| BH TV 1 (19:00 hrs) | FED TV (19:30 hrs) | RT RS (19:30) |
| Mostar police vs. FTV | Ilijasevic’s trial | OSCE on property issues |
| Money counterfeits | Simatovic to be extradited | Charges against Lemez |
| Talic’c charges against RS | Money counterfeiting | RS charges – 32 Bosniaks |
| Plain crash in Turkey | Plan crash in Turkey | RS delegation in Slovenia |
| Oslobodjenje | A famine threatens the Federation Army; Izetbegovic – Alibabic and Balijagic made it all up; SDP BiH – BiH: republic of citizens; Keraterm, Omarska and Trnopolje – witnesses from the factories of death; Anniversary of the attack on the Sarajevo maternity ward – a walk to save the ward |
| Dnevni Avaz | Izetbegovic: Alibabic again making the same problem; Nezim Catic – veterans’ loans after May 28; Government’s decision awaited – May pension won’t be increased; Diplomacy – 13 ambassadors should return to BiH |
| Dnevni List | The OHR supports work of Head of the FBiH MoI; BiH should be de-centralized state; Interview with BiH Minister of Tranasport and Communications Branko Dokic – solution for the GSM license is an agreement between the HT Mostar and Eronet |
| Vecernji List | Visas for Croatia too soon; 62 Spanish soldiers and 12 members of crew got killed; Charges against 32 Bosniaks from Konjic |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Stop to mass discounts for the ensuring of cars; Punished with a bullet due to a fight |
| Glas Srpske | Will Croatia return apartments to Serbs – Serbs left with empty-hands!? |
| Nezavisne Novine | The Trebinje PSC filed criminal reports against Bosko Lemez and Svetozar Acimovic – former officials caused the Republika Srpska Elektroprivreda deficit of 1.2 million KM; Following the disclosure of arrangement between Vracar and Vasiljevic – debt collectors under an investigation; Stjepan Pocrnja, Secretary General of the Standing Military Committee of BiH – BiH needs a single army |
| Blic | Srpska does not give up its own army; Dragisa Radovanovic: Kostic and foreigners are interested in sugar refinery |
Political Affairs | |
| Izetbegovic
| Avaz pg. 1 and 2 – the biggest front-page story in today’s issue is a reaction by Alija Izetbegovic following the publishing of a transcript of talks between Alibabic and two Herzeg-Bosna lawyers during which Bosniaks officials were denounced. Izetbegovic recalls that in 1983 Alibabic also constructed a lawsuit against him for’ conspiracy against people and the state’. “Alibabic is again trying the same stupid thing, back then it was upon an order by the Central Committee and not it’s for the money,” stated Izetbegovic. Oslobodjenje pg. 1 and 3 – carries the letter by Izetbegovic where accusations from the transcript are denied and Balijagic and Alibabic accused of making it all up. |
| Covic vs. Brka | Avaz pg. 8 ‘Why is Covic refusing to answer to Brka’ – a representative in the BiH HoP, Osman Brka, asked a month and a half ago that BiH Presidency member, Dragan Covic, explain his statement given to the Washington times on March 17 this year. In hi statement Covic said that Al-Qaida cells were active in BiH, that Bush’s Administration should aggressively solve the problem, that Croats did not have full rights and were deprived of positions in many state ministries. Brka stated that if an answer was not presented by the next session he would request the issue to be included in one of the forthcoming Presidency sessions. |
| Oslobodjenje commentary | Oslobodjenje pg. 2 ‘Between the stick and a carrot’ by Zija Dizdarevic – opens up with the recent assessment by the BiH Presidency Chair, Borislav Paravac, that it is not realistic to expect the joining of Bih to the EU by 2009. “A small town political anonymous whose biggest success was to head the executive authority in Doboj where he ‘got famous’ during the time of killing and expulsion of Bosniaks and Croats. Now, he is dealing with high politics and gives strategic assessments. While we have such people at the top of the state not only we won’t come close to the EU, but we will got to hell.” Dizdarevic also draws a parallel between the recent statement by BH delegation at the CoE Parliamentary Assembly, Hasan Muratovic, who requested defining of the length of the IC’s ‘protectorate’ in BiH and the signing of the BiH – US Agreement. “The Agreement is yet another proof of the American dominancy and arrogance, of European lack of definition and inconsistency, and BiH’s state inferiority. The local politicians are raising their voice against the protectorate and at the same time signing servant-like agreement with the US.” |
| SDP initiative | Dnevni List pg. 1 and 7 – during yesterday’s session held in Sarajevo, members of the SDP Commission for Development and Constitutional and Legal Issues, as well as members of the SDP Commission that is in charge of Economy, discussed an SDP’s initiative for the change of the BiH Constitution. They concluded that BiH organized on the principles of the Dayton Peace Agreement looks like ‘an artificial formation without characteristics of sovereignty, which survives thanks to artificial respiration given by the High Representative’. |
