| RT RS (19:30) |
| Surrender of Meakić |
| Law on Customs passed |
| Costs of drought in RS |
| Israel withdrawal |
| 30 killed in Iraq |
Due to technical problems no CRHB news were recorded. Also, no headlines for the FTV and BHTV, but for the summaries of the two please scroll down.
| Oslobodjenje | Next to Mandic and Bjelica 12 more names?; Hague indictee Zeljko Meakic surrenders; BiH Parliament – reps refused to reduce their salaries; BiH got first km of its highway |
| Dnevni Avaz | Witnesses confirmed violent behaviour; Steps towards Europe; A bus drove off the cliff; Zahiragic sentenced to two years in prison |
| Dnevni List | Steering Board for Supervision of Police work in BiH established; Ashdown – criminals will not rob public property any longer; Work of Mostar Commission – new deadline for Commission’s proposal is July 30, 2003 |
| Vecernji List | Srdjan Dizdarevic – Croats are forced to leave Sarajevo; First 11,5 kilometres of highway; General Gotovina turns himself in |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Mostar flooded by tropical rain; BiH in fear of application of the Law on Bankruptcy – hundreds of thousands of workers on the street |
| Glas Srpske | Sarajevo – ban list; Unusual car crash in Potocani near Prnjavor – with a tank to a bedroom |
| Nezavisne Novine | Road between Podlugovi – Josanica opened: BiH gets its first kilometres of highway; Trial to former police officers from Prijedor before Banja Luka District Court – defence asks for exemption of judges; Sarajevo – the BiH Customs Administration starting today; Belgrade – ICTY indictee, Zeljko Meakic, surrenders to the police |
| Blic | Milutin Pejic – Mikerevic, you should be ashamed |
Economic Affairs | |
| Josanica-Podlugovi highway
| BHTV at 19:00 hrs by Darko Doslo – President of the Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, yesterday opened for traffic 11 km long highway from Podlugovi to Josanice. The BiH government spent 71.5 million KM for the first share of pan European corridor 5C. “Our priority is not finding the builders, but ensuring the necessary funding for the project. I believe that this is the best way to challenge the foreign investors to recognize their interest in investing in the 5C corridor,” Ahmet Hadzipasic, Federation PM said. “The Council of Ministers has accepted a preliminary proposal from ‘Bosmal’, a Bosnian-Malaysian firm, to start the activities on building the entire pan European 5C corridor,” said Terzic. Identical report on the issue carried by the FTV at 19:30 hrs by Ognjen Blagojevic. Avaz pg. 1 and 3 – Terzic concluded that successful commencing of the construction of the 5C corridor showed BiH was ‘again returning and catching up with construction and well as other standards respected an implemented by Europe’. Oslobodjenje pg. 1 and 5 – FBiH President, Niko Lozancic, stated that BiH’s journey to the EU could be sped up with the help of foreign strategic partners who have been showing a great interest in this country. Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 and 2 – reported on the highway opening. Blic pg. 7 ‘First kilometres on the Vc corridor’. |
| BiH HoP adopts law on customs and taxes | BHTV at 19:00 hrs by Lejla Redzovic – the BiH House of Peoples yesterday adopted the Interim Law on Merging of Customs Administration, and also the Establishment of Indirect Taxation Administration. BiH Minister of Finance, Ljerka Maric, pointed out that the taxation under a single law would be a step forward in solving all the issues. RTRS at 19:30 hrs by Dragana Knezevic – this Law will be in force till July 31 when the permanent Law will become effective. FTV at 19:30 hrs by Zlata Behram – the House of Peoples also adopted a draft Law on Primary and Secondary Education. Nezavisne Novine pg.2 ‘Customs Administration of BiH from today’ – According to the daily, the joint customs administration will begin functioning today. The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, welcomed the adoption of the Law and emphasised that it is very positive that the law was passed even before the expiration of the deadline. Glas Srpske pg. 3 ‘Customs as they were’ – reports that until the adoption of the Framework Law, the customs will function as before. Vecernji List pg. 2 ‘New law adopted’, Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 7 ‘Law on merging of Customs Administrations in BiH adopted’ and Dnevni List pg. 1 and 5 – Chairman of the BiH HoP, Velimir Jukic, stated that this was the reform law and that BiH institutions showed their maturity through the adoption of the Law. “Through yesterdays’ voting BiH has passed the first, very practical exam,” said HR Ashdown. He also said that the adoption of this law before the deadline expired was a positive indicator to the EU that BiH was a serious candidate for the EU membership. On