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| BiH Presidency transferred some authorities to the Secretary General of the SCMM | SCMM to prepare conclusions after analysis of the Orao report | Establishment of Federal House of Peoples and federal executive authority have been disabled | Regular RS Assembly session- mandatory presented report on work and composition of his cabinet |
| BiH Court’s judges and prosecutors have been elected | BiH Court judges and prosecutors have been elected | BiH Court’s judges and prosecutors have been appointed | Prime Minister Ivanic summarised results of two year executive authority work |
| Warning strike of secondary schools has been completed in one part of the Federation BiH | Warning strike of federal secondary education workers | In Srebrenik, another successful customs’ operation against evaders has been conducted | OHR announced that RS authorities have information on support for Radovan Karadzic |
| Still no report on health condition of General Janko Bobetko | Iraq under threat of war with US
| BiH Presidency requested from SFOR extradition of Sabahudin Fiuljanin to the Federal authorities | EC is of opinion that added value taxes should be introduced at state level as soon as possible |
| Oslobodjenje | Games around opening of cardio-surgery clinic in Sarajevo; OHR measures against organized network – Pressures on Karadzic’s supporters |
| Dnevni Avaz | Investigators submitted the dossier – Prosecutor has evidence related to the Strom affair |
| Dnevni List | Meeting of international officials in BiH with High Representative Paddy Ashdown: Last preparations for arrest of Radovan Karadzic |
| Vecernji List | Scandal: Zlatko Dizdarevic, BiH Ambassador in Croatia: I did not know that wounded Andjelic undergoes medical treatment in Zagreb |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Economic giant from Siroki Brijeg came in conflict with Municipal authorities regarding communal fees: Lijanovici: We are moving to Croatia or Serbia |
Affairs | |
| BiH Presidency on Orao, Fijuljanin cases
| The BiH Presidency on Thursday initiated a discussion on the report on the Orao affair and ordered the BiH Standing Committee for Military Matters to prepare a proposal for conclusions on the basis of which it will continue a debate on this issue at one of the next sessions, in the presence of RS President Dragan Cavic. At a press conference held after the session of the BiH Presidency in Sarajevo, Secretary-General of the body Srdjan Arnaut explained that the same report on the Orao affair delivered to SFOR was delivered to the Presidency, but without photocopies of documents and other attachments. According to Arnaut, the SCMM can request the attachments that are initially not delivered to the Presidency. Moreover, in accordance with the Human Rights Chamber decision, the Presidency requested from SFOR to extradite Sabahudin Fijuljanin to the Federation authorities, the reporters were told after a session of the Presidency on Thursday. The Chamber on January 13 ordered the state and Federation authorities to officially request from SFOR to extradite Fijuljanin, suspected of violating the security of the international forces in BiH. The decision was made after the Chamber considered Fijuljanin’s appeal. SFOR arrested Fijuljanin on 26 October 2002. At the session, the Presidency also assessed as extremely damaging recent statemenst made by Serbin’s Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and Zdravko Tomac, a senior Croatian Parliament’s official, that brought into question the BiH’s territorial integrity and state sovereignty. (Dnevni Avaz, p 4: Statements of Djindjic, Tomac are extremely damaging for BiH”, Oslobodjenje, p 3: Orao in hands of SCMM”) |
| New cardio-surgery clinic to be established in Sarajevo? | Although BiH already has cardio-surgery clinics in Sarajevo and Tuzla, another cardio-surgery clinic might soon be opened in the BiH capital. According to Oslobodjenje front page story (continued on pages 4-5: “Games around opening of new cardio-surgery clinic in Sarajevo – Deal on establishment of a new clinic was being discussed at a secret dinner”), Dr. Vladimir Velebit, a famous cardio-surgeon who is supposed to be the head of the new clinic, has recently organised a half-secret dinner for the staff of the current Sarajevo Cardio-Surgery Clinic at which the establishment of the new clinic has been discussed. |
| Czech Strom company’s relations with PTT BiH | The Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor, Mustafa Bisic, has received the official response from the authorised state investigators related to his request for collection of the information and evidence about the business relations between the BiH PTT (including BH Telecom) with the Czech Strom company. According to the investigators’ findings, the management of the PTT BiH Public Enterprise was deliberately planning activities in order to ensure that Strom becomes its strategic partners without proper procedure. These findings largely confirm doubts that former compositions of BiH CoM led by Zlatko Lagumdzija’s SDP was intending to at cheap price sell the most profitable BiH state company. (Dnevni Avaz, front page, p 3) |
