Spokespersons Jasminka Calo and Miroslav Landeka.

Formally, the Mayor of Mostar has no other income, but his former colleagues of the HDZ point to his engagement in a car industry and in a private construction company in Mostar, reads Vecernji List.

The salary of the Banja Luka Mayor, Dragoljub Davidovic, remains a secret because his Chief of Cabinet was unavailable, but informally, his salary is around 1,500 KM. Thus, the salary of the Mayor of the small Brcko is more than twice as high as the salaries of the mayors of the three major cities in BiH.


Federation

Filipovic and Halilovic approve appointment of the BiH Federation Supreme Court judges

BiH Federation President Karlo Filipovic and Vice-president Safet Halilovic approved appointment of all 15 candidates for the entity Supreme Court judges nominated by the authorized commission. According to Oslobodjenje, the approved list was on September 6 sent to the BiH Federation House of Peoples for final consideration and adoption.

The Ljubic brothers remain in HDZ BiH

An anonymous source told ONASA news agency that the senior HDZ BiH officials, Bozo and Mariofil Ljubic, would remain members of the party following a compromise on their status Bozo Ljubic had reached with Ante Jelavic. Their possible leaving the party has been recently actualized following the latest party actions including the exclusion of Mostar Mayor Neven Tomic. According to Oslobodjenje, a political struggle led by HDZ hard-liners against the party members close to Tomic is currently underway.

BiH Federation Deputy Finance Minister still refuses to approve payment of first out of five backlog pensions

The BiH Federation Deputy Finance Minister, Sefika Hafizovic, has still not approved payment of the first out of five backlog pensions, although she had promised he would do so on Monday if all necessary funds are provided. Finance Minister Nikola Grabovac told Oslobodjenje that additional five million KM had been paid on the pension fund’s account early on Monday, so that there were no reasons for the payment of the pension not to start. He believes that Hafizovic just wants to discredit himself in public. The newspaper also reports that Bozo Misura, the candidate of the New Croat Initiative (NHI), is expected to be appointed director of the joint BiH Federation Pension Fund in the next few days.

BiH Federation Government to order audit of Aluminium financial operations

According to Oslobodjenje, the BiH Federation Government is expected to order the authorized entity institution to carry out an audit of Mostar Aluminium financial operations. The coordination body of the governing Alliance for Changes concluded on Friday that a mistake made by the international audit team had to be urgently corrected in order to avoid damage that might be made to the BiH Federation. When completed, a report of the Federation auditors will be delivered to the entity Government for consideration and adoption.

Party for BiH to leave the Alliance for Changes if dispute over Aluminium is not properly resolved

In regard of a shameful robbery of the state property in the Mostar Aluminium Company, the Party for BiH said on Monday it would reconsider its participation in the Alliance for Changes if it did not take urgent measures to resolve the issue. The party maintains that the authorized bodies must finally do their part of the job to bring such processes in order, Dnevni Avaz reports.

Residents of the five villages hold out peaceful demonstrations in front of OHR building against the High Representative’s decision on Zepce

The residents of the four Croat villages (currently under the Zepce municipal jurisdiction) and a Bosniak village of Vrbice (Zavidovici municipality) held out peaceful demonstrations in front of the OHR building in Sarajevo on Monday. Approximately 250 villagers protested the High Representative’s decision, according to which Croat villages of Galovac, Strupina, Mladosevica and Bese should be put under the Maglaj municipal jurisdiction, as Vrbice should become part of the Zepce municipality. Oslobodjenje reports that, since High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch is in Brussels until next Friday, they were just able to present their views to his associates. Dissatisfied with results of the meeting, protesters said they would gather again on Friday and insist to meet with Petritsch.

Slobodna Dalmacija: The IPTF candidate Husein Delic was ‘an Islamic extremist’ for Carlos Westendorp (provided by OHR Mostar)

It is still unknown who will be the Police Commissioner in the Central Bosnia Cantonal Ministry of Interior, because the Cantonal Government did not accept the appointment of Husein Delic, made by Vincent Coeurderoy, the IPTF Commissioner for BiH. According to some claims this person would have to be the IPTF ‘player’ and their crucial person within BiH Police structures.

The move of Vincent Courderoy, who by usurping the authorities of the Cantonal Government appointed Husein Delic to this position, caused disapproval in the Central Bosnia Canton, especially disapproval of the Croat side. He appointed him for the period from September 01, 2001 to August 31, 2002 although the Article 3 of the Government’s decree on the appointment of the Acting Police Commissioner in that Canton says that ‘the Acting Commissioner will perform this duty until the final appointment in accordance with the Law on Changes and Amendments of the Laws on MoI of the Central Bosnia Canton, not later than December 01, 2001’.

