| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | TV PINK (18,00 hrs) | BHT 1 (19,00 hrs) |
| Pope’s health condition stabile | Trajkovski commemoration | HR on transfer of ICTY cases to BiH |
| BIH to process war crimes cases | Miletic to surrender to the ICTY | Miletic surrenders to the ICTY |
| HR’ warns RS over coop. w/ICTY | Indictment against Perisic for Mostar | Rasim Delic goes to Hague |
| HR on RS MoD investigation | HR on transfer of ICTY cases to BiH | War crimes suspect arrested in SCG |
| NTV Hayat (19,00 hrs) | FTV (19,30 hrs) | RTRS (19,30 hrs) |
| HR on transfer of ICTY cases to BiH | HR on transfer of ICTY cases to BiH | Miletic to surrender, Tolimir indicted |
| Miletic surrenders to the ICTY | Miletic surrenders to the ICTY | Regional issues |
| Gianfranco Fini visits BiH | Tolimir indicted for Srebrenica | HR on transfer of ICTY cases to BiH |
| Trajkovski commemoration | War crimes suspect arrested in SCG | HR on police reform |
| Oslobodjenje | BiH ready to process war crimes; Memorial [to Trajkovski] disclosed at Rotmilja; Miletic departs for |
| Dnevni Avaz | Ashdown: RS is about to face new sanctions; Memorial [to Trajkovski] disclosed at Rotmilja |
| Dnevni List | Death of Trajkovski is still a mystery |
| Vecernji List | BiH is ready for The Hague trials |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Jelavic approved 739.000 Kunas for apartment in |
| Nezavisne Novine | Anniversary of Trajkovski’s death was marked |
| Glas Srpske | Snow related titles |
| EuroBlic | Serbian related titles |
| Vecernje novosti | Serbian related titles |
| Nacional | Serbian related titles |
ICTY cooperation and other war crimes issues | |
| BiH first country in region to be given green light to process war crimes cases
| RHB, RTRS, FTV, PINK, BHT 1, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Great success of BiH judiciary’ by S.N., Oslobodjenje cover splash, pgs 4-5 ‘BiH ready to process war crimes’ by A. Omeragic, EuroBlic pg RS2, announced on cover ‘Ashdown threatens with new measures against Srpska’ by Dusanka Stanisic, Nezavisne Novine pg 3, announced on cover ‘BiH can start processing war crimes’ by A. Sisic, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Hague at home’ by N. Zelenovic, Vecernji List, front pg splash ‘BiH is ready for The Hague trials’ and pg 3 ‘Trials for crimes committed in BiH should not be held abroad’, by Dejan Jazvic, Dnevni List, pg 5, mentioned on front ‘War crimes trials can start’, by D. Polovina-Mandic, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 16 ‘BiH first in the region’, by Z. Rerig– High Representative Paddy Ashdown said at the press conference that as of Friday BiH is the first country in the region to have received approval of the Hague Tribunal to start prosecuting cases of war crimes committed on its territory at the level of its judicial institutions. Ashdown announced that the transfer of cased from the ICTY to BiH would soon start and added that this was made possible by the establishment of the War Crimes Council with the BiH Court and the Special Department with the BiH Prosecutor’s Office. He will officially open these departments on March 9 together with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte. NTV Hayat – “I think that this will have an impact on BiH citizens, since the ICTY is going to transfer war crimes cases to war crimes department within Court of BiH,” said Ashdown.On being asked how many cases and when were they going to be transferred to BiH, the HR said that it was a matter of the ICTY, and that some trials could be processed within several days. |
| Cases “Meakic and others”, “Dragomir Milosevic” to be processed by BiH judiciary?
