Oslobodjenje: Carla Del Ponte in BiH – The Hague requests RS to stop protecting Radovan Karadzic; Ploce/Neum issue still waiting resolution
Dnevni Avaz: The Chief ICTY Prosecutor in Sarajevo – Del Ponte urges apprehensions; BiH and Croatia – There is no stoppage in cooperation
Jutarnje Novine: BiH/ Croatia Interstate Cooperation Council – There is no deal on the Port of Ploce and dual citizenship; Establishment of a special Court of BiH’s chamber for organized crime – In a more efficient way against corruption; Carla Del Ponte in Sarajevo – I am tired of repeating
Dnevni List: More and more young Mostar citizens with heart diseases; Croatia and BiH signed three agreements; Barisa Colak to run for the BiH Presidency; The High Representative – law must be adopted by January 1
Vecernji List: At the last moment, four Croat political parties established a pre-election coalition; Ashdown prepares new removals
Nezavisne Novine: Del Ponte and Jorda meet with Ashdown in Sarajevo – RS must stop protecting Karadzic; RS Customs Administration Director thinking about resignation – Milica Bisic under pressures
Glas Srpski: Mirko Sarovic and Mladen Ivanic – For a more stable Srpska
Vecernje Novosti: Reply of Karadzic’s wife to SFOR Commander: Radovan a free man!; Carla Del Ponte to Swiss Ministry of Justice: We know names, we have bank accounts (of Dragan Tomic, Milovan Bojic, Nikola Mitrovic, Tomislav Jankovic, Mirko Marjanovic, Dragomir Tomic)
EuroBlic: Mirko Sarovic and Mladen Ivanic in Serb Sarajevo: The RS institutions are not in crisis; Paddy Ashdown: I expect dismissal of the RS Customs Administration Director; Dragan Kalinic: The Customs affair directed against the SDS; Ljiljana Karadzic-Zelen replies to SFOR Commander Sylvester: Radovan will not surrender, he has chosen a different road; Cesic in the Hague
Nacional: Former Head of Yugoslav State Security Service, Rade Markovic: I’m not afraid of the Hague; Ljiljana Karadzic: I do not want to persuade my Radovan to surrender
Carla Del Ponte visiting BiH – The Hague requests RS to stop protecting Radovan Karadzic |
Oslobodjenje reports (front page, continued on p 3 with photo of Ashdown and Del Ponte) that the Chief Hague Tribunal Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said in Sarajevo on Monday that the Republika Srpska had to stop protecting the most wanted war crime suspect Radovan Karadzic. Together with the Tribunal President, Claude Jorda, she met with the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, at the beginning of their several-day visit to BiH. Following the meeting, Ashdown told reporters that peace and justice could not be established in BiH as long as the war crime indictees are at large. (
Dnevni Avaz – front page with photo of Del Ponte and Ashdown, continued on p 2,
Jutarnje Novine – p 3 with photo of Del Ponte and Ashdown, mentioned on the front page, and
Nezavisne Novine – front page: big picture of Ashdown Del Ponte and Jorda, page 3: small picture of Ashdown and Del Ponte also reported on the event)
Karadzic in no mood to surrender, says wife |
SARAJEVO, June 17 (Reuters) – Radovan Karadzic is not considering giving himself up for trial before the ICTY, according to the wife of the Bosnian Serb wartime leader who has been on the run since 1996,
Reuters (Nedim Dervisbegovic),
Dnevni Avaz (p 10) and
Jutarnje Novine (p 8).
“His position and chosen path cannot be altered by anything, not even by my own efforts, not even if my family or I had a will to change his mind,” she said in a letter published on Monday by the Bosnian Serb bi-weekly newspaper Patriot. The published letter, written by Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, is a copy of one sent to NATO-led peacekeepers in Bosnia 11 days ago, according to the paper. The letter, which Karadzic family members confirmed to Reuters was authentic, came as bad news to the NATO-led peacekeepers who have twice failed to nab Karadzic this year.
