- Aluminij management welcomes the legal audit report on the company
- Vecernji List: State ownership and capital in Aluminij – intact
- Session of the General Union Commission of Canton 7 – Possible matters of dispute related to Aluminij are outside the competence of syndicates
- Federation Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry postpones BH Steel Management’s decision to lay off 2,000 workers
- Herzeg-Bosnia Canton: Bozo Mihajlovic a new Public Prosecutor
- Court of Honour of the Herzegovina HDZ expels Mayor Tomic
- RS officials say BiH joint army not realistic at the time
- Possible reshuffles in the RS government
- Serb refugee association says OHR wants to drive Serbs away from Kotorsko
- Cardinal Puljic with Prime Minister Ivanic: Talks on status of Catholic Church in Republic of Srpska
- SFOR General Michael Dodson: I know where Karadzic and Mladic are
- Carla del Ponte arrives in Sarajevo for an official visit; Serbian authorities agree to arrest Ratko Mladic
- Serb premier denies agreement to help arrest Bosnian Serb general
- Need for increased involvement of Bosnian courts: ICTY chief prosecutor
- Slobodna Dalmacija: The Sarajevo process
- Slobodna Dalmacija: Competition for leader of new BiH
Federation
Aluminij management welcomes the legal audit report on the company
At yesterday’s press conference, the management of the Mostar Aluminij Factory said that the conclusions of the final report of the legal audit team lead by Wim Timmermans were legally grounded, objective and impartial. Leading officials of this Herzegovina company said they did not expect any other outcome, as this “factory, which complied with all legal regulations and protected the interests of workers,…developed into the most successful exporting company in BiH.” The management added it woudl not ask for a new audit.
Vecernji List: State ownership and capital in Aluminij – intact
The Aluminij management yesterday welcomed the results of the legal audit that the OHR expert auditing team conducted in the company, reads Vecernji List, adding that the ruling Alliance for Changes claimed the report justifies ‘robbery of the century.’
The conclusions contained in the final audit report are legally grounded, objective and impartial, reads the Aluminij press release that was delivered to the media representatives at the company’s press conference in Mostar. None of the Aluminij decisions, documents or acts were found contradictory to the regulations in force. Restructuring of Aluminij by the owner was performed in accordance with the legal regulations and the ownership structure of the company was established in accordance with the regulations in force and should be supported, and therefore, a new audit is not suggested. However, the complete report produced by the leader of the OHR auditing team, Wim Timmermans, was not handed out, reads Vecernji List.
Commenting on the report, the Aluminij management resented the claim that the state ownership in the company has been privatized.
Zoran Buntic, the Legal Advisor in Aluminij, said there was no such privatization in the company. He explained that the co-operation with the OHR expert team, the Privatization Agency and the Federation Government would continue and that Aluminij would hand them the documentation certifying the co-capitalization of the company. After that, the Privatization Agency would be expected to accept the initial balance sheet of the company, which would serve as the basis for privatization.
Deputy General Manager of Aluminij, Vladimir Bozic, said that the current authorities, with their campaign against Aluminij, showed that the state is a bad host and that the international reputation of the company has turned out to be better than that of BiH. To this end he stated that all of the Aluminij’s partners have announced the resumption of co-operation. The principal consortium that comprises Daimler Chrysler, Swiss Glencore and Aluminij, are planning to build a new electrolysis factory in Mostar, which is a project worth 250 million Dollars. This would allow for the aluminium production rate in Aluminij to grow by 100,000 tons.
Bozic called the BiH authorities to account for the poor state of the economy and added that someone should be held responsible for the fact that 2,000 employees of BH Steel in Zenica will lose their jobs. Diverting attention to Aluminij is supposed to serve as a justification of the disastrous economic and social policy of the Government, reports Vecernji List.
Session of the General Union Commission of Canton 7 – Possible matters of dispute related to Aluminij are outside the competence of syndicates
The General Union Commission of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton and presidents of a number of union branch offices discussed in Mostar yesterday the Preliminary Draft of the Statute of the BiH Association of Independent Unions.