the same issue, VL pg. 1 and 2 carries that Fuad Kasumovic from the SDA should become a Head of the Indirect Taxing Administration. VL says that the OHR and CAFAO are not delighted over this proposal since they have information about Kasumovic participating in some financial and economic fraudulent conducts. According to VL, they forwarded these information to the SDA sending a clear signal that Kasumovic would not be appointed. The article says that the gradual reduction of number of employees in the entity Customs Administrations is also a problem for the OHR and BiH authorities. Blic pg. 7 ‘Law on customs adopted’ – “It is envisaged that the two customs administrations of the BiH Federation and Republika Srpska and the customs administration in Brcko District will continue to operate in the next three months as they have done so far, and in the meantime a framework law should be adopted which would resolve all open issues,” said Maric. |
| Srebrenica project | FTV at 19:30 hrs – the project aimed at collecting money for the construction of the memorial centre in Srebrenica did not prove to be successful. The Administration Board of the Srebrenica Foundation together with the BH Telecom founded the project that allowed BH citizens to participate in building the centre. However, only 40,000 calls have been registered. |
| Bankruptcy Law | Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 1 and 17 – apart from publishing the so-called EU’s black list, a new shock awaits the FBiH: the publishing of the Bankruptcy Law in the Official Gazette and its subsequent application. Once the bankruptcy proceedings start, workers of such companies, according to the Law, lose the rights they had as employed persons. SD says it is going to be a painful process for all the companies that could not function on the market – assessments say that hundreds of thousands of workers might find themselves in the streets, which would additionally shake the fragile state of social peace. According to Radovan Vignjevic, FBiH Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, it will not be all workers of a company that would lose jobs in case of bankruptcy proceedings, but only workers of those company’s sections, which do not stand a chance to survive. The worst destiny awaits workers of companies that would be liquidated, as there will be no funds from which their salaries could be paid. |
Political Affairs | |
| FBiH HoR
| BHTV at 19:00 hrs – the FBiH House of Representatives yesterday adopted a decision on forming a commission consisted of both houses of Parliament to coordinate the laws on criminal legislation. Both houses adopted the laws, but in a different text. A proposal of SDA representatives to investigate the recent incident in the Federation Parliament was accepted. The Parliamentary Commission for Defence and Security will conduct the investigation along with special units of the Federation Ministry of Interior. Also reported by FTV at 19:30 hrs by Tomislav Djuric. Avaz pg. 2 ‘The Commission accepted the text of the Law by the government and OHR’ – the joint Commission yesterday harmonized different texts of the above-mentioned Law. Chairman of the Commission, Jasenko Tufekcic, stated that the Commission adopted the text with amendments approved by the government. |
| BiH HoP reps refuse to reduce their salaries | Oslobodjenje pg. 1 and 6 – despite a request by Halid Genjac, a member of the Bosniak caucus, to include on the agenda the issue of increase of pay for parliament reps, BiH HoP reps did not want to discuss the issue on Monday. Genjac failed to get the support for the proposal from his caucus colleagues, and only Tomislav Limov (Croat caucus) thought the issue deserved to be included on the agenda. |
| Arms trade affair? | FTV at 19:30 hrs by Sanjin Beciragic – new information prove the possibility that the Federation Army arms will be sold at a very low price. Last year, heads of the Ministry of Defence and president of the ‘Intrade’ company were criminally charged for selling arms at a very low price (the price was twice as high than this year). This year’s sale concerns an infantry arms to be sold for $12 a piece, which is 10 times lower than the world market price. A tender was announced in March this year, and several companies applied. Signing of a sale contract was postponed according to a new law saying that all companies need to be registered in the Trade Ministry as arms buyers. |