| Helsinki Committee on US-BiH Agreement | Dnevni List pg. 8 ‘Do not ratify the bilateral agreement witht eh US’ – a press release by the BiH Helsinki Board Committee for Human Rights in which they call on the BiH Parliamentary Assembly not to ratify the bilateral Agreement with the US on the exemption of the US citizens to the International Criminal Court. The press release also says that having in mind the war that BiH went through they believe that the establishment of this Court was an important step in building of the mechanism of the struggle against the crime that the international law sanctions. Nezavisne Novine pg. 7 ‘The Agreement with the US should not be ratified’ – the BiH Helsinki Board for Human Rights, as the member of the International Coalition for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, called on the BiH Parliamentary Assembly not to ratify the bilateral agreement with the US. |
| SDS internal disputes | Nezavisne Novine pg. 7 ‘Dragan Kalinic is credulous regarding relations with the PDP’, Glas Srpske pg. 2 ‘Disputes with the top’ – Dragan Vuckovic, Vice President of the SDS Bijeljina Board, yesterday said that Dragan Kalinic was credulous regarding the SDS relations with the PDP. “Not only Kalinic, but also everybody at the SDS top, who believe in the sincerity of the SDS partnership with PDP, are credulous. The PDP is not a group of ideologically shaped people, but a group of people greedy for power.” Cvjetin Nikic, President of the SDS Bijeljina Board, stated that the ‘July session of the SDS Assembly would examine its relations with the PDP, but also the conduct of some SDS officials, including SDS Chair Board members’. |
| Comments to HR’s letter | BH Radio 1 at 15:00 hrs on Tuesday – a report by Jelena Radojevic on reactions by politicians and citizens to the Sunday letter by HR Paddy Ashdown, which marked the first anniversary of his work in BiH. The SDA view is that Ashdown initiated important processes, which should result in the improvement living standards in BiH, but also in the membership at the Euro-Atlantic integrations. However, they pointed out the HR’s lack of attention to the implementation of constitutional amendments in the RS. SDS Deputy in BiH Parliament, Momcilo Novakovic, is of the view that lesser involvement of the HR would avoid situations where certain decision where imposed without passing the Parliamentary procedure (i.e. acts concerning the setting up of the CoM). A member of the HDZ Presidency, Velimir Jukic, believes that Ashdown, in comparison with his predecessors, found a better way to help the BiH authorities. However, Jukic still criticizes him for, as he says, a lack of understanding for the specific circumstances in BiH. Deputy Chairman of the SDP Main Board, Slobodan Popovic, does not agree with Ashdown’s claims that a number of measures have been undertaken to fight crime, as well as measures to reduce the immunity of the local politicians. SNSD Deputy in the BiH Parliament, Nikola Spiric, commented on the ‘Jobs & Justice’ achievements by saying that ‘there are neither jobs nor justice’. |
| Mostar re-structuring | With regard to the issue of the Mostar re-structuring, Dnevni List on pg. 14 ‘Agreement on the joint city in Mostar’ – a statement by Mostar Professor, Milan Bodiroga, who says that tolerance should be a starting point in resolving of the Mostar issue. According to Bodiroga, it is also necessary to resolve the issue of refugees and returnees, security of every citizen and their property, employment, equality etc. Bodiroga says that elected officials or those who will be elected should take care of these issues. Bodiroga also says that Mostar should be unified, its organization should be as efficient as possible, it should be close to its citizens and cheap. Also, the real stand and opinion of the citizens on this issue should be determined through a referendum. |
| DL editorial on nationalism in BiH | Dnevni List pg. 6 ‘Dance of vampires again in front of doors’ – an editorial in which the author notes that he was warning of a growing nationalism in BiH during the pre-election times when he was told by his friend not to take the issue too seriously because once the elections were over, everything would calm down. Kukic goes on to say that even after the elections are over, nationalism(s) in BiH are still encouraged by political elite in BiH. In that context, Kukic says one gets an impression that out of the three ‘national vampires’, (Fahrudin) Radoncic’s ‘spitting house’ (NB: Radoncic owns ‘Dnevni Avaz’ daily) is the most aggressive in taking on everybody who wants to stay in the way of the ‘great-Muslim State project’. Kukic also learns from his friends from Sarajevo that ‘Radoncic’s workshop’ is preparing to launch a media campaign against him in which he would be labeled as the main ideologist of the ‘Croat diabolical plan’. |
| Serbs’ tenancy rights | Glas Srpske cover page story ‘Serbs with empty hands?’ – under the pressure of the international community, the Croatian government will try to resolve the issue of the tenancy rights of Serbs, who left this former Yugoslav republic during the war. Milorad Pupovac, President of the Serb People’s Council, assessed that there was around 30,000 such requests. On the other hand, the Croatian government claims there are only 18,000 such requests for apartments. |
Police Affairs | |
| Miletic’s statement / reactions