| BHT 1 – Following the announcement that the BiH will process the war crimes case before its domestic judiciary, the media reported that the case against Zeljko Meakic and the others indicted by ICTY for crimes committed in Prijedor’s concentration camps “Omarska” and “Keraterm” should be among the first to be received from the ICTY. PINK, Hayat, Oslobodjenje cover splash, pgs 4-5 ‘BiH ready to process war crimes’ by A. Omeragic– Commenting on possibility to process the case of Milosevic in BiH, HR Paddy Ashdown said “there are no reason whatsoever why the ICTY should decide to have Milosevic tried [in the Hague]. The crimes were committed here and he should be tried here, if not tried before the ICTY. The Government agrees with this and hopes that this is going to happen, and I hope that Minister [Slobodan] Kovac agrees with this too.” Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘BiH ready to take over cases of Meakic, Stankovic and Milosevic’ by E. Sarac – BiH Justice Minister, Slobodan Kovac, has informed the ICTY Registry that the BiH is ready to take over the cases of “Zeljko Meakic and others” and “Dragomir Milosevic”. Asked by DA to comment speculations by media that his Ministry doesn’t want the case of Dragomir Milosevic processed before the BiH courts, Kovac said that “BiH met conditions to process all cases, including Milosevic’s if ICTY decides to transfer it.” |
| Jurcevic: 10.335 persons accused of war crimes in BIH
| Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ’10.335 persons accused of war crimes in BiH’ by H. Orahovac – The Chief BiH Prosecutor, Marinko Jurcevic, told Avaz that to date BiH Prosecution has received 1264 crime reports accusing 10.335 people for war crimes. He explained that if the BiH Prosecution teams decide that the report is “very sensitive” that it would be processed at the |
| Ashdown: RS to improve cooperation with ICTY or face sanctions
| RHB, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 5 inset ‘Arrests of sanctions against RS’ by A.O., EuroBlic pg RS2, announced on cover ‘Ashdown threatens with new measures against Srpska’ by Dusanka Stanisic, Nezavisne Novine pg 3, announced on cover ‘BiH can start processing war crimes’ by A. Sisic, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Hague at home’ by N. Zelenovic – High Representative Paddy Ashdown warned RS authorities on Friday that he will again have to impose certain sanctions if visible progress in their cooperation with the ICTY is not made soon. “The RS is again failing to carry out its commitments towards the ICTY. Time is running out and NATO rejects BiH accession to the Partnership for Peace in April then further sanctions will follow”, Ashdown said at a press conference in Sarajevo. Dnevni Avaz cover splash, pg 5 ‘RS is about to face new sanctions’ by Sead Numanovic – In a page long interview to DA, the HR Paddy Ashdown warns the RS authorities that the cooperation with the ICTY is an obligation that cannot be negotiated and says that “RS is on a road to another failure.” Ashdown says he doesn’t fear that new sanctions could lead to another crisis in the authorities. |
| Glusac: RS MoI has intensive contacts with ICTY indictees at large
| Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘RS MoI has intensive direct contacts with ICTY indictees’ by E.S. – Spokesperson for ICTY Interior Ministry, Zoran Glusac, dismissed allegations on inability of RS to arrest war crimes and denied this is a reason why the MoI has started with the negotiations with ICTY indictees’ families. “The negotiations we carry out are just one aspect of activities aimed at the cooperation with the ICTY,” said Glusac to DA. He adds that MoI has contacts with indictees through their family members and friends. Dnevni List, pg 9 ‘Karadzic and Mladic are thinking about surrendering’, by NINA – In an interview to the TANJUG news agency, the RS PM, Pero Bukejlovic, stated that he was convinced that the most wanted ICTY indictees, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, would consider voluntary surrender to the ICTY. “Following the surrender of Karadzic and Mladic’s closest associates, it is certain that they too will think about it and about the way it could eventually end up so we could turn to development and solving of social issues”, said PM Bukejlovic. |
| Miletic to voluntarily surrender to ICTY; Zdravko Tolimir third indictee in Srebrenica case; Perisic indicted for Mostar