| VL: “Federation Government in favour of Mobilcom of Austria entering BiH” | Vecernji List (front and page 3, by Dejan Jazvic) reads that some political structures in BiH are trying to make sure that Austrian-based “Mobilcom” enters the BiH market of mobile phones operators. VL’s source from one of the banks included in the telecommunication business in BiH told VL that “Eronet” could be the key for “Mobilcom” to enter the BiH market and in order to achieve that, “Eronet” must qualify for the GSM licence in accordance to the “Policy of communications” adopted by the CoM. According to the source, if that were to happen, “Eronet” must become a company in which the State would have its share. “That’s happening right now, but not the way ‘Mobilcom’ would like it. In order to have control over ‘Eronet’, ‘Mobilcom’ should be able to purchase 51% of ‘Eronet’ stocks that are owned by ‘Hercegovacka bank’. But, 4,48% of stock ‘Hercegovacka bank’ sold to Municipality of Grude. If the Municipality of Grude does not sell its stocks, ‘Mobilcom’ will not be able to gain the control package of 51% of stocks. Behavior of the Federation Government in the ‘technical’ mandate and some Ministers in the previous and current composition of the BiH CoM, who condemned selling of ‘Eronet’ stocks to Municipality of Grude, suits the ‘Mobilcom’s’ efforts”. Accidentally or not, one of managers of ‘Mobilcom’, Boris Nemsic, says VL, is a former school friend and good friend of Zlatko Lagumdzija. |
| Toby Robinson: “We are not interested in returning of loan worth 5,6 million KM” | Vecernji List (page 3, by Zdenko Jurilj) reads that the Provisional Administrator for Hercegovacka Bank, Toby Robinson, told representatives of the Federation Ministry of Defence during the meeting held this week, that the returning of a loan worth 5,6 million KMs that a former Federation Defence Minister, Miroslav Prce (HDZ), took and distributed to 112 people, does not interest her at all. Explaining the decision, Ms. Robinson said that she was not interested in returning of the loan because the Ministry had deposited more money than the concerned loan worth 5,6 million KM. Just a remainder, the catch is the whole story is that Prce allegedly took the loan in the name of MoD and distributed it to 112 “chosen ones”, as VL puts it, some of them allegedly were never employees of the Federation MoD. |
| This week’s Dani on Eronet
| ‘Bosanski baromet’ column graded a statement by Slavo Kukic, President of the HPT Mostar Monitoring Board, related to ‘Eronet’ with a single star, meaning a good move. “I am not afraid: I know that Mr. Ashdown has the power to prevent my public acting, the right the work, to deprive me of my human rights and all other citizens rights. He can not however deprive me of my right to an intellectual view about things that happening in my country,” said Kukic. Kukic warned, following shameful sale of ‘Eronet’ shares to the Grude municipality, of unscrupulous robbing of BiH worth a billion and a half-KM. According to Kukic, this comes as a consequence of direct decision by international brokers to push for a third GSM operator via legalizing theft. According to the magazine, Kukic is trying to defend HPT Mostar’s property, but above all to defend this country – this is indeed the question of sovereignty of BiH! The article concludes that it’s good that he is actually not afraid considering the fact that he is facing military-political-national HDZ gangs and big international fishes. ‘Call Eronet for robbing BiH’ on pg. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 by Vildana Selimbegovic. The most extensive in this week’s issue that made the cover page. On the front page, above the title ‘Eronet affair – a theft worth a billion and a half KM’, there is also a picture of two monkey s laughing and below it reads – Bosnians in the eyes of Ashdown. According to Selimbegovic, HR Ashdown has been preaching for months about business and justice, while behind the back of local authorities (who have been only concerned with themselves) he has been handing over western capitalists the crumbs of this country. “Without any shame and any mark of compensation, the third GSM operator, Duetsche Telecom, is entering the local market on a small door,” reads the article intro. The article goes on to say that the selling of Eronet shares showed there was a thin line between the spectacular political-economic actions and the opening of a door to mew, neocolonial system of values. The article quotes by Slavo Kukic, President of the HPT Main Board as of 1 of January 2003. He says that the ‘Eronet’ case initially was good for Toby Robinson to try and annul all financial damages made with the Hercegovacka Bank raid and save the good name of the OHR. However, added Kukic, later on her initial task turned into a different one and Robinson also took over a role of an operator on behalf of a major international capital. Further a statement by Besim Mehmedic, Federation Minister of Traffic and Communication. He stated that the Federation government supported the lawsuit in the ‘Eronet’ case because there was no legal basis for the transfer of the shares to the Grude municipality. “The most important thing is that the government stopped the privatization process,” said Mehmedic. The article goes in a lot of details though a report on the Hercegovacka Banka devised by the Provisional Administrator Robinson. As for the CRA, the magazine mentions ‘calming’ announcements sent from the organization. They keep saying the ‘Eronet’ will pay certain compensation to the state, as decided by the CoM. “At the same time, probably because it’s not travelling via Eronet, the CRA somehow still did not get a letter from Adnan Terzic, CoM Chair. In the letter he requested from them to wait on the new government before starting any process regarding the third GSM operator,” reads the magazine. Finally, the article mentions the support HR Ashdown gave to Robinson. “HR Ashdown has more important things to do – he decided to seriously deal with the prognosis on Karadzic’s arrest (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?).” |