The Article 6 of the same decree says that the Cantonal Government ‘appoints the Acting Minster and Deputy Minister of Interior, with the consent of the IPTF Commissioner’.

However, it is an interesting question as to how Husein Delic could be nominated for this position when it is known that the IC earlier disputed his appointment for the position of the Cantonal Minister of Interior. By the decision passed on June 29, 1999, Branko Golub, who was the Governor at that time, and his Deputy Adnan Terzic, appointed Husein Delic the Minister of Interior, and four days later, on July 03, they withdrew this decision ‘on the ground of the decision of Carlos Westendorp, the High Representative of the International Community in BiH’ who among the other things, objected Delic for the Islamic extremism and connections with radical Islamic countries. The Croat side objected Delic because of the war cooperation with muhajedeens, who committed numerous and serious crimes over the Croats, his involvement in the activities whose purpose was to legalize their stay on the territory of Central Bosnia after the war, because he was obstructing the investigations on the murders and crimes committed over the Croat returnees …

However, quite often one can hear the claim that in this and many other cases political games or dirty intentions of any kind are not in question but it is simply about an anarchic non-coordination within the IC organizations and institutions, whose officials are a third-class clerks who very often do not know where they are and what they are supposed to do.

Vecernji List: Federation Parliament to adopt the Law on Secret Services

(provided by OHR Mostar)

The secret services AID and SNS, functioning in Sarajevo and Mostar, will cease its operation soon. With the adoption of the Draft Law on Secret Services, due to take place at the next session of the Federation Parliament, a single intelligence service will be formed in which the national balance will have to be respected so as to avoid the new service being a place of wiretapping and surveillance, as has been the case so far, says Vecernji List. According to the Draft Law, the current employees of the AID and SNS will be employed in the new service if they pass the qualification exams. Since it is a complex institution which, at least according to the optimistic announcements of the founders, is supposed to protect the Federation of BiH, the candidates will have to pass a few more not too pleasant exams, says Vecernji List. It is difficult to find out exactly what sort of exams those are, but the candidates must have clean records. Their engagement in the AID or SNS will be investigated thoroughly since the names of some AID and SNS agents have been related to some dubious activities in the past.

Should the new Law be enacted, any intelligence activity outside of the new intelligence service will be punished drastically, and the prison sentences of six months up to five years have been envisaged for engagement in any activity outside of the service.

The daily also reads many of the AID and SNS employees will lose their jobs, some have already been handed dismissals, and there are more to come. Both the AID and the SNS have huge debts and it is not known how those debts will be paid.

Vjesnik: Key witness in the Leutar case gone missing (provided by OHR Mostar)

Nobody knows where the key witness in the “Leutar case” is hiding at the moment and if he is alive at all! Merim Galijatovic, on whose testimony the famous indictment has reportedly been constructed, under which the murder of the former Federation Deputy Minister of Interior was ordered, planned and carried out by Ivan Andabak, Dominik Ilijasevic, Zoran Basic, Zeljko Cosic, Jedinko Bajkusa and Mario Milicevic, escaped the police escort which had been watching over him more or less discreetly for the past few months. This classified information Vjesnik learned from an anonymous source close to the defence team. Circles close to the defence team had also been overseeing Galijatovic’s movements with a help of professional private investigators. He was, reportedly, occasionally held and guarded at a police facility at Suhodol near Sarajevo, but from time to time he would be “set free”, and he would use the opportunities to drink with his mates at a local bar. He used one of those opportunities to escape from under-cover agents (…) Galijatovic used one of his earlier escape to contact Vjesnik, offering them an exclusive story under which he was forced to give a false statement, but in return he wanted a reward of 50.000 DEM. Defence team fears that the organizers of this spy-like thriller could stage Galijatovic’s murder to create a “withdrawal strategy” for them in a process which has been turning into a judicial farce. But the defence team still fears that Croats could be charged with the murder (of Galijatovic). “He has no reasons to fear us. We know that he lied, we know why he lied, but we will not kill them because of that. The truth is the only thing that matters to us”, told us a cousin of one indictee.