A session of the BiH/Croatian Interstate Cooperation Council held in Sarajevo – the Ploce/Neum and dual citizenship issues not discussed |
According to
Dnevni Avaz (p 4, announced on the front page), at its session in Sarajevo on Monday, the BiH/Croatia Interstate Cooperation Council did not discuss the disputed issues of the usage of the Croatian Port of Ploce and dual citizenship.
“We recommended and requested the bodies of the two states to resolve these issues through the institutions of the system honoring the principles of the both countries’ interests, European standards and local legislation,” Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Beriz Belkic, said after the session. For his part, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said that, obviously there were people who did not want faster resolution of the problems.
“They prefer raising of the tensions because they still expect changes of the interstate borders established following the Second World War,” he said. The BiH and Croatian officials signed three bilateral agreements: on cooperation in combating terrorism and organized crime, on common locations of border crossings and on amendments to the agreement on legal assistance in civic and criminal matters (
Oslobodjenje – p 6, announced on the front page,
Jutarnje Novine – p 6, announced on the front page,
Glas Srpski – page 3,
Nezavisne Novine – page 4,
Blic (p11),
Vecernji List (page 2),
Jutarnji List (page 2) and
Dnevni List (page 3) also reported on the session.
“BiH and Croatia have still not reach the stage in their mutual relations at which they might resolve the most complex issues by their own,”Mirko Sagolj concludes in the Oslobodjenje In Focus editorial.
Dnevni List (page 2) carries an editorial written by Ivica Glibusic. The editorial deals with yesterday’s session of Inter-State Council for Cooperation between Croatia and BiH, which was held in Sarajevo. The editorial says that the session did not give any results because representatives of both sides were just talking, however, they did not agree upon anything. Glibusic concludes that the issues of Ploce Port and passage through Neum will remain a stumbling block, that Croatia and BiH will probably activate when it is necessary for them.
The High Representative’s initiates establishment of special chambers for organized crime, economic crime and corruption within the Court of BiH and BiH Prosecution Office |
Oslobodjenje (page 3 with photo of Ashdown, announced on the front page with photo of Ashdown) reports that, in his address to the BiH Parliamentary Assembly scheduled for Wednesday, the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, will propose establishment of special chambers within the Court of BiH and the BiH Prosecution Office, which will deal with organized crime, economic crime and corruption.
“Foundations for this have been set in the BiH Constitution and the Dayton Agreement’s Annex 4, which foresee the establishment of the Court of BiH with the authority to process interstate and inter-entity crime,” Ashdown told journalists at a press conference in Sarajevo on Monday. (Dnevni Avaz – p 2 with photo of Ashdown, Jutarnje Novine – p 4 with photo of Ashdown, announced on the front page, Glas Srpski – p 3, Nezavisne Novine – p 5, Blic(p 3), Vecernji List (p 3) and Dnevni List (p 5)also reported on the press conference)
Ashdown to remove more officials |
Vecernji List (front and page 3) reads that following the removal of Federation Minister
Grabovac, the High Representative for BiH
Paddy Ashdown could be removing more officials i.e. cantonal governors, cantonal prime ministers and some heads of municipalities who have impeded the return of refugees and participated in suspicious privatization of companies. According to the daily, the secret list includes officials from all three lines of nationality but according to VL, the daily managed to find out that the HR Ashdown could soon remove Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Deputy Prime Minister
Miroslav Coric over his participation in illegal privatization and other deeds that are related to the “Soko” Company of Mostar. VL says that the OHR is checking into moves of the current Governor of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton
Dragan Vrankic whose name has been mentioned in the context of the King Tomislav Foundation case. The daily also reads that other official included in the list for removals is the Una-Sana Canton Governor
Amir Avdic.
RS Customs Administration Case |
EuroBlic (page 3) quotes High Representative Paddy Ashdown as saying at a news conference in Sarajevo yesterday that parallel criminal structures and organized crime networks set BiH back and deter foreign investors”, said Ashdown. As for the RS Customs Administration Case, Ashdown said he sent a very clear message to the RS Government, and especially to the SDS which is protecting Popovic, that he expects Popovic to resign.