President of the Aluminij Union, Miroslav Zelenika, said that the Association of Independent Unions of BiH only acts in the Federation of BiH, and in the Bosniak-majority part of it alone.
President of the Association of Independent Unions, Sulejman Hrle said that the privatization and co-capitalization of Aluminij were conducted illegally and should be rendered null and void. Zelenika replied to this by saying that possible matters of dispute related to Aluminij should not be solved by union organizations, but rather by the institutions of the system. Zelenika said Aluminij met all the legal liabilities to its former employees and employs persons of all nationalities, reads Slobodna Dalmacija.
Federation Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry postpones BH Steel Management’s decision to lay off 2,000 workers
Oslobodjenje reports that the Federation Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry, Hasan Becirevic, asked yesterday the management of the BH Steel company to postpone the realization of its decision to lay off 2,000 workers who have been on the waiting lists. Becirevic said that the implementation of this decision could cause unprecedented negative consequences. Meanwhile, the director of the Kuwaiti Investment Agency KIA and a co-owner of the BH Steel, Adnan Al Sultan, arrived in Sarajevo for talks with representatives of the Federation government. The result of these talks should be known today.
OHR spokesperson, Kevin Sullivan, said yesterday that the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, is also very concerned about the possible lay off of workers in BH Steel and is aware that such move could cause serious political and social tensions.
Herzeg-Bosnia Canton: Bozo Mihajlovic a new Public Prosecutor
Bozo Mihajlovic, a judge in the Livno Municipal Court until recently, is a new Cantonal Public Prosecutor of the Herzeg-Bosnia Canton. Mihajlovic should have officially taken over the position on August 24 this year. However instead, as Slobodna Dalmacija unofficially finds out, the Cantonal Minister of Justice Mladen Stojanovic was only supposed to be officially informed about his appointment on Monday (…) Bozo Mihajlovic got a consent from the Federation Commission for election and appointment of prosecutors in October last year but since the Cantonal Assembly did not appoint a Public Prosecutor after eleven months, Mihajlovic became the Cantonal Prosecutor by law. There are no reactions to his appointment to this very important function from the principles of the Herzeg-Bosnia Canton. But that does not mean that there won’t be any soon. Owing to the Changes and Amendments to the Law on Prosecutorial and Judicial Service, Drvar has also got a Municipal Public Prosecutor and a Deputy Public Prosecutor. By the way, Goran Bradaric was the former acting Cantonal Public Prosecutor and a Public Prosecutor in Livno and Drvar, read Slobodna Dalmacija.
Court of Honour of the Herzegovina HDZ expels Mayor Tomic
Court of Honour of the Herzegovina-Neretva Cantonal Board of the HDZ has expelled the current Mostar Mayor Neven Tomic from the HDZ, confirmed for HINA news agency sources who wanted to stay anonymous on Tuesday. Tomic is being resented for breaching of provisions of the Statute of the HDZ. Tomic briefly stated that according to the Statute he should have been invited to the session of the Court of Honour of the HDZ’s Cantonal Board but this was not the case. “It reminds me of some times from 1948”, added Tomic alluding to the Informbureau’s resolution which eliminated persons with a different political opinion. Tomic is one of rare prominent HDZ BiH officials who enjoy support from the international structure. It is not known whether the expulsion from the HDZ would affect his position of the Mayor of Mostar, reads Slobodna Dalmacija.