| DL: Serbian PM Djindjic on the status of Kosovo | Dnevni list (last page, “Kosovo is turning into an independent state”) quotes the Serbian PM, Zoran Djindjic, as saying at a press conference that this is “the right time” to initiate the issue of the status of Kosovo as it is, according to him, turning into an “independent state”. That is why he has stated that Serbia is asking from the EU to apply the Dayton Agreement principles in this country, too. Djindjic is further quoted as saying that “the time of waiting has passed” since processes are underway in Kosovo which are practically making it an independent state which will at some point be legally recognized. “In two years’ time, it will be far more difficult to dispute the process than it is now. That is why I am requesting that a debate on the final status of Kosovo starts now”, Djindjic says. DL adds that the authorities in Serbia ask from the EU to get involved in the resolution of the Kosovo issue and to apply the DPA principles on non-violation of borders and the collective rights of national communities. |
| VL: Croatian officials met HVO victims’ representatives | Vecernji List reports (p 4, “No need to worry about denial of rights by the Croatian side”, by N. Koturic) that in light of the fact that there is still a certain number of victims whose status has not been resolved and in the context of media reports on the alleged change in the system of support to HVO victims and possible depravation of those rights that caused some panic, a delegation of the HVO victims met with the highest officials of the Republic of Croatia: with Ivica Pancic, Croatian Minister for Defenders Issues, Zdravko Tomac, the Croatian Parliament’s Deputy Speaker, and with Goran Granic, the Croatian Deputy PM. Following the meeting, Dinko Cutura, the President of Posavina Canton HVIDRA, stated: “The aim of our visit was to get first-hand information on what is actually true, as well as to inform Croatian officials on the current difficult situation in BiH and FBiH when it comes to the war victims. I can confirm now that there is no reason for panic among the HVO Homeland War victims who realize their rights through the Republic of Croatia. We have been given assurances and guarantees that that there will be no reduction of the current amount of allowances and, even if there are some changes, those will not be to the victims’ detriment”. It has been concluded that the talks on some of the offered proposals will continue and that Working Groups will be engaged to draft solutions concerning signing of bilateral agreements between the two countries. |
| SD: “Lijanovici: We are moving to Croatia or Serbia” | Regarding yesterday’s report in Vecernji List that “Lijanovici” Company has moved its seat from Siroki Brijeg to east Mostar, today’s Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 17) carries one of the leaders of “Lijanovici”, Mladen Ivankovic, as denying the aforementioned report. “We are thinking about moving, not to east Mostar, but to Croatia or Serbia”, says Ivankovic. “The whole meat industry in BiH, not only ‘Lijanovici’ has found itself in a non-competitive position because of the wrong customs policy”, states Ivankovic hoping that Siroki Brijeg authorities will be interested in keeping ‘Lijanovici’ at Siroki Brijeg. |
| SD: ” ‘Appeal for third BiH’ circulates in Sarajevo” | Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 13) carries that a document that allegedly contains a new initiative of BiH intellectuals on creation of a new, third Republic of BiH circulates in Sarajevo. The document allegedly clearly says that BiH peoples have been completely humiliated after the Dayton Peace Accord was signed and that the peoples should work in future on the creation of the third republic that would succeed the Dayton BiH. |
War crimes | |
| IC to build up pressures on Karadzic’s supporters
| The International Community will build up pressures on the organized network, which supports Radovan Karadzic, which comprises several dozens of people and which makes it possible for him to still freely walk throughout RS more than seven years following Dayton Agreement signing, Oslobodjenje quotes Chief OHR Spokesman Julian Braithwaite as saying (p 3, mentioned on the front page). Dnevni Avaz (p 2, mentioned on the front page: “IC imposes sanctions – Momcilo Mandic might lose his property due to the support to Karadzic”) also carries an article on the issue with pretty similar message but quoting the sources close to the Peace Implementation Council. Dnevni List (front and page 3, by D. Vukoja, “Meeting of international officials in BiH with High Representative Paddy Ashdown: Last preparations for arrest of Radovan Karadzic”), Vjesnik (page 2, “Penalty for associates of Radovan Karadzic”), Vecernji List (page 15, “Sanctions for Karadzic’s associates) and Slobodna Dalmacija (last page, “To arrest Karadzic through