Glas srpski reports on its front page about the meeting of RS Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic and RS President Mirko Sarovic, which took place in Srpsko Sarajevo yesterday. Sarovic and Ivanic told press that the stability of the RS and its institutions is the top priority and that the term stability implies a stable government with all its bodies. Sarovic and Ivanic did not deny that some RS institution, such as the RS Customs Administration (RS CA), are in crisis, but they promised that in the next two or three days a good environment for the work of RS institutions would be created. The paper quotes Sarovic as saying that he requested that Ivanic make sure that the investigation into the RS CA case is completed before the next session of the RS National Assembly. Sarovic also told press he requested that Ivanic ensure the stability of the RS Government, which also includes the change of some people in the RS Government. When asked whether the RS Customs Administration Director Goran Popovic will be removed, Ivanic said that this issue is the matter of personnel changes within the RS Government and the Government will do it. Nezavisne novine (page 3), Oslobodjenje (p 4), Dnevni Avaz (p 10), Nacional (p 8) and Blic (p 11) carried a similar report.
Glas srpski quotes (page 3) Chairman of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and the Speaker of the RS National Assembly Dragan Kalinic as saying that he hopes that Sarovic’s engagement will help solving the crisis in the RS as well as preserving the stability of the RS institutions. “As the strongest party in the RS, the SDS has a special responsibility and we shall not let the SDS becomes a party which generates crisis instead of being a stability factor. We request that the talk about the RS CA case, but also the talk about the RS Tax Administration and the RS Directorate for Privatization, be finished before the end of the month. We also request that before the end of the month the RS NA receives a report which will establish the truth about all these cases”, said Kalinic. According to him, the SDS has recently become a target for scorn just because this party has the best chances of achieving good results at the next elections. “That is why there are many reasons, which are in fact the matter of principles, to reconsider our relations with the PDP”, said Kalinic.
As Blic (p. 11) reports, Dragan Kalinic, a chairman of the SDS presidency, thinks the RS Customs affair is directed against the SDS. According to him, the PDP, a coalition partner of the SDS, orchestrated that. Nacional (p. 8) reports that Milan Ninkovic, a high SDS official, said the RS Customs affair was a part of pre-election campaign. According to him, the Customs’ director, the RS Customs Administration’s leadership and Minister of Finance are directly responsible, but also indirect responsibility of those who committed illegal acts should be investigated (in that context he mentioned son of RS General Manojlo Milovanovic, who works in the Customs). “The Government is responsible for the work of the Customs as well as for the work of all other institutions. Person responsible for the Customs affair is Mladen Ivanic. Whose government elected Popovic[director of RS Customs]? Ivanic’s government should remove Popovic, of course, if he is responsible,” Ninkovic said.
RS opposition parties to discuss their further support to the Ivanic’s Government |
Nezavisne novine carries
(page 5) an article which states that a large number of opposition parties in the RS think that an extraordinary session of the RS National Assembly should be scheduled in order to discuss their further support to the RS Government. According to the paper, SNSD, DNS, SDA and DS RS support this initiative, while the representatives of the SDP BiH, PDP and SDS are against it.
Nezavisne novine learns from a source close to the RS Government
(page 2) that the RS Tax Administration Director
Milica Bisic wants to resign because the politics has started to interfere in the work of the RS Tax Administration. The main reason for eventual resignation of Milic Bisic is that the report on misuse of positions in the Former Financial Police and the RS Revenue and Tax Administration, compiled by the RS Tax Administration Internal Control, has never been made public because the RS Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic wanted to protect a PDP member Ljubo Macanovic and therefore did not let the report be made public. The paper reports that in spite of the Ivanic’s ‘intervention’, Bisic forwarded the report to the RS Public Prosecutor’s Office. The RS Tax Administration Internal Control established that the former director of the RS Financial Police, Ljubo Macanovic, his deputy, Vladislav Babic and head of the Banja Luka Financial Police office, Bogdan Novakovic, misused their offices.