Republika Srpska
RS officials say BiH joint army not realistic at the time
The RS vice president, Dragan Cavic, said yesterday that a single BiH army was “not a realistic proposal” at the moment and that the RS authorities believed that a single army was “just a hypothetical idea”. “The Dayton Agreement stipulates the basis for the organization of BiH Army and the RS will respect this. The entity will keep its army. The establishment of a single BiH Army is just not possible,” Cavic said. Commenting on a letter by the outgoing SFOR commander, Michael Dodson, which was published in Tuesday’s issue of Glas Srpski, and in which he called for a single Bosnian army and Defence Ministry, Cavic said that “he cannot reach conclusions as the president of the Serb Republic on the basis of newspaper articles”. He added that “it will take a lot more time to create conditions and find a blueprint for the whole region, so that all military forces cooperate with each other”. Cavic said that no-one from the Serb Republic leadership had ever negotiated the establishment of a single army, even though various ideas and offers had been put forward.
The RS Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic was of similar opinion. “This was just another example of how representatives of the international community voice opinions without giving any thought to the possible consequences”. “Instead of calming down the situation in BiH, such views create more tension than necessary. The RS Army is functioning well, carrying out its duties and has fully met its obligations stemming from the Dayton Agreement,” Ivanic told journalists in Banja Luka. “As far as the RS government is concerned, the situation is clear: the stipulations of the BiH constitution on the organization of the army are very clear and nothing else is possible without amending the constitution,” Ivanic said.
The RS President, Mirko Sarovic, called Dodson’s call for a single army “anti-Dayton and anti-Constitutional.”
Possible reshuffles in the RS government
An extraordinary session of the RS government began on Tuesday on Mt. Kozara, with the attendance of BiH Presidency Serb member Zivko Radisic, RS President and Vice-President Mirko Sarovic and Dragan Cavic. The RS officials are expected to discuss relations inside the government and its possible reshuffle, as well as the RS defense policy. A regular session of the RS government is scheduled for Wednesday.
Serb refugee association says OHR wants to drive Serbs away from Kotorsko
President of ”Ostanak”, an association of the refugees and displaced persons of the Republika Srpska, Bosko Bajic, stated on Tuesday at a public tribune held in Kotorsko near Doboj that the halt of the construction in Kotorsko is the ”pilot-project of the High Representative in BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch, and his associates aimed to deprive the Serbs of their right to stay in the RS, and to drive them away from this region.” He warned that the Serbs, if the construction in Kotorsko is prohibited, will build these houses over the weekend and stay here.”
Cardinal Puljic with Prime Minister Ivanic: Talks on status of Catholic Church in Republic of Srpska
Sarajevo Archbishop, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, met on Tuesday at Banja Luka with the RS Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic to talk about the status of the Catholic Church in this entity. Prime Minister Ivanic said after the meeting that the entire status of the Catholic Church and its institutions were discussed with a special focus on possibility of introducing catholic catechism in the RS schools. Ivanic said that that would not be a problem and that the most important thing was to provide for organization and the staff. Cardinal Puljic briefly said that he was happy with the talks with Ivanic adding that he did not come to Banja Luka in vain, reads Slobodna Dalmacija.
International Community
SFOR General Michael Dodson: I know where Karadzic and Mladic are
At his farewell press conference held on Tuesday in Sarajevo, the SFOR commander, General Michael Dodson said he may know the whereabouts of the two most high profile indicted war criminals, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Dodson, however, added that most indictees avoid residing within BiH as they are aware that the SFOR has a mandate only inside of BiH borders. “They often come into Bosnia…but they leave shortly after. That is why it is difficult to arrest them,” said Dodson, and added that he has no doubt that these people would be arrested and brought before justice. “Whether this will be done by the SFOR, the police in the Federation or the RS, someone in Montenegro or Serbia is completely irrelevant. They will be brought to justice,” Dodson stressed. He also said that the SFOR will inform the Chief ICTY Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, about this problem and suggest some region-wide solutions.
Carla del Ponte arrives in Sarajevo for an official visit; Serbian authorities agree to arrest Ratko Mladic
The Chief ICTY Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, said on Tuesday Serbia had agreed to help arrest and hand over most-wanted war crimes suspect General Ratko Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb military chief now in Serbian territory. “We have spoken (to the authorities in Belgrade) about the fugitive Mladic given that, according to our information, he is here,” Del Ponte told reporters before leaving the Serbian capital for Bosnia. “We need help to find him, arrest him and transfer him to the Hague,” she said. Asked by a reporter whether Belgrade would help capture Mladic, she said: “Yes, it will cooperate.”