| RTRS – Retired RS Army general Radivoj Miletic will voluntarily surrender to the ICTY on Monday, confirmed the Serbia Government. Miletic decided to do so after he held talks with the Serbian Justice Minister Zoran Stojkovic. ICTY has also unsealed the indictment against Zdravko Tolimir, former RS Army general, accused for crimes committed in Srebrenica. Jovan Simic, the Advisor to Serbian President for ICTY issues couldn’t confirm whether the Serbian Government is negotiating with Tolimir about his surrender. Simic told Srna news agency that there is also indictment against former JNA general Momcilo Perisic for crimes committed in Mostar region. ICTY stressed on several occasions that it is important for all indictees to use a possibility and surrender immediately after the indictment has been issued so they could be transferred to Hague, which increases their chances to serve sentences in one of the European countries, says ICTY spokesperson Florence Hartman. She adds that every delay of surrender increases chances for the cases to be sent to the courts of country in which the crimes were committed. Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Third on the indictment for Srebrenica and Zepa is general Zdravko Tolimir’ by E. Sarac – In his statement to Srna news agency, Simic could not confirm whether there is an indictment against Momcilo Mandic. NTV Hayat, FTV, RHB, PINK, BHT 1, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Zdravko Tolimir the third from indictment’, mentioned on cover, by Branislav Boskov, Nezavisne Novine pg 2, announced on cover ‘General Tolimir was accused, Miletic surrenders to the Hague’ by N. N., Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Miletic goes voluntarily too’ by Srna, Dnevni List, pg 7 ‘General Miletic voluntarily goes to The Hague’, by Hina, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 9 ‘Another Mladic’s aide in The Hague’, by A. Macanovic, Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘Radivoj Miletic goes to The Hague on Monday’, by Dejan Jazvic – also reported on Tolimir’s indictment and Miletic’s surrender. |
| Serbian authorities arrest another indictee for crimes in Zvornik
| PINK, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 7 inset ‘Six arrested for crimes committed in Zvornik’, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Another suspect of war crimes committed in Zvornik was arrested’ by Mr. K., FENA – The spokesperson of the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office, Bruno Vekaric, on Friday told Tanjug that one of the nine persons indicted for the war crimes committed in the territory of Municipality Zvornik in June of 1992 has been apprehended. Vekaric reiterated that six of the nine indictees have been apprehended so far. The ICTY Prosecution transferred this case to the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office in July last year. The indictment charges for forced deportation of 1822 Bosniaks from Zvornik and murder of 15. Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Dusko Vukovic visited mass grave Glumina in 1998’ by A.Hadzic – DA source close to the leadership of the Serbian Interior Ministry confirmed that so far, the police arrested brothers Vojin and Dusko Vuckovic, Brano Grujic [former SDS leader in Zvornik], major Marko Pavlovic and another military commander. |
| Ashdown welcomes MoD reports, demands evidences of measures taken by 15 March
| PINK – The High Representative Paddy Ashdown welcomed the report issued by BiH Ministry of Defence on systematic weaknesses in command and control over BiH military forces, adopted by BiH Council of Ministers on Tuesday. HR said that RS Ministry of Defence had to submit evidences that it undertook all measures recommended in the report by 15March. HR said that he was disappointed with the fact that RS Ministry of Defence failed to explain how Ratko Mladic was on RS Army pay list by the end of 2001. The RS Minister of Defence Milovan Stankovic, commented: “The [further] investigation should prove whether there any persons from 410th Press Centre still employed with the RS Army.” HR pointed out that the report stressed the need for having the command and control at BiH level improved. RHB – Stankovic also said that investigation will show whether they are persons supporting the war crimes suspects at large still working in RS Army structures. |
| McShane invited Balkans countries to cooperate with ICTY
| Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘McShane invited SiCG, Croatia and BiH to cooperate with the Hague’ by Beta – British Minister for European issues Dennis McShane Friday invited western Balkans countries to fully cooperate with the Hague Tribunal in order to fulfill pre-requisites for the admission to Euro-Atlantic integrations. In a press release issued upon new report on western Balkans by British Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, McShane emphasized he agreed with the conclusion of the Committee saying that the western Balkans countries must fully cooperate with IVTY. |
