Latest radio news broadcast at 12.00 on 18 January
| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (12,00 hrs) | BH Radio 1 (12,00 hrs) | RTRS (12,00 hrs) |
| Talks on crosses in Stolac to resume | Bank robbery in Kakanj | Jovicic on ICTY bills of indictment |
| Croatian presidential elections | World news | Croatian lawsuit against FRY |
| Marovic on PIFWCs extradition | Weather | Sanader on Gotovina |
TV news broadcast on 17 January
| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| FBiH HoR in session | Blagojevic,Jokic sentenced | Blagojevic,Jokic sentenced | SDS supports Bukejlovic |
| Cavic supports Matijasevic | | ICTY on verdicts | Blagojevic,Jokic sentenced |
| | Mesic won CRO elections | Srebrenica victims reaction | POWs re:Srebrenica report |
| Blagojevic,Jokic sentenced | Mesic on BiH | Statement of Matijasevic | Killed Serbs in |
| Oslobodjenje | Blagojevic sentenced to 18, Jokic to 9 years of imprisonment; Judges, we shall never forgive you; Jelavic was in the management board; Training of volunteers for |
| Dnevni Avaz | Police crashed five mafia gangs dealing with cars; BiH Unit for |
| Dnevni List | Jelavic trials: Army was paying back loans of Sokovit Company |
| Vecernji List | Features |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Croatian Consul in Mostar Maricic on election frauds: |
| Nezavisne Novine | Preparations for the first peace mission: The training of BiH soldiers for |
| Glas Srpske | Slavko Jovicic: Carla opening the cards |
| EuroBlic | Former RS Army officered sentenced: Blagojevic sentenced to 18, Jokic to 9 years imprisonment |
| Vecernje novosti | Blagojevic sentenced to 18, Jokic to 9 years imprisonment; Radovanovic: There will be no deminers |
| Nacional | Features Serbian related topics |
LATEST NEWS OF TODAY | |
| Serbian Justice Minister Stojkovic on Mladic’s whereabouts
| SRNA news agency – Serbian justice minister Zoran Stojkovic said that the Serbian Government has yet to receive any valid indication that former RS Army commander general Ratko Mladic is in Serbia. “To the contrary, there was the statement of the high representative to BiH, Paddy Ashdown, that Mladic most likely is in |
| Inter-party meeting in | BH Radio 1 News at |
| Talks on crosses in Stolac to resume today
| RHB News at |
| SNSD on RS crisis | Fena – President of the SNSD Executive Board Nebojsa Radmanovic stated that SNSD believe that BiH goes through the most difficult crisis since the end of the war and this crisis cannot be resolved as long as national parties are in power. |
War crimes | |
| Second genocide verdict in ICTY history passed: Blagojevic sentenced to 18, Jokic to 9 yrs
| RHB, BHT1, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje cover splash, pgs 4-5 ‘Blagojevic sentenced to 18, Jokic to 9 years of imprisonment’ by Sense, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Vidoje Blagojevic sentenced to 18, Dragan Jokic to 9 years of imprisonment’, Vecernji List, pg 2, mentioned on front ‘Blagojevic gets 18, Jokic nine years imprisonment’, by gj, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘ICTY: Blagojevic gets 18, Jokic nine years imprisonment’, by NINA, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 2 ‘Blagojevic sentenced to 18, Jokic to 9 years imprisonment’ by Reuters-SRNA; EuroBlic cover and pg 11 ‘Blagojevic sentenced to 18, Jokic to 9 years imprisonment’; Vecernje Novoisti cover and pg 17 ‘Blagojevic sentenced to 18, Jokic to 9 years imprisonment’ – The former senior military officer, Vidoje Blagojevic, on Monday has been sentenced to 18 years of prison for the massacre of 7.000 Muslims in Srebrenica, which is the second verdict for genocide in the history of ICTY. “The Court has concluded that Colonel Blagojevic is guilty for perpetrating in genocide and for assisting in the execution of genocide”, said ICTY Justice Carmen Maria Arfibay. Co-suspect Dragan Jokic has been sentenced to nine years of prison for the crimes against humanity and war crimes. Jokic was the chief engineering officer in the Zvornik Brigade in the time of Srebrenica’s fall. |
| Reps of Srebrenica victims dissatisfied with Blagojevic sentence
| Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘They should stay in prison forever only because of men from Potocari’ by A.H. – DA carries President of the Association ‘Women of Srebrenica’ Hajra Catic who says that they are not satisfied with sentences pronounced against Vidoje Blagojevic and Dragan Jokic because of the crimes committed in Srebrenica. Vice President of the Srebrenica Municipality Assembly Sadik Ahmetovic says that he is not satisfied with the aforementioned sentences as well. FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 4, mentioned on front, ‘Judges, we shall never forgive you’ not signed carries a reaction of the Movement ‘Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa enclaves’ in which they expressed their dissatisfaction over the fact that so small sentences were pronounced for so serious crimes. BHT 1 – “This sentence, as well as other sentences n recent time, shows that Hague Tribunal doesn’t carry out justice anymore and that it is under political influences,” said representative of the Association Mothers from enclaves Srebrenica and Zepa, Munira Subasic. |