Del Ponte, who arrived in Sarajevo late on Tuesday evening, is due to meet chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Zlatko Lagumdzija, representatives of SFOR, the UN and the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, as well as the member of the BiH Presidency.
Serb premier denies agreement to help arrest Bosnian Serb general
Serbia’s Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic denied Wednesday that any deal had been reached with the UN war crimes tribunal to help capture Ratko Mladic, the fugitive former commander of the Bosnian Serb army. Djindjic told B92 radio he had been “surprised” by an assertion made here Tuesday by the tribunal’s chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, that Belgrade authorities had agreed to help track down Maldic. After a meeting with Djindjic and other officials in Belgrade, Del Ponte said she had information that Mladic was hiding in Serbia to escape prosecution on charges of genocide and war crimes for his role in the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
“Mladic was mentioned but that (conversation) ended quickly with the conclusion that we do not know where he is, that he is not our citizen and that the Serbian government is not competent in this case,” Djindjic said. Djindjic’s statement was viewed here as indicating he thinks the fate of Mladic, as a former officer in the Yugoslav army, was the responsibility of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, who is supreme commander of the federal Yugoslav army.
While Djindjic acknowledged that the issue of Serbian cooperation with the UN tribunal came up in the talks with Del Ponte, “no name in particular” was singled out for arrest and transfer to The Hague. “I had an impression that both sides had avoided talks about issues that would not lead to a significant progress, namely the issue about individuals,” Djindjic said. He said Del Ponte’s later remarks could be understood as “a message sent to (Mladic), aimed at provoking a reaction.”
Need for increased involvement of Bosnian courts: ICTY chief prosecutor
The UN war crimes tribunal chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said Wednesday there was an urgent need for greater involvement of Bosnia’s national courts in investigating and processing war crimes committed during the country’s 1992-95 war.
She emphasized that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) could not assume responsibility for all the war crimes perpetrators.
“As you know our tribunal cannot pursue all (war crimes) perpetrators or suspects so it is an urgent need that the national system assumes some of these investigations,” she said after meeting members of BiH Presidencypresidency.
Cooperation between local authorities and the ICTY was also on the agenda, Del Ponte said, stressing that it must be achieved not only at national but also at Bosnian entities’ level.
Asked to comment Dodson’s statement (see first item in this section), Del Ponte said she was “very, very interested in that.” “It can be that it is important information I receive” from Dodson, Del Ponte said.
Del Ponte, who arrived in Sarajevo late Tuesday from Belgrade, was to meet later in the day with Dodson, Bosnia’s top international envoy Wolfgang Petritsch, UN representatives, Bosnian Prime Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija and Sarajevo county’s prosecutor Mustafa Bisic.