| SD: Jelavic signed for money to purchase apartment to ICTY fugitive | Slobodna Dalmacija, front pg splash and pg 14 ‘Jelavic approved 739.000 Kunas for apartment in Split to renegade Rajic’, by Vuk Djuricic – Carries a whole page article about people who were reportedly helping the hiding of an ICTY indictee (charged with killing of Bosniaks in Stupni Dol), Ivica Rajic, who was hiding in the Split area until 2003 when he was arrested and extradited to The Hague. Among other people who helped the hiding of Rajic in |
Political and other issues | |
| Monument to Boris Trajkovski unveiled at site of plan crash
| PINK – A monument commemorating the first anniversary of the death of Macedonian president Boris Trajkovski in a plane crash was unveiled at the site of the crash some 15 kilometres south of Mostar. A monument was unveiled by BiH Presidency member Sulejman Tihic and Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski. BiH Presidency member Dragan Covic told at the memorial: “Being a modern politician, Trajkovski managed to show that negotiations had no alternative. He knew how to overcome a number of difficulties, which brought him high international reputation.” BiH Presidency President Borislav Paravac stated on the occasion: “We remember the great friend of BiH, great leader, person who had a vision on BHT 1, RHB, NTV Hayat, FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 4, mentioned on cover ‘Memorial [to Trajkovski] disclosed at Rotmilja’, Oslobodjenje pg 3, mentioned on cover ‘Memorial [to Trajkovski] disclosed at Rotmilja’, Nezavisne Novine cover pg splash and pg 4 ‘Anniversary of Trajkovski’s death was marked’ by V. Coric, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘A great friend is gone’ by G. D., Dnevni List, front pg splash and pg 3 ‘Death of Trajkovski is still a mystery’, by NINA, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 16, mentioned on front ‘Monument to Boris Trajkovski unveiled’, by M. Landeka, Z. Zekic, Vecernji List, pgs 2-3, mentioned on front ‘Munument to Trajkovski unveiled’, by Valentina Rupcic – also reported. |
| Italian Foreign Minister meets Ivanic
| NTV Hayat – Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gianfranco Fini, visited BiH and met with the his BiH counterpart, Mladen Ivanic. They discussed the situation in the region and bilateral relations between the two states. Fini stated after the meeting: “I want to emphasise that support to BiH does not present a matter of friendship and kindness, but certain national interest of PINK, FTV, BHT 1, Dnevni Avaz pg 10 ‘It is Italy’s strategic interest to support BiH’ by A.M., Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Strategic goal of Italy is the admission of the Balkans to Europe’ by M. Cubro, Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘BiH is strategic area for Italian companies’, by Erna Mackic– also reported. |
| Hays visits Mostar
| RHB, Dnevni List, pg 14 ‘Mostar needs investment plan’, by NINA, D. K., Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 22 ‘Mostar is city of hope’, by M. Landeka, Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘There needs to be investment plan for Mostar’, by F, Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Mostar is a city of hope’, mentioned on cover, by Onasa – PDHR, |
| Dokic confirms PDP ministers will stay in CoM
| Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Dokic: we will stay at CoM’ by V. P. – Outgoing Minister of Traffic and Communications Branko Dokic has confirmed pre-requisites, necessary for PDP Ministers to continue working at CoM, have been fulfilled. Dokic said the Presidency of the party would hold a session over the weekend in order to reach a decision on whether the current PDP Ministers would stay at CoM. |
| SNSD proposes changes to BiH Election Law
| Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Early elections with mandate of four years’ by V. P. – SNSD is preparing draft changes to RS Election Law. According to SNSD Deputy President Krstan Simic, SNSD would suggest that the authority representatives are elected for a four-years long mandate at early elections, for the difference of the current provisions defining the representatives are elected only for the remaining time of the current mandate at early elections. |
| BiH Statistics Agency: Preparations for census in 2010 have started
| Dnevni List, pg 6 ‘Preparations for census in 2010 have started’, by Mensud Zorlak – According to the Director of BiH Statistics Agency, Zdenko Milinovic, the Agency has started with preparations for carrying out a (population) census in 2010, which is recommendation of the EC. Milinovic notes that employees of the Agency attend seminars and participate in working groups for census related issues that are being organized by the United Nations. |