| ICTY prosecution to decide whether to appeal | FTV – Following the sentences imposed to Blagojevic and Jokic, the Spokesperson for ICTY Prosecutor, Florence Hartmann, stated that the Office was reassessing the verdicts in these cases and will decide whether it will file appeals in the next several days. |
| Todovic to appear on Wedensady before Judges | Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Todovic to appear before judges on Wednesday’ by SRNA – The Hague Tribunal on Monday evening announced that Savo Todovic was expected to make his first appearance before judges on Wednesday, at 16:30 hrs. |
| Cavic welcomes Todovic’s surrender
| RHB, FTV, Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘That was brave decision to surrender’, by bs, Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘Cavic welcomes surrender of Todovic to Tribunal’, by A. Macanovic, Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘War crimes indictees call on to surrender’, by NINA, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Support to surrender of the Hague indictee’ by Srna, Beta; Glas Srpske pg 5 ‘Support to Matijasevic’ by M.Mi. – RS President Dragan Cavic expressed his support to Police Minister Darko Matijasevic and employees of RS MoI for a successful conduct of activities with regard to surrender of Hague indictee Savo Todovic. Ministry of Interior of |
| UK Foreign Minister welcomes Todovic’s surrender
| RHB, BHT1, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘First step for removing of obstacle for BiH’s integration to EU and NATO’ not signed – The UK Foreign Office Minister Denis MacShane welcomed the action by RS authorities to enable the transfer to The Hague of ICTY indictee Savo Todovic: “We must all hope it marks a first step towards removing the most significant remaining obstacle to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU and NATO integration, and the beginning of a process that sees all fugitive indictees transferred to the ICTY to stand trial.” |
| RS POWs demand audit of Srebrenica report: ‘there were no 7000 victims’
| RTRS, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Inmates want revision of Srebrenica report’, by NINA, Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘For audit on Srebrenica’, Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘Srebrenica Report audit is necessary’ by V. P., Oslobodjenje pg 10 ‘To carry out audit of final report on Srebrenica’ not signed, Dnevni Avaz pg 12 ‘RS Association disputes that there were 7000 victims in Srebrenica’ not signed – RS Association of PoW has asked from RS NA to conduct an audit on the Final Srebrenica Report, since it might cause enormous consequences for Serb people and RS institutions in the forthcoming period of time. Press release reads: “RS Association of Former Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Suspicious figures’ by G.K. – According to GS, Association claims the figure should be around 2300, out of whom majority were soldiers. |
| Jovicic on new indictments
| Glas Srpske cover page story ‘Carla opening the cards’ by G.K. – Slavko Jovicic, Vice President of the RS PoW, stated that Carla del Ponte, ICTY Chief Prosecutor, would disclose war crimes charges committed in former |
| ICTY on new indictments
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘It is still being waited for judges’ decision’ by S.N. – According to DA sources, the bills of indictment that Chief ICTY Prosecutor Carla del Ponte handed over the ICTY judges at the end of the last year are still on hold. ICTY spokesperson Jim Landale stated that nothing has been decided yet. He added that it is possible that there would be sealed bills of indictment and that we learn about them only when the indictee gets arrested or when he turns himself in. |
| German judge critical of ICTY work | Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Tribunal in dead end street’; Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘Inaccurate indictments lead the Hague into dead alley’ by BETA – Wolfgang Schomburg, the German Judge with ICTY, on Monday assessed that the crisis in the work of the ICTY has resulted from insufficient information in the bills of indictment and incomplete information, which Prosecutor’s Office provides to Judges. In an interview to the German magazine “Die Spiegel”, he said that Tribunal faced with “dead alley street”. |
| DA on war past of Brcko rep, Sinisa Kisic
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2, mentioned on front, ‘Sinisa Kisic in chetnik’s uniform’ by E.R. – DA says that the current representative in the Brcko District Assembly and the first Brcko Mayor Sinisa Kisic refuses to talk about his wartime engagement and accusations that he actively participated in the occupation of Brcko in 1992. DA carries a facsimile of a photo published on web page www.brcanskaraja.net which shows Kisic with chetniks in a notorious prison camp Luka during the war. |
| Marovic announces extraditions
| Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Marovic announces extraditions to The Tribunal’ by BETA – Svetozar Marovic, the President of SiCG, in London Monday stated that some Hague indictees, whose residence is known to authorities, might be extradited to the Hague Tribunal by the end of this month. Following the meeting with Tony Blair, British Premier, Marovic said that SiCG officials agreed obligations towards ICTY should be fulfilled by the end of January or beginning of February. |
Political issues | |
| SDS presidency supports Bukejlovic, wants at least 4 ministerial positions
| BHT 1, RTRS, Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Support to Bukejlovic’ by N.D.; Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘SDS accepted the concept of designate Bukejlovic’ by V. Popovic – SDS Presidency gave its official support to Prime Minister (PM) designate Pero Bukejlovic to form his cabinet.SDS wants at least four ministerial positions in new Government. “We gave strong support to future Prime Minister, and that is enough,” said SDS Vice-President, Bosko Siljegovic. Dusan Stojicic, RS NA Speaker, confirmed that that Bukejlovic had asked for one hour-long term from RTRS for public presentation of his program. It is announced that, by the end of this week, PM designate will hold talks with all political parties that preliminarily supported his nomination. EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘Bukejlovic at legal alley’ by EuroBlic team – Apart from carrying statements of Stojicic and Siljegovic, article also features the story of Ramiz Salkic, Head of Bosniak Club at RS NA, claiming that RS President had failed to respect the nomination procedure by having nominated Bukejlovic,adding: “The Constitution stipulates the procedure”, according to which the issue of nomination should follow discussion on resignation of PM Cabinet at Council of Peoples. He also added that the nomination might have been done deliberately, under speculation it would be overturned, since nomination process was deliberately illegal. Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘At least four ministers from SDS’, mentioned on cover, by O.V., Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘SDS expects at least 4 ministerial positions’ by Fena – Also reports on SDS Presidency support to Bukejlovic. |
| FBiH HoR in session | Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Lawyers’ fee amounting to average salary’, by Jurislav Petrovic, Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘Smaller fees to attorneys-at law’, by F, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 18 ‘Law on return of apartments removed from agenda’, by I. Milesic– FBiH House of Representatives did not discuss the Proposal of law on return, allocation and sale of apartments during its session held on Monday. OHR sent a letter asking them to withdraw the item from the agenda, saying that the issue should be solved by BiH Commission for restitution. It is about over 9 000 apartments in FBiH, of which 720 are in Zenica-Doboj Canton, and no requests for return of these apartments have been issued. Trade Union of Metal Workers Chairman, Ismet Bajramovic,claims that the OHR asked the authorities to solve this issue last year. Bajramovic says: “It seems as if there are numerous games going on, by local and foreign factors, but we are going to solve this issue once and for all. I am going to send this letter and the letter I have from earlier on, to see that they are denying themselves. OHR denies itself by the letter.” FBiH HoR also supported draft on law on rights of persons who won the highest war decorations and their family members. Law on FBiH attorneys’ fees was also adopted. Attorneys will not be allowed to charge more than KM 500 for their legal services. RHB, BHT1, FTV, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘OHR suspended Decree on apartments with no property reinstatement claim’ by Agencies, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Law on return, allocation and sale of apartments withdrawn’ by A.M., Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Rejection to discuss the apartments will result against with the protests’ by A. Terzic and Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Draft Law on rights of war medal laureates adopted’ not signed – also covered. |
| Update to “Stolac crosses”: procession, picnic and crosses deconstruction scheduled for same day, same time
| Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 9, mentioned on front ‘Masses of believers coming to Krizevac’, by I. Raguz – The daily announces that at initiative of many believers, the Way of the Cross and holy mass will be performed at the Krizevac hill on January 19 at 0930 hrs, the time which coincides with the timing set for destruction of the main cross and stations of the cross. Oslobodjenje pg 2, mentioned on front, ‘Procession, picnic and pulling down of cross’ by A. B. – Daily also announces procession on Krizevac in Stolac, adding that the the Stolac Youth Forum organized a picnic and the Federation of BiH Ministry of Urban Planning announced pulling down of the cross same day and same place. Father Rajko Mrakovic stated that the procession has nothing to do with the removing of the cross, while, President of the Stolac Youth Forum Nerin Dizdar says that the organized procession is a political act. President of the SDA Stolac Kemal Isakovic says that he has an impression that HDZ is afraid of possible incidents that might happen on January 19. The article also says that President of the Stolac HDZ Mladen Boskovic refused to comment on this issue because Oslobodjenje dropped out 2 important sentences from his press release issued before. Dnevni Avaz pg 12 ‘Father Rajko Markovic scheduled mass and Nerin Dizdar picnic to |