Editorials
Slobodna Dalmacija: The Sarajevo process (editorials provided by OHR Mostar)
Editorial by Josip Jovic
If Ivan Jakovcic, the Feudal Governor of Istria (leader of the IDS in Croatia often accused of Italian separatism), was accused of undermining of the territorial integrity of Croatia, breaching of the Constitution, flirtation with neofascism etc. there would be a big scandal which would trigger the whole of Europe and especially Italy. Indictment against Ante Jelavic, (dismissed) President of the HDZ and HNS and other six leaders of the HNS has been received in Croatia as a normal thing. It would appear that the Croats in the neighboring country have been picked as duty culprits for bad implementation of the Dayton Agreement, everything is allowed, even political processes at the beginning of the famous 21st century, not only in the heart of Europe, but also directed by the old Europe, or at least by its representatives (…) Istrians and the Italian minority are not unequal, which cannot be said for the Croat people in BiH, which is not a minority but one of three constituent peoples. History of the implementation of the Dayton Agreement is the history of humiliation of that constituent part of BiH, which culminated in the elimination of elected representatives and appointment of the ones who do not have a democratic legitimacy. The tank audit of a bank remains a world oddity and for months nobody has made a serious report on reasons and results of this unheard-of operation which was called by one former official of the IC as a shameless and frightening act. Only now Wolfgang Petritsch cynically says that he feels sorry for the small depositors and that they would endeavor to compensate the damage which was inflicted by him personally!? Right now there are attempts to put the privatized Mostar-based “Aluminij” company under the state control just because the company is controlled by Croats, in another words by its employees (…) The IC has invested 5 billion US$ in BiH, out of which nothing or very little in the areas under the Croats’ control (…) This points to one thing only: they systematically want to turn Croats into citizens, individuals whose political decisions would be determined by peoples that are bigger in number. Of course the real political representatives of the people reacted to it by establishing the people’s assembly and announcing further activities in line with a people’s right to self-determination. The idea of the referendum and the HNS was “knifed” by the Sarajevo and some Croat(ian) media and by the IC who imposed harsh sanctions, dismissals and destroyed the financial basis. Jelavic and co. are just a group of hard-liners, national-chauvinists and extremists and when it comes to them everything is allowed. The Sarajevo process is just a continuation of attempts to break the will of a people through repression instead of reaching acceptable decisions through dialogue. Repression could only provoke more intensified reactions from the other side. President of Croatia’s statement that the Dayton Agreement should be implemented first, and changed after the implementation is a nonsense, which cannot be said for his second statement according to which BiH would be what its three peoples agree upon. Parts of the IC start to see difficulties this bad project and its even worse implementation has found itself in. Recent speeches of Cardinal Puljic and Bishop Peric before the US Congress’ Board for International Relations, which softened and alarmed Petritsch, show two things at least: firstly, the world does not want to listen to official representatives only and secondly, the Bishops in BiH do not have different opinions when it comes to important political standpoints, reads Slobodna Dalmacija.
Slobodna Dalmacija: Competition for leader of new BiH
Editorial by Stjepan Kljujic
Alliance for changes, with ten parties participating in it, came to power with a program which should open a window for the future of BiH. In reality, the Alliance did not have an alternative, but during the process of coming into power, it was obvious that a vast number of officials from the previous authority have changed their party jerseys, sneaked into the Alliance, and that the Alliance did not respect the criteria of quality and capability of individuals, as it was agreed upon, but they took the most important positions with a sole purpose to take over the authority (…) The special handicap the Alliance has, is its inefficiency to fight against criminal. Instead of facing and solving important problems in BiH, firstly the fight against those who do not respect private property and obstruct the return of refugees, especially in the RS, now we have individuals who are most responsible for the inefficient Alliance speaking out about the so-called All-Bosnian initiative. Instead of establishing BiH as the only possible, multiethnic state, this multi-party group makes moves which are contrary to the only possible establishment of BiH. If you appoint 22 mono-ethnic Steering Boards in State-owned companies and institutions in Sarajevo, then any story about multi-ethnicity becomes unnecessary. A Sarajevo paper learns that Haris Silajdzic has started an All-Bosnian initiative and that its text is being prepared by many people including Ivan Komsic and Mladen Ivankovic. There are no doubts that the text, because of the fact that it is being prepared by Muhamed Filipovic and Nijaz Durakovic too, would be acceptable, because when we talk about them at least, they are people who support a multi-ethnic BiH. You cannot say this for other people involved in this project (…) A commentary in “Oslobodjenje” on a possible leader of the new BiH carries a lot of significance too. They publicly declare themselves that the person could only be Silajdzic, Lagumdzija or Zdravko Grebo. This commentary has determined its standpoint on a multi-ethnic BiH. One thing must be said loud and clear. BiH can and must survive only with a full implementation of equality of its constituent peoples (…), reads Slobodna Dalmacija.