Republika Srpska

RS Prime Minister dissatisfied with the efficiency of the judicial institutions

The RS Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, has said that moderate economic growth is expected at the end of 2001 and in 2002. He added that the period of crisis was behind us and announced that important personnel changes would take place in the government bodies this autumn. Speaking at a Monday’s municipal conference of the PDP in Bardaca near Srbac, Ivanic pointed out that the RS was no longer ruled by individuals and that institutions were now under control. He said that there was no conflict between two party blocs and that not a single segment of the RS sovereignty had been lost. Ivanic noted that the two Bosnian entities were receiving financial aid for their budgets without any discrimination and that public sector workers were owed two net monthly salaries instead of the previous three gross salaries. He added that the number of workers regularly receiving pay was bigger than last year and that total exports surpassed total imports. According to Ivanic, the process of purchasing state-owned flats has been de-blocked and taxes have been cut. “One of a few negative trends, which is being emphasised by the opposition, is the 12-percent fall in industrial production. The reason for this is the fact that the RS budget is no longer being used to support the loss-makers”, said Ivanic.The other negative trend is the absence of results in the struggle against crime and corruption, Ivanic said, recalling that the Government of the RS had initiated criminal proceedings in 640 cases and that none of them had been brought to conclusion. “The RS National Assembly also has to deal with this terrible blockade of the judicial system”, said Ivanic.

Deputy RS National Assembly Speaker says SDS problems should not affect global entity interests

Tuesday’s edition of Nezavisne Novine carries a brief interview with the Deputy RS National Assembly Speaker, Zoran Djeric, in which he comments on the government reshuffle and the upcoming visit of the RS parliamentary delegation to The Hague. Djeric says that in The Hague, the RS National Assembly’s delegation will meet with the prisoners from the RS, as well as the Hague Tribunal’s (ICTY) representatives. With the Tribunal officials, the delegation members will discuss the RS co-operation with the ICTY and the entity law on the issue. Commenting on the government reshuffle, Djeric says that it is up to the Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic to decide the matter. He adds that, in his personal view, the RS Government should be reshuffled in the coming period. Asked if the parliamentary majority functions, Djeric says that, at a recent meeting held in Mrakovica, it was confirmed that the parliamentary majority was stable. “Of course each of the four political parties constituting the majority has its own problems. SDS also has its own problems, but they are minor and should not affect the global interests of the entity”, says Djeric.

RS Prime Minister’s Advisor for Privatisation resigned

Tuesday’s edition of Nezavisne Novine reports that the Republika Srpska Prime Minister’s Advisor for Privatisation ,Damir Miljevic irrevocably resigned from office and informed the RS Prime Minister about it. According to the paper, it is well known that Miljevic, working as an advisor, was pointing out at the delays and a lack of transparency in the privatisation process. He was also warning that certain SDS circles were slowing down the privatisation of the state capital in order to accomplish their narrow-partisan and personal interests trying to justify that by saying that the state capital was being sold under its value. Miljevic was close to resigning two months ago but he did not do that due to the Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic’s personal reassurances he would “sort things out” and marginalize the SDS privatisation clan.

Independent Journalists Association called on RS authorities to stop meddling in editorial policy

Tuesday’s edition of Nezavisne Novine reports that the Republika Srpska Independent Association of Journalists (NUN RS) has called on the RS authorities to stop meddling in editorial policy and to end the dominant influence the government exerts on media management, particularly in the state-funded media. In a press release issued on Monday, NUN called on the RS authorities to recognise a fact that the media had to be free and in the service of the citizens. NUN urged the authorities to transform the state-funded media into a public service, thus ridding them of all political influences. The RS Government should behave in line with the Law on Free Access to Information and it should speed up the efforts to adopt a law on RTRS, NUN said. In this way the government would demonstrate its determination to create a legal, modern and democratic framework for the work of the media and journalists. Nezavisne Novine also reports that Radomir Neskovic is newly elected president of the Association.

Momcilo Krajisnik requests Serbian Government’s guarantees

Both Banja Luka dailies quote Serbian Justice Minister and president of the Serbian Demo-Christian Party, Vladan Batic, as saying that Momcilo Krajisnik’s attorneys requested the Serbian Government to provide guarantees for his temporary release from the Hague prison. Batic says that the Serbian Government will discuss this issue at its next session but he does not specify what might be the Government’s position. “My personal view is that the government will approve it but it is up to the Hague Tribunal (ICTY) to decide whether it is going to accept the guarantees or not”, says Batic.


International Community

PDHR Hays visited Banja Luka

Both Banja Luka dailies quote Principal Deputy High Representative Ambassador Donald Hays as saying that he and the Republika Srpska authorities agreed that there is a need to establish a partnership between the RS and the International Community and to accelerate activities to resolve economic problems in the RS. After the meeting with RS President Mirko Sarovic, Deputy President Cavic and RS National Assembly Speaker Dragan Kalinic, Hays said that his first meeting with the RS authorities was productive and it left a prevailed feeling that there was a mutual understanding concerning a need of joint work. “It is necessary to move aggressively to resolve economic problems. We need urgent measures to promote new investment and employment”, says Hays. He stressed the necessity to establish the rule of law, professional police, strengthen independent judiciary and reconnect citizens and their elected officials. “The RS authorities agreed that it is necessary to urgently resolve some priority issues. They requested that we search for short-term and mid-term solutions together”, says Hays. Asked if the RS really needed the Law on the Co-operation with the Hague Tribunal (ICTY), Hays said that practically speaking, the co-operation with the ICTY was an international requirement that all states had to meet, but that politically speaking, he believed it was very useful to have a piece of legislation that regulates this matter.