sanctions against RS”) carry OHR Spokesperson Oleg Milisic as saying that High Representative Paddy Ashdown believes that exerting of the financial and political pressure against the support network to Radovan Karadzic and other persons charged with war crimes in BiH might make more probable their transfer to The Hague. DL carries that in the OHR opinion Karadzic is not a threat for the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, however he has power to slow it down and postpone it. DL also says that the Human Rights Watch report, which says that the RS still refuses to cooperate with ICTY, has come at the right moment. DL wonders whether this campaign to arrest Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, which has been intensified lately, is about saving of face of international officials especially Paddy Ashdown, who has been criticized because of his statement that The Hague will not see Karadzic as long as Karadzic has a support of people, or it is about real, concrete moves made against responsible politicians in the RS. The article also says: “Ashdown’s move in the Orao affair, when he turned a deaf ear to the public calls to raise the issue of the political responsibility of Mirko Sarovic, who was the Head of the Defense Supreme Council at that time, and Mladen Ivanic, who was the RS Prime Minister, makes logical expecting of similar moves now as well. Or the cry of Carla del Ponte has become unbearable. Each radical move is a danger for destabilization of the whole country.” DL also carries that people still love Karadzic a lot and the last elections showed it. DL goes on to say that the HR is aware of it and for this reason the arrest of war criminals and showdown with right SDS factions, that support Karadzic, has become his priority. DL says that OHR representatives do not talk about concrete actions and possible sanctions that the RS and its political elite might be exposed to. |
| Ivanic on Karadzic’s supporters network
| Former RS Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic said on Thursday that the Office of the High Representative (OHR) should submit evidence to the RS authorities about persons included in the network of Radovan Karadzic’s security. “The OHR explained that the population cannot be subjected to sanctions because of the non-cooperation of the RS with the Hague tribunal, and if the OHR has evidence about people who are included in the network of security of Karadzic, it should deliver them and those people will be held responsible,” Ivanic said. He said that the OHR also should produce evidence according to which the revenues from the RS customs have been used for Karadzic’s security instead for the budget, after which the RS government will take official stand. (Dnevni Avaz, p 2: “Ivanic claims there are no The Hague indictees in RS”) |
| Oslobodjenje on Karadzic’s arrest | In the Oslobodjenje In Focus column, the newspapers’ Editor-in-Chief Senka Kurtovic writes that until possible concrete action no one believes any more in promises about Karadzic’s arrest and punishment of those supporting him. Another editorial in today’s Oslobodjenje (written by Hamza Baksic) was dedicated to the issue. Baksic actually support the idea about very bad influence of the indicted war criminals still at large on the current political developments. |
| VL: “Human Rights Watch’s Annual Report: RS did not process a single war crime” | Vecernji List (page 2, Zoran Kresic) carries a report on an annual report that Human Rights Watch (HRW) made about the situation in BiH in 2002. The report in general reads there’s has been positive development in the areas of return of refugees and DPs, processing of war crimes and constitutional protection of rights of constituent peoples. The case of extradition of the so-called “Algiers group” is mentioned as one of the biggest incidents when it comes to violation of human rights. The report also mentions three failures to arrest Radovan Karadzic and cites Carla del Ponte’s words that SFOR’s operations were “PR operations”. The report also criticizes RS authorities for their relation with ICTY. “RS authorities refuse to co-operate with the International Criminal Tribunal in Den Haag”, reads the HRW report and goes on to say that unlike in the Federation of BiH, RS is yet to process a single case of war crimes. Finally, the report says BiH has to do a lot of things to be considered a country of stable democracy which respects human rights. |
| Zdravko Tomac: “A new hundred indictments for war crimes are being prepared – BiH gets 50” | Dnevni List (front and page 16) carries an interview with a Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Zdravko Tomac, in which he renders the issue of war crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Tomac says he has analyzed information about the ICTY work, various statements by politicians and Chief Prosecutor of ICTY and came to a conclusion that the ICTY is preparing to indict around 100 people before it closes down. Tomac says that all these cases will be conducted against “big fish’ i.e. senior military and political leaderships of states of the former Yugoslavia. |
Establishment of new authorities | |
| Serb parties fail to form floor group in Federation parliament