| Cegar case | Avaz pg. 1 and 2 – the Commission for defence and Security at the FBiH Parliament yesterday heard testimonies of five persons who either participated or witnessed the Cegar incident. Semsudin Mehmedovic, a member of the Commission, said that four persons confirmed in their testimonies Cegar’s violent behaviour. He added that the Commission will request sanctions for Cegar, might even include a removal. Avaz on pg. 2 carried yet another article related to the incident (‘Lozancic: the Law should be changed’). Federation President, Niko Lonzacic, thinks there’s a good reason to seriously consider regulations of the existing Law on MoI. Asked who could remove Cegar, Lozancic stated the issue had to be raised by the Independent Board. Oslobodjenje pg. 6 ‘Zoran Cegar before the Commission for Defence today’ – Cegar is to give his testimony today before the Commission after which Commission members will devise a report, which will then be forwarded to the HoR. Another article in Oslobodjenje on the same page entitled ‘Izmir Hadziavdic committed a criminal act’ – Cegar’s lawyer, Faruk Balijagic, wrote to local and international institutions claiming that Secretary of the BiH HoP, Izmir Hadziavdic, committed a criminal act by preventing an official person perform his duties. Balijagic further requested from the HR to suspend Hadziavdic until the case was resolved. Vecernji List pg. 2 ‘Zoran Cegar will be heard’ – reported on the testimonies given tot eh Commission. Dnevni List pg. 1 and 8 reported on Balijagic’s request. |
| OHR on SPRS letter | Nezavisne Novine pg. 8 ‘The OHR prepares answer for the RS Socialist Party’ – OHR Spokesman, Vedran Persic, confirmed yesterday that the OHR received a letter from the RS Socialist Party requesting the High Representative to take a stand on dismissals of its party members. However, Persic did not want to say when the Socialists could expect to get the answer, explaining that OHR did not want to talk in advance about its future moves. OHR Spokesman also said that the answer would be sent to Petar Djokic, President of the Party, not the media. The OHR does not inform media on its letters and messages, said Persic. |
| HDZ candidates for the HNK govt. | Dnevni list pg. 4 ‘D. Lesko candidate for the Minister of Education, and Rajic, Sulenta, Novak, Pandza and Sesar for the Minister of Interior’ – the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNK) Board of HDZ has not prepared the names of candidates for vacated ministerial positions in the HNK government, but refers to HDZ sources saying that it has set the proposal for the position of the Education Minister that will be forwarded to the OHR. The candidate is Davor Lesko, a teacher from Rama, who was originally a candidate for that position at the time of the government establishment. When it comes to the Ministry of Interior, the paper says that the HDZ would propose to the OHR a number of candidates leaving to that institution to select the one they believe would be most suitable. The candidate of Dragan Covic, HDZBiH Vice-President, is Branko Rajic, current Head of Office for Defense of Mostar, and his closeness with Covic dates back from the time when he supported Covic’s candidacy for the HDZ Mostar City Board. Other candidates for the position of the Minister of Interior (MoI) are Zoran Pandza and Radoslav Novak, currently MoI employees. Novak is another one close to Covic as he was one of the assistants at the time Covic was leading the Federation BiH (FBiH) government. Mario Sulenta is said to have confidence of younger HDZ Mostar members and he works in the Department of Administration and Legal Affairs of the HNK MoI. Another person said to be a proposed candidate is Andjelko Sesar. Avis Benes, OHR (South) Spokesperson, confirmed that, by Monday morning, the OHR was not delivered any of the names of candidates for the mentioned ministerial posts. |
| Commission for Mostar re-organization | Dnevni List pg. 1 and 7 by Zvonimir Jukic – the IC has set 30 July as the new deadline for the members of the Commission, which is to draft the new Statute of Mostar. The Commission is to submit its proposal by the given date on the Mostar re-organization to the City Council of Mostar. DL says the original deadline of July 1 has been extended due to skirmishes among Commission members. The paper comments that the constellation of political forces in Mostar does not guarantee that the road to abolish division in Mostar would be an easy one, adding many analysts believed the OHR did not intend to raise the issue of Mostar re-organization this year, yet many requests by political parties, independent intellectuals, civic associations, made HR Ashdown change his mind. DL goes on to say that, even if the Commission does not reach a solution, the IC will then have a final say as, after having delivered unambiguous principles for Mostar re-organization, the IC cannot withdraw and allow the status quo in the city. “If the OHR successfully completes the job in Mostar, it will be yet another success on account of the current High Representative whose move vary from disastrous to brilliant ones,” the paper says. DL concludes that the work of the Commission members costs taxpayers between 60,000 and 80,000 KM, each member getting 5,000 KM. Should a solution not be found, it would be yet another example of money wasting. |