Apartments of former Yugoslav Army’s (JNA) members |
Vecernje Novosti (p. 13) reports that although in December last year the BiH Chamber for Human Rights obliged the Federation BiH to change the law regulation which stipulates that if former JNA members are not members of the Federation Army or do not have BiH citizenship then they are deprived of their apartments, no matter whether they are occupancy right holders or owners of apartments. Public attorney of the RS Ministry of Defense,
Branko Mitrovic, said that every attempt to contact the Federation Ministry of Defense or any other competent body has been fruitless. Because of that the RS Ministry of Defense will address High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, and delegates of the House of Representatives of BiH Parliamentary Assembly, in order to solve the issue.
SDS from Podgorica to topple Kalinic |
Nezavisne novine reports
(page 5) that the SDS leadership from Podgorica thinks that Dragan Kalinic cannot run the SDS because he sided with the people from Podgorica who robbed SDS. The paper quotes President of SDS from Monte Negro Dragan Vukcevic as saying that the SDS Monte Negro wants to meet with Mirko Sarovic and Milovan Bjelica to discuss when the SDS will initiate procedure to dismiss Kalinic. Vukcevic also said they want to discuss whether this is the right time for that given that the elections are scheduled for October this year.
OHR welcomes Nikola Gavric’s resignation |
Oslobodjenje (p 4) and
Dnevni Avaz (p 8) report that the Office of the High Representative on Monday welcomed the decision of
Doboj Mayor Nikola Gavric to resign.
“The OHR believes that Dr.Gavric’s decision to resign reflects, albeit after a considerable delay, an awareness of the primacy of the Rule of Law and a broadening respect in BiH for property rights. It also reflects a new awareness of the ultimate responsibility of BiH officials at all levels, including the municipal level,” the dailies quote OHR as saying in a press release. (
Nezavisne Novine and
Dnevni List also carried the Press release)
Ahead of the Srebrenica tragedy anniversary – Memorial Center or blockage of the OHR building |
Oslobodjenje (p 7) reports that the preparations for marking the seventh anniversary of the Srebrenica tragedy have entered a final phase. The associations gathering the Srebrenica survivors have made its standpoint on the occasion saying that, if by June 29 a tender for the Potocari Memorial center is not published, the anniversary on July 11 will not be marked in Potocari but in front of the OHR building in Sarajevo.
Pre-election activities – the Alliance survival brought into question |
Oslobodjenje (p 8 – Almir Terzic) report that the Chairman of the Alliance for Change Coordination Stjepan Kljujic has requested an urgent meeting with the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, to reach an agreement about how to preserve the project of the Alliance, which has been brought into question by recent developments. Dnevni Avaz (p 3 – Sejad Luckin) also publishes an article on what is the future of the Alliance.
“Late on Sunday, following the failed meeting of the Alliance for Change Coordination, it has become evident that the party belonging to the coalition will have to participate in the next elections independently,” Luckin wrote.
HDZ, HKDU, HNZ and Croat Christian Democrats together in elections |
Vecernji List (front and page 2) reads that four Croat parties namely HDZ BiH, HKDU (Croat Christian Democratic Union), Croat Christian Democrats (HD) and HNZ (Croat People’s Union) will go together in the next elections in the RS adding that three parties (without HKDU) will go together in the Federation and at cantonal levels and that HDZ and HD will run together for the state parliament. Out of all parties that have been invited to join the coalition, it is only the HSP BiH that refused to join in.
Dnevni List (front and page 4) carries similar report, adding statement of Head of HNZ
Milenko Brkic: “
I am disappointed because great coalition of Croat parties was not formed. That is bad for Croat political scene.” Dnevni List says that Brkic will not be a candidate for position of Croat member of Presidency BiH. DL carries President of HDZ
Barisa Colak as saying that it would not be logical for HDZ, as strongest Croat party, to propose a candidate from another party. The daily has learned from well-informed sources that the candidate for position of Croat member of BiH Presidency will be Barisa Colak.
NHI to nominate Grabovac’s successor on Tuesday |
“Today, I will propose to the Federation Prime Minister Alija Behmen a candidate for the vacant position of the Finance Minister. Consultations inside the NHI leadership have still not completed so I cannot speak about concrete name,” NHI President Kresimir Zubak told Dnevni Avaz (p 3).