| US State Secretary for the Balkans: ‘One needs to stay faithful to DPA’ | Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘One needs to stay faithful to the Dayton Agreement’ by VOA – US State Secretary for the Balkans Mark Grossmann has expressed his opinion that the Dayton Agreement should be implemented until ‘we are fully convinced in successful future of BiH’. He added: ‘One day, when BiH is a member of PfP, the |
Police issues | |
| FBiH, RS decertified police announce lawsuits against Ashdown, BiH before
| Nezavisne Novine pg 11 ‘They threat with lawsuit against Ashdown and state of BiH’ by R. Cengic – Approximately 200 decertified police officers from RS and F BiH have announced they would bring a lawsuit against High Representative Paddy Ashdown and state of BiH at the Strasbourg Court. They claim their rights were violated after they were deprived of certificates and they say they would block one or several border crossing points unless they get assurance in writing within one month that an audit of certification procedure at BiH level would be conducted. RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 12 ‘They will sue Ashdown and BiH before the Court in |
| OHR objects adoption of amendments on decertified police officers
| FTV – OHR expressed its disagreement with the amendment adopted by the FBiH House of Representatives on de-certified police officers which will enable those decertified policemen for which the court did not find an evidence for decertification to return to their jobs. FTV asked for explanation from HR Paddy Ashdown. “No, I don’t dispute the verdict of PINK also reported. |
| DA int w/ HR: agreement on police by the end of April
| Dnevni Avaz cover splash, pg 5 ‘RS is about to face new sanctions’ by Sead Numanovic – In a page long interview to DA, the HR Paddy Ashdown says that the international community will not impose the solutions regarding the police reform. He notes that since this is the last big reform in BiH the difficulties are to be expected, however adding that it is “obvious that the public in RS doesn’t share the opinion of the RS leadership,” which was shown recently in the public survey. Ashdown explains that the police structure should be introduced in April: “I think that the agreement on this issue must be reached by the end of April, in order for European Commission to discuss in May whether the conditions for continuation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement were met.” Asked whether he believes that SAA negotiations could commence in May, Ashdown answers he is not optimist due to lack of full cooperation with the ICTY and Adnan Terzic’s delay in presenting the plan for strengthening the state government. RTRS, Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Resistance from Srpska’ by Srna – report on HR’s claim that police reform could save 140 million KM annually. |
| Hays attends conference of police unions in BiH | Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘Police are unified, Unions are not’, not signed – VL reports that PDHR Doland Hays, while in visit to Mostar,also attended a conference of Police Unions in BiH, which was held at Mostar’s Hotel ‘Bristol’. The conference was closed to public, however according to an EUPM spokesman, Alun Roberts, topics included reconstruction of Police and related problems. VL learns that one of issues that was mentioned during the conference is that certain (Police) Unions in BiH are still mono-ethnic. |
Economic issues | |
| Seminar on VAT in | PINK, BHT1, RTRS, Dnevni List, pg 8 ‘Uncertain start of application of VAT law’, by D. Mandic-Polovina, Nezavisne Novine pg 10 ‘VAT would bring increase in prices of goods, but will also encourage production’ by S. Gojkovic – The Indirect Taxation Authority and BiH Foreign Trade Chamber, with the help of BiH Ministry of Treasury and CAFAO, started a series of seminars on VAT and training of taxpayers. First seminar was held in Hayat TV – According to domestic financial experts, VAT should start being implemented by the beginning of next year. They say that prices are going to be increased. Economy experts believe that small companies are going to be shut down. ITA Director Causevic said: “The positive side of VAT is that, according to its definition, it dissimulates import and stimulates domestic production. It is supposed that, by introducing VAT, import to BiH would be drastically reduced, while the domestic production should be improved.” |
| GS op-ed on forestry by PDHR Hays | Glas Srpske – Glas Plus inset, pg 4, announced on cover of Glas Plus ‘Damage instead of benefit’ by |