| Interview with Dizdarevic | Vecernji List pg. 1 – an interview with President of the BiH Helsinki Board for Human Rights Srdjan Dizdarevic. He mostly talked about difficult position of Croats in Sarajevo. Asked whether there was a political deal between the SDA and HZD about Sarajevo and Mostar, Dizdarevic confirmed. “Absolutely, all three national parties divided the territory among themselves, however, they were not acting with weapons any longer, but they used more sophisticated methods. The SDA has pretension for Sarajevo to become Bosniak city and on the HDZ side there is a lack of sincere will to fight for Croats getting equal position in Sarajevo and returning tot eh city.” Dizdarevic says that the HDZ is using all negative phenomena in order to present itself as a protector of Croats, and in order to legitimate their moves in areas where they are in power. Dizdarevic added that the situation was the same in the other parts of the country, but with different protagonists. |
| HDZ Presidency session | Dnevni List pg. 5 ‘BiH Army must have civil command’ by Miso Relota – at its last session on Monday evening, the HDZ BiH Presidency did not make any decision with regard to candidates for the HNK government ministers as, according to the party Statute, this was a matter for the party bodies on the cantonal level. As for the reforms in the fields of defense and intelligence, the party is of the view that the BiH Army must have a civil command, that it must be controlled by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, that the Army must be financed from the state budget and that it would be desirable to exclude entities from any competences in terms of the defense structure. Dissatisfaction was expressed over the fact that no officials from the state or entity level authority was consulted when the Working Group, that is to work on the reform of the intelligence system, was set up. |
| Pejic’s open letter to Mikerevic
| Blic pg. 7 ‘You should be ashamed’ – dismissed Director General of the Srpske Poste, Milutin Pejic, on Monday demanded that Republika Srpska Prime Minister, Dragan Mikerevic, accepted an independent investigation by a third party which had not taken part in his appointment or dismissal from the post. In an open letter, Pejic publicly called on Mikerevic to officially accept respect for the law in the case of Srpske Poste, i.e. his dismissal, and instigate an independent probe by the OHR, the BiH ombudsman, the Helsinki Committee or other professional and independent institutions, the results of which should be published. Pejic said that he was prepared to personally bear the cost of the probe, adding that only in this way could the public learn how the case of Srpske Poste started, who worked lawfully and who did not, as well as who misinformed the public. |
| SNS against joint army | Blic pg. 7 – “We are against the formation of a joint army in BiH. If the Republika Srpska Army can not stay organized in accordance with the Dayton’s basis, then the solution is de-miniaturization of the entire BiH,” President of the SNS, Branislav Lolic, says. He thinks that the de-miniaturization is of greater interest then joining the PfP, because Republika Srpska and BiH do not have money for the implementing of these reforms. According to his words, it is better to use that money for creating new jobs or a social program then for buying weapons from the US and NATO. |
| DL editorial | Dnevni List pg. 6 by Slavo Kukic ‘Hitting moral bottom’ – an editorial in which Kukic among the other things harshly criticizes BiH journalists and their connections with political parties. The editorial says that the journalists are not the only problem and that the moral values of the audience itself are the problem as well. The editorial concludes: “In other words, the problem is with the readers who experience as values tadpoles, like the ones who are glorifying Covics these days, who are scribbling about HPT, invasion of Bosniaks, endangered position of Croats etc., and not like what they really are – half-literate idiots and moral jerks, who are pushing the whole nation into moral morass.” |
Fighting Crime | |
| EU black list | Oslobodjenje pg. 1, 4 and 5 – the OHR today will announce the EU black list. According to the daily, next to Mandic and Bjelica, the list carries names of 12 more persons. The following people should be on the list – members of Karadzic’s family, Milenko Vracar (former RS Finance Minister) and Milorad ‘Legija’ Vukovic (Head of the Zemun clan). According to daily’s source Croatian General Ante Gotovina should also be on the list, as well as Orthodox Bishop Amfilohije Radovic, a rep in the BiH Parliament, Hasan Cengic and Chairman of the RS NA Dragan Kalinic. Nezavisne Novine pg. 2 ‘The list of persona non grata today’, Glas Srpske cover page– as announced from the OHR yesterday, the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, will hold a press conference today. NN speculates that, according to information from Brussels, some 100 names may be on the list. Blic pg. 7 ’20 names on the list’, Vecernje Novosti pg. 3 ‘List of 100 unwanted’. |