SOS Telephone requests Ashdown to remove BiH Federation Health Minister over children vaccination |
Vecernji List carries an article which says that officials of
“SOS Telephone” service have addressed letter to the High Representative
Paddy Ashdown in which they ask him to remove Minister of Health of Federation BiH
Zeljko Misanovic and Senior Epidemiologist of Federation BiH
Zlatko Puvacic. The daily quotes Director of “SOS Telephone”
Jagoda Savic, who said that the reason for this request is the fact that these two high officials have accepted to implement donation project named
GAVI. Project GAVI is obligatory vaccination of children against hepatitis B, which can be only transmitted sexually and by a needle. Director Savic is suspecting that all this is a research project of large pharmaceutical companies that wish to examine immunological terms of the vaccine. The “SOS Telephone” officials have asked from Paddy Ashdown to engage his associates so that they can contact health ministries in countries of European Union, Switzerland, Croatia and Slovenia in order to learn more about risky way of vaccination of children. The daily says that director Savic already learned that usage of risky medicine is not treated by Criminal Law of Federation BiH.
AFP: Croatia’s population drops for 6.1 percent in decade |
Croatia’s population has fallen 6.1 percent to nearly 4.5 million since 1991, according to results of a 2001 census released by the central statistics bureau Monday. The Balkans country’s first post-independence census put the population at 4,437,460, compared to 4,784,265 in 1991, statistics chief Marijan Gredelj told a press conference. Croatia’s ethnic make-up was 89.63 percent ethnic Croatian, while ethnic Serbs made up the second largest group with 201,631 people or 4.54 percent of the population. In 1991, ethnic Serbs represented 12.16 percent of Croatia’s population. Croatia’s Serbs reacted with anger in late May when unofficial figures hinted at a massive post-war decline. The indications figures had been contested by Milorad Pupovac, the head of the Serb National Council (SNV) umbrella organisation. The last census in 1991 was held while Croatia was still a part of the former Yugoslavia. Zagreb proclaimed independence in June 1991, in a move opposed by Belgrade-backed rebel Serbs that triggered the 1991-95 conflict. According to UN figures, some 280,000 Croatian Serbs fled the country during and in the aftermath of the conflict. So far, almost 95,000 have returned. (
Glas Srpski (page 5),
Nezavisne Novine (p 13) and
CRO press also reported on the issue)
Headlines in Electronic Media |
BHTV 1 (Monday, June 17, 1900) - BiH and Croatia signed on Monday three agreements on cooperation in various fields. (3)
- The Office of the High Representative will submit, by June 19 at the latest, the laws on establishment of special councils within the BiH Court and future BiH Prosecutor’s Office which is to deal with these crimes. (2.25)
- “I stress to RS authorities that they have an obligation towards international law and domestic laws to play an active role in arresting war criminal Radovan Karadzic,” said Ashdown after meeting with president of ICTY Claude Jorda and Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte. (2.5)
FTV 1 (1930)
- “I stress to RS authorities that they have an obligation towards international law and domestic laws to play an active role in arresting war criminal Radovan Karadzic,” said Ashdown after meeting with president of ICTY Claude Jorda and Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte.
- FRY authorities today extradited Serb Ranko Cesic, indicted for crimes against humanity committed against hundreds of Bosniaks and Croats in Brcko Luka camp in 1992, to ICTY.
- BiH and Croatia signed on Monday three agreements on cooperation in various fields.
RTRS (1930)
- RS president M. Sarovic has asked RS prime-minister M. Ivanic to responsibly lead the government and ensure its stability until the October elections. There was no talk of removals in RS customs at today’s meeting. (2)
- Opposition denies D. Kailnic’s statements that they are responsible for the affairs in RS. (1.3)
- High Representative said in Sarajevo that SDS is protecting G. Popovic, director of rS customs. (2)
- High Representative P. Ashdown met with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte in Sarajevo on Monday (2)
- Member of war Serb forces D. Mrdja, accused of murder of more than 200 men in August 1992 on Vlasic mountain, pleaded not guilty before the ICTY. (1)