| Boskovic-Mehmedagic-Capelj on Stolac crosses
| RHB, Dnevni List, pg 7, mentioned on front ‘Crosses to stay at Stolac fortress!?’, by NINA, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 9, mentioned on front ‘Head of Municipality trying to postpone demolition’, by I. Raguz – Due to decision on removal of main cross and concrete bases for 12 crosses on fortress in Stolac, municipal authorities of Stolac led by the Head of Municipality, Stjepan Boskovic, held a meeting with the FBiH Minister of Urban Planning and Environment, Ramiz Mehmedagic,and FBiH Urbanism-Construction Inspector Danijel Capelj at Stolac on Monday. The participants of the meeting had not reached agreement whether crosses should be removed as previously announced for January 19, therefore discussions will be continued by Wednesday. |
| Mesic on BiH Croats
| BHT 1 by Ilija Jandric, Oslobodjenje pg 6, mentioned on front ‘Croats from BiH are not Croatian Diaspora’ by D. Zadravec – In statement for BHT1, newly re-elected Croatian president, Stipe Mesic commented on the participation of BiH Croats in Croatian elections. “Those people outside of Croatia, not temporarily, such as [is the case with] BiH Croats, who are constitutive people in BiH together with other two peoples, their vote as Croatian diaspora decreases their position in BiH. That makes them national minority, which they are not.” |
| SD int with Croatian consul in Mostar on election frauds
| Slobodna Dalmacija, front pg splash and pg 2 ‘Herzegovina was voting according to instructions of State Election Commission’, by M. Landeka – Carries an interview with the Croatian Consul General in Mostar, Ratko Maricic, who comments on reports regarding alleged elections frauds in Herzegovina. Consul Maricic says that election commissions working on the ground were working according to instructions coming from the Croatian State Election Commission, noting that all the people who voted more than one time, committed an election fraud. “If there were irregularities at polling stations at the Consulate General in Mostar and if the election commissions were not working good, all the concrete cases should be reported and the responsible should be punished”, says Consul General Maricic. |
| Tihic, Halilovic, Lazovic welcome Mesic’s victory | Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Mesic is best solution for BiH’, mentioned front, ‘Friend of BiH when it was most difficult’ by M. Drinjakovic carries SDA President Sulejman Tihic, President of the SBiH Presidency Safet Halilovic, SDU President Miro Lazovic who welcome Mesic’s victory. |
| Osl. editorial welcoming Mesic’s victory
| Oslobodjenje pg 9 ‘Mesic’s victory’ by M. Sagolj carries an editorial in which the author welcomes Mesic’s victory and he says that after publishing of election results Croatian President Mesic stated for BiH Croats that they are a constituent people and not Diaspora and in this way once again Mesic confirmed his stand on BiH’s integrity and its sovereignty. |
| NN: Terzic to meet SDS, PDP
| Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Parties from F BiH united over “crisis solving” by M. Cubro – NN collocutor from BiH CoM claims that Adnan Terzic would hold consultations with the presidents of the SDS and PDP, regarding filling in vacant ministerial positions at the BiH CoM. The article also claims that the political parties from F BiH intend to form “a block supporting BiH entry to EU”. Safet Halilovic on Monday supported the initiative of the SDU of BiH regarding the creation of a political block, that would be consisted of all parties supportive on ongoing reforms and BiH progress towards EU. EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘Terzic expects leaders of SDS and PDP’ by N.B. – Bojan Zec Filipovic, Spokesperson of Adnan Terzic, did not want to comment on the alleged meeting. |
Crime issue/Judicial procedures | |
| Update to Jelavic trial
| BHT1, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Ante Jelavic was in the management board’, mentioned on cover, by A.N., Dnevni Avaz pg 15 ‘Funds directed to companies controlled by HDZ’ by H.O., Dnevni List, front pg splash and pg 3 ‘Jelavic trials: Army was paying back loans of Sokovit Company’, by Erna Mackic, Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘Nermin Keres a witness at trials to Ante Jelavic’, by Z. Tulic – Report from continuation of trials to Ante Jelavic in the ‘Hercegovacka bank’ case, which was held yesterday (Monday), during which an inspector of the FBiH Financial Police, Nermin Keres, was presenting financial transactions between the FBiH Defence Ministry and some companies via the Hercegovacka bank. Keres’ presentation noted that the FBiH MoD took part in the financing of purchase of founding capital of the bank and purchase of first emission of the bank’s stocks. Answering to a question of Prosecutor John McNair whether the Sokovit Company (one of companies involved in the scheme) took a loan in order to buy stocks in the bank, Keres answered that it did and added that upon reception of funds, the FBiH MoD, in other words the Minister in charge, would sign the Cession Contract, by which the MoD took upon itself to return the loan approved to Sokovit. |