CRA calls users of radio frequencies to submit necessary data until September 24

Sarajevo dailies report that the Communication Regulatory Agency called users of radio frequencies, who did not do so, to submit data necessary for their proper registration until September 24 at the latest.

Jutarnji List: Trial of Tuta and Stela opens (provided by OHR Mostar)

“Mostar was a divided city. Situation on the East Side was similar to the one in Sarajevo. The city was bombed, under sniper fire…”, said in his opening word Kenneth Scott, a Prosecutor of The Hague court. “They were the main (persons) in a campaign of expelling Muslims. “Aim of the campaign was to expel the Muslims or to force them to submit themselves to the Bosnian Croat’s rule”, said Prosecutor Scott adding that the Bosnian Croats used mass expulsions, beatings and tortures of the Muslims, killings and looting of their homes in the Mostar area. “They are both indicted as commanders, on the grounds of command responsibility, and personally, for war crimes committed during 1993. in the area of Mostar and Jablanica. Indictment charges them with crimes against humanity, violations of Rules of war and the Geneva Conventions. Prosecution’s opening word was postponed for more than one hour because Kresimir Krsnik, Mladen Naletilic’s lawyer, and Branko Seric, Martinovic’s lawyer, wanted a two-month postponement of the trial, protesting that they only got the final list of witnesses a few days prior to the trial and thousands of documents with which the Prosecutor wants prove Naletilic’s and Martinovic’s guilt. “This a court of justice and the defence is simply not ready. Prosecutor has just submitted some essential evidences, and we have not had time to study them and that’s why the trial needs to be postponed”, insisted Krsnik. Lawyer Seric offered a compromise under which the trial would start and first ten witnesses would be questioned and then the trial would be postponed for two months. But the Panel of Judges decided to start with the trial and question first ten witnesses and then decide on the postponement. “Naletilic and Martinovic were a bad example to their soldiers because they committed atrocities themselves”, said Prosecutor Scott during his exposition. Scott said that Martinovic, being the commander of the “Mrmak” Anti-Terrorist Unit, was subordinated to Naletilic, and he also mentioned Ivan Anadabak as one persons responsible for war crimes showing a photograph of Naletilic and Andabak (…)


Editorial:

Nezavisne Novine: “God Be With You” in the first grade of elementary school

By Branko Peric (provided by OHR Banja Luka)

According to the textbook for Orthodox religious instruction, our children should first learn that our (whose?) salutation is “God be with you”, that they have to kiss a priest on the hand, that the God hears our prays and that is why he helps us. After these first few pages there is a much more difficult part that our children have to absorb. According to this curriculum, children have to learn the entire Old Testament or at least the summarized version of it : Genesis, creation of Paradise, Adam’s sin, fratricide (Cain), the Flood, Noah’s Ark, Abraham and his offspring, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses, the Ten Commandments and the Promised Land. If I did not see the textbook I would not believe that somebody came to the idea that children should learn everything about the complicated history of the Old Testament. The worst part is that this violence over children’s minds is blessed by the RS Education Minister who, by the way, could not pass this Old Testament test. The textbook was designed by Archdeacon Krstan Dubravac and another two priests reviewed the text. Their good intentions should not be questioned, but good intentions do not always bring good results and people from the RS Education Ministry and the Institute for Pedagogy should have known that. How is it possible that the textbook is written by a person who does not know anything about pedagogy or didactics? But since religious instruction is introduced in state schools here in the RS without having designed an educational strategy, why such a rush to write a textbook that lacks a good concept. Even an amateur should know that state schools should educate and not give religion instruction and interfere with church affairs. It would make much more sense that in the first grade of elementary school children should learn about basic religious concepts and ideas. Why do we have to burden the children with confusing contradictions such as crucifixion, resurrection, transfiguration, fratricide, sin, ostracism and sin. Should our children ask themselves where is the God who does good things and helps people? There is also another important question: Should religious instruction be taught in schools? For example in the Unites States there are no classes of religion instruction in state-schools and in the UK this subject is called religious education. Even in those states in which religious instruction is obligatory, students have the right to choose whether they are going to attend it or not. Even the FRY adopted this model which means that students can choose between civic education and religious type of education.

If the RS has already decided to introduce religious instruction in schools than it has to make sure that the textbooks are well written.