| Croats and Bosniaks on Thursday formed their parliamentary floor groups in the House of Peoples of the BiH Federation Parliament, while Serbs and deputies from the ranks of other peoples failed to do so. The formation of floor groups should have preceded the constituent session of the House of Peoples, which is scheduled to take place in Sarajevo on Friday. The constituent session of the Serb floor group was attended by nine deputies who had been elected to the House of Peoples so far, while three deputies from the Party of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) said they did not want to take part in the formation of a floor group until all 17 deputies had been elected. The Croat caucus officially nominated Niko Lozancic as the candidate for the FBiH President. (Dnevni Avaz, p 8: “SNSD rejected formation of Serb caucus until appointment of all 17 Serb deputies”) |
| SD: Interview with HDZ’s Niko Lozancic: “BiH is a state by force” | Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 15, conducted by Dino Mikulandra) carries an interview with a Vice President of HDZ BiH, Niko Lozancic, in which he talks about some topical issues. Questioned to comment on the current constitutional set-up of BiH and whether the DPA can be changed to the benefit of all the peoples and citizens, Lozancic says: “The constitutional and administrative set-up of BiH is so bad it is amazing how it functions at all. Makers of the Dayton set-up in BiH additionally “improved” it with the so-called Sarajevo Agreement. BiH has been consciously organized in a way it cannot function without strong interference of the IC and that’s the only reason this situation is being kept this way until present days. The fact that the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, enacts more laws than the Parliament, that foreign intelligence services determine suitability of ministers, and that under the veil ‘of professionalism and independence’ international officials appoint judges and prosecutors, speak much about ‘perfection’ of the constitutional set-up (…) There are too many forcibly imposed solutions. Forcibly imposed rules of the game and relations never lasted forever. It will not be the case here, we are sure of that”. |
| Judges to Court of BiH, BiH state prosecutors appointed | The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH (HJPC) appointed on Thursday eight new judges to the BiH Court, formed the BiH Prosecutor’s Office and appointed four new prosecutors to this institution. A statement by the HJPC says that the following were appointed judges to the Court of BiH: Lada Simic, Jasminka Orucevic-Cohadzic, Zarko Radovanovic, Vlado Adamovic, Davorin Jukic, Salem Miso, Mehmed Sator and Branko Peric. Marinko Jurcevic, Medzida Kreso, Jasmina Gafic and Bozo Mihajlovic were appointed prosecutors to the BiH Prosecution Office. Marinko Jucevic was appointed chief prosecutor and Medzida Kreso deputy chief prosecutor. The statement says that all appointments will be in force from 27 January 2003. (Oslobodjenje, p 3, Dnevni Avaz, p 4) |
International community | |
| M. Humphreys: “VAT at state level is condition for EU admission”
| Dnevni List (page 6, “VAT at state level is condition for EU admission”) carries that Michael Humphreys, the Head of the European Community delegation in BiH, stated that European Commission and other international organizations in BiH unanimously agree that BiH has to introduce a value added tax at the sate level with joint administration. DL says that this was stated at the press conference held in Sarajevo yesterday when Humphreys and Allan Jensen, the Head of CAFAO, presented the results of Report on VAT introduction, which was handed over to High Representative Paddy Ashdown. (Dnevni Avaz, p 5, carries an interview with Jensen: “VAT brings lower prices”) in which he reiterates the IC positions on the issue. |
| Srdjan Dizdarevic on Ashdown | Dani: ‘Ethnic division suits Ashdown’ pg. 36 and 37 by Ermin Cengic. An interview conducted with the President of the BiH Helsinki Committee, Srdjan Dizdarevic, following the most recent report by the Committee on human rights in the past year. Cengic recalls that the report, as an illustration of relations in the IC, noted a statement by HR Ashdown that human rights were not a priority. Asked whether that meant that the Committee and the IC were on the opposite ends when it came the protection of human rights, Dizdarevic replied that the colonial relationship had become more obvious towards BiH by the IC. ‘When we criticize the IC we criticize concrete cases and concrete persons related to the cases of human rights violation.” Asked about whether he thought the return process would be successfully completed, as claimed by SFOR and OHR, Dizdarevic replied that he thought they gave up on it long time ago, that the story was over and the priorities were somewhere else. “When I say that I have my vision of it, I mean that the current structure of the IC and the current HR are in favor of ethnic division. It is all based on a one big, intentional or unintentional misunderstanding on the interpretation of what multi-ethnicity in BiH is. There is certenly no doubt that the IC is advocating for the multi-ethnicity in BiH, it’s just that they see it differently than us Bosnians. Therefore, I think that the current stabilizing of three ethnic groups actually suits Ashdown as a representative of English colonialism that has traces in Africa, over Cyprus and elsewhere where they did not help much even those ethnic groups who existed before them to stay together.” |