| FBiH MoI inspector testified in Fazlic case
| Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘The inspector who interviewed the key witness testifies’ by A.D.; Glas Srpske pg 13 ‘They extorted money’, Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘FBiH MoI inspector wanted to be protected witness’ by A.N., Dnevni Avaz pg 12‘Miletic received first information from Izet Mustafic’ by H.O. – The testimony of Zlatko Biscevic, a Federation MoI inspector, marked the resumption of the trial against the former Deputy Director of the BiH Interpol, Asim Fazlic. Biscevic along with the Federation Police Director, Zlatko Miletic, had interviewed Izet Mustafic, the key witness in this case who has recently died. According to Biscevic, Mustafic claimed that Fazlic and Kobilic had extorted KM 10,000 from Zijad Turkovic against whom there was apparently an arrest warrant. Mustafic refused to sign his statement in the police and said that he would agree to tell everything he knew to the Prosecutor’s Office on condition that he was given the status of a protected witness. |
| Update to Alijagic case
| Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘BiH Constitutional Court will decide on Alijagic case in the course of this week’ by D. Risojevic – BiH Constitutional Court will reach a decision on request of RS Government and Trebinje authority regarding the suspension of payment of compensation in Safet Alijagic case, because of which Trebinje Municipality is facing a bankruptcy, as the Constitutional Court has confirmed. |
| DA says police broke up 5 mafia gangs dealing with cars
| Dnevni Avaz front pg splash and pg 31 ‘Police broke up 5 Mafia gangs dealing with cars’ by E. Ha. – The Sarajevo Police has revealed a few groups, which deal with car robberies and extorting money from the owners of stolen cars. DA says that this action is a result of work of a special team formed at the level of the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Interior and the cooperation with the Eastern Sarajevo Police, which has improved lately. |
| NN: ‘3 billion KM laundered in BiH every year’ | Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘KM 3 billion laundered in BiH every year’ by R. Cengic – Around BAM 3 billion is laundered in BiH every year through fictitious companies and special bank accounts. This is stated in a report on security situation in the BiH Federation made by the Federation MoI. This report was forwarded to the Federation Parliament in November last year by the Federation Government. |
Military and police issues | |
| BiH unit for
| BHT1, FTV, Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5 ‘Training for volunteers for Iraq has started’, mentioned on cover, by A. Prlenda, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘BiH unit has started with a training to depart for Iraq’, mentioned on cover, by E. Sarac, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘The training of BiH soldiers for Iraq mission commences’ by M. CUbro; EuroBlic cover ‘There will be no deminers’; Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Training ‘till April’, Vecernji List, pg 2 ‘Soldiers from BiH will be classifying weapons’, by Dejan Jazvic, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Soldiers go to Iraq in April’, mentioned on front, by Danka Polovina-Mandic – 49 candidates selected for the Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Disposal Unit of the BiH Armed Forces started basic training in Pazaric on Monday, which marks the start of the final phase of preparing that unit for deployment to Iraq. BiH Defence Minister Nikola Radovanovic commented: “Our unit will work on identifying the type, kind and status of assets that were located by someone else and will then use the safest methods for destroying those assets”, Radovanovic said. Best candidates will be selected at the end of the training and the unit will number 36 members. |
| Salkic says RSNA conclusions on police reform not valid
| FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 15 ‘RS representatives use lies when it comes to police reform’ by E. Sarac – The head of Bosniak Caucus in the RS Council of Peoples, Ramiz Salkic, will send a letter to the HR Paddy Ashdown and the Chair of the Police Reform Commission, Wilfred Martens, to warn them of false representation of the RSNA conclusions by the RS members of the PRC. Last week, Martens said that the PRC has not reached political consensus as RS member called on RSNA conclusions. “RSNA has adopted the conclusions on police, however they were not passed by the Council of Peoples, they were stopped. And what has not passed the CoP is not valid. Members of the Commission have used these conclusions in anti-constitutional manner,” said Salkic. |