Police Affairs | |
| EUPM
| BHTV at 19:00 hrs by Vanja Ibrahimbegovic – EUPM Commissioner, Sven Frederiksen, evaluated the situation in BiH secure, since it did not get worse. “When it comes to safety of returnees, which is one of our priorities, the situation in the last six moths has been stable.” He pointed to significant movements concerning the stamping out of crime, and investigating attacks on returnees. |
| Matanovic case | Nezavisne Novine pg. 3 ‘Defence asks for exemption of judges’, Glas Srpske pg. 10 ‘They ask for exemption of judges’- upon the request of Miroslav Cadjo, one of 11 former police officers from Prijedor indicted for war crimes against civilians, and his lawyer, the main hearing before the Banja Luka District Court was postponed. Cadjo’s lawyer, Milorad Djukic, requested the exemption of judges appointed to the case and disputed the authority of the Court. According to NN, Djukic insists on the transfer of authority to The Hague Tribunal. The Republika Srpska Supreme Court will take a stand on the request of the Prijedor group. |
| Frederiksen with police commissioners | Dnevni List pg. 1 and 3 – following yesterday’s meeting of the EUPM with the FBiH, RS and the Brcko District police commissioners, Zlatko Miletic, Radomir Njegus and Milenko Milicevic, EUPM Commissioner Sven Frederiksen underlined the supervision of the work of the local police, i.e. the rule of law, as the main priority. For that reason, a new body has been founded – the Steering Board, which consists of two police commissioners from the FBiH and RS, a Police Commissioner from the Brcko District, SIPA and State Border Service (SBS) directors. In the meeting, the common direction of activities was determined and a number of working groups that would cover all the operational aspects of the work were established. |
The Hague Affairs | |
| Meakic surrenders
| BHTV at 19:00 hrs by Mirjana Bujovic – Bosnian Serb Zeljko Meakic, accused of war crimes in the Omarska war camp, surrendered to the Serbian Ministry of Interior. Zeljko Meakic’s attorney, Jovan Simic, confirmed the information. He also stated that the defendant would plead not guilty to all the charges. It is now also known for certain that Veselin Sumarcanin, accused of war crimes in Vukovar, will also be delivered to The Hague Tribunal by the end of the week. BHTV carried another report on Mekic by Boris Grubesic, which states that The Hague indicted Zeljko Meakic in 1995 for genocide, crime against humanity and breaking the war laws. FTV at 19:30 hrs – Meakic was on a list of 18 Hague fugitives suspected to be hiding in Serbia and Montenegro. Reported by RTRS at 19:30 hrs by Gordana Draskovic. Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 and 3, Glas Srpske pg. 3 ‘Meakic surrenders’ – Meakic is supposed to be extradited to the Hague Tribunal by the end of this week. Vecernje Novosti pg. 17 ‘Meakic surrendered’. |
| ICTY investigating Mandic | Nezavisne Novine pg. 3 ‘The Hague investigates war records of Momcilo Mandic’, Glas Srpske pg. 3 ‘The Hague keeps an eye on Mandic’ – the Beta news agency reported that the ICTY intensively investigates war records of Momcilo Mandic, businessman from BiH, currently residing in Belgrade. A source close to diplomatic circles told the agency that the ICTY was checking all documents referring to the concentration camps in Srbinje/Foca and Kula in Sarajevo, from the time when Mandic was the justice minister in the government of Bosnian Serbs. Vecernje Novosti pg. 17 ‘Hague asks for Mandic’ – the US Administration placed Mandic on the black list of individuals from former Yugoslavia banned entry into the US and freezing their assets in the entire country. He is also on the EU’s black list. |
Media Affairs | |
| CRO press on FTV | Dnevni List pg. 2 ‘Ruling parties interfere into FTV’s editorial policy’ – according to the June 2003 Report on the Work of the FBiH Ombudsmen, a recommendation has been sent to the FBiH government not to support the proposal for the amendment of the Law on FRTV BiH, and the recommendation to the competent Parliamentary houses to adopt an adequate decision in line with the highest democratic standards and commitments of BiH in the membership in the Council of Europe. Vecernji list pg. 4 ‘As of today, only 1 program’ – reminds that, as of today, the FTV reduces its program to one channel only and that FTV’s summer scheme starts tomorrow. |