| Kalabic on police reform
| EuroBlic RSpg 1 ‘RS MoI without powers?’ by Rajna Radosavljevic – Drago Kalabic, member of RS NA Board for supervision and control over police and defence bodies, says that PRC report explicitly stipulated that the state control and state responsibility would be introduced over police forces in BiH, which practically means that the entities’ interior ministry would lose their powers. He further claims that such a sort of maintenance of RS police department represents “a HR’s concession to RS officials” in order to cerate a picture in the public that RS Interior Ministry was not lost. He notes that according to the proposed PRC report, the police may only be responsible for fire department and civil protection units. |
| BiH HoR Commission for Human Rights on issue of decertified policemen
| Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘Prisoners from Scheveningen complain about slowness of court’ by V.Z., Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Working group for resolving issue of decertified policemen formed’ by M.K. – The BIH HoR Commission for Human Rights, Refugees and Asylum held a session on Monday. Among the other things, they discussed the issue of decertified policemen and it was decided to form a working group whose task is to provide the Commission with the additional information. Member of the Commission Tihomir Gligoric said that the Commission does not have information about the number of decertified policemen in the RS AND Brcko District. |
| RS Defence Ministry on Han Pijesak facility
| RTRS, Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Veliki Zep in jeopardy’; Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘RS Army wants to keep facility at Han Pijesak’ by M.C. – Branko Trkulja, Spokesperson of the RS Defence Ministry, claims that the RS Defence Ministry ahs asked from the BiH Defence Ministry to approve RS Ministry of keeping military underground facility at Han Pijesak, since nobody had used the facility as a hide-out. the demand adds that RS Army needed the facility, since the communication system centre was located here. |
Economic issues | |
| NN on collection of revenues
| Nezavisne Novine cover ‘52% of revenues in RS collected in Banja Luka, Laktasi, Prijedor and Gradiska’ and pg 5 ‘One third of RS revenues are collected in Banja Luka’ by P. Klincov – RS Tax Administration has published information, according to which one third of RS revenues were collected in Banja Luka in 2004. The article further carries statistic data (it lists amounts of revenues collected in RS Municipalities) and quotes economic analyst Borislav Bijelic as saying that these data were not a surprise as well as that the data have only confirmed that the majority of personnel and capital in RS were concentrated in three or four municipalities. |
| DL: Privatization of energy sector halted
| Dnevni List, pg 9 ‘Politicians must find compromise between interests of BiH and America’, mentioned on front ‘Privatization of energy sector is still stopped’, by D. Polovina-Mandic – DL notes that despite the FBiH Government signing a statement on energy policy back in 2000, which was one of pre-requisites for realization of the World Bank’s project entitled ‘Struja III’, which envisages that the privatization of the energy sector would start in 2004 and complete one year after, nothing significant was done with regards to the issue. In that context, DL also reminds that the FBiH Prime Minister, Ahmet Hadzipasic, stated that the state would not be mature to undertake the privatization in the energy sector in the next two to three years. |
| VL: Electricity to become more expensive by 30%?
| Vecernji List, pg 3, mentioned on front ‘Electricity to become more expensive by 20 to 30 percent?’, by Zdenko Jurilj – Notes that a series of meetings, which the State regulatory commission for electricity is planning to start today with representatives of authorities, associations dealing with protection of consumers ect., is an introduction to a new principle of purchase and sale of electricity via licensed companies that should be in place in early 2006 the latest. According to an official release of the said regulatory commission, the (future) price of electricity will include all costs of licensed companies. VL explains since the electricity will not be directly paid to producers, but to the vendor, the association for protection of consumers in BiH expects that the price of electricity will go up as much as 30%. |
| Gas price to go up?
| Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Becarevic: We are expecting 10% increase of gas price’, mentioned on cover, by J. Sogolj – Director of ‘BH Gasa’ Almir Becarevic stated that the delegation of the Russian company ‘Gazeksport’ will come to Sarajevo in order to continue talks on securing new deliveries of gas for BiH. Bacerivic also said that a new price of gas will be discussed during this meeting and Bacerevic expects that the price of gas will increase from 5 to 10 %. |