| Avaz pg. 3 ‘Police director has to forward info on crime to the Federation government’ – reactions to a statement by FBiH Police Director, Zlatko Miletic, that many people holding political posts were also the carriers of organized crime. Federation Vice-President, Sahbaz Dzihanovic, stated that no one should be above the law, but also not everyone can interpret the law they way they think it’s suitable. Added that if Miletic has information of crime then he should forward them tot eh FBiH government. SDA Vice-President, Elmir Jahic, thinks the issue is being politicised. He stated that Miletic should be doing his job in accordance with legal authorities, and not politicise the issue via media. FBiH President, Niko Lozancic, said that statement such statement does not suit a professional of Miletic’s calibre. |
| OHR supports Miletic | Dnevni List pg. 1 and 3 – a statement, given by FBiH Police Director, Zlatko Miletic, disturbed the FBiH political top. DL says that they asked the OHR to declare its stand on the Miletic’s work and announced police actions. OHR Spokesperson, Vedran Persic, confirmed that HR Paddy Ashdown was focused on the introduction of order on the political scene regardless of the fact who these individuals were and to which party they belonged. Asked about a concrete investigation against some high-ranked officials, Persic said ‘the OHR supported concrete steps with a purpose of fighting criminal networks within the state and outside of it’. A, Persioco bout the possible removal of Miletic, Perisic stated that it was out of the question “These are just media speculations. Naturally, all appointments have to be in accordance with the law and there should be no pressure.” |
| Vuksic
| Avaz pg. 3 ‘Vuksic got the Alibabic tapes’ – informs that Acting Director of the FOSS, Ivan Vuksic, was forwarded by the Sarajevo-based daily ‘Jutarnje Novine’ three audio tapes and a short hand report of the talks Alibabic held with reps of the Herzeg-Bosnia para-state institutions. The mentioned material was handed over to Vuksic following a letter he sent to the daily asking them for the mentioned materials. |
| Trebinje PSC | Avaz pg. 4 ‘Lemez and Acimovic sold electricity to the London EFT for cheaper rate’ – the Trebinje Public Security Center (PSC) yesterday submitted to the Trebinje Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office criminal charges against former RS Minister of Energy and Mining, Bosko Lemez, and former RS Elektroprivreda Director Svetozar Aacimovic. Both are being suspected of overstepping the authorities, thus damaging the RS Elekrtoprivreda by 1,182,000 KM. Dnevni List pg. 2 ‘Criminal charges against Lemez and Acimovic’ – DL says that the charges were filed due to grounded suspicion that they abused their position and authorities.Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 & 3 ‘Lemez and Acimovic caused the Republika Srpska Elektroprivreda deficit of 1.2 million KM’ – according to a press release issued by the Trebinje PSC, Lemez and Acimovic bought the power at the price of 40.80 KM per megawatt from Serbia last year. Later on, they sold the very same power to the EFT at the price of 36.86 KM per megawatt. Blic pg. 7 ‘Denunciations due to difference in price’ – charges brought against Lemez and Acimovic by the Trebinje PSC. |
Economic Affairs | |
| Vc corridor
| Avaz pg. 2 ‘Bosmal offering 300 million Euro for the project documents of the highway’ – the first meeting of the Coordination Body for the Construction of the Vc corridor, chaired by Adnan Terzic, was held yesterday. According to daily’s info, reps discussed a letter of intent for the construction of the corridor sent by the BiH-Malaysian company ‘Bsomal’. They plan to invest 300 million Euro in the first four months for the devising of project documents and partly for solving the property-legal relations. In return, the relevant BiH bodies have to ensure this company a concession for the construction of the highway. |
| Biber
| Avaz pg. 8 ‘No giving up on the revision of privatisation’ – President of the BiH Union, Edhem Biber, told the daily that he expected from the Federation government to discuss ASAP a proposal by the Union the draft Law on Revision of Privatisation. He said that compromise was possible on certain proposals that do not go into the core request of the revision. |
| Third GSM license | Dnevni List pg. 1 and 5 – an interview that Jurislav Petrovic conducted with BiH Minister of Transport and Communications, Branko Dokic, which is entirely dedicated to the issue of the third GSM license in BiH. Minister Dokic says it is still possible that ‘Eronet’ is not awarded the license stressing that certain pre-requisites have to be met if the license was to be awarded without a public tender. Questioned whether it is more useful for BiH, as a state, to award the license to the HT Mostar (Croat Telecommunications Mostar) or ‘Eronet’, Dokic says that’s the key issue in the whole deal stressing it is down to the ‘HT Mostar and ‘Eronet’ to find a way out of the present situation. “If there is not an agreement, there could be a temporary solution, but the market has to be, sooner or later, regulated with the corresponding legal frameworks,” says Dokic. When it comes to the talks, Dokic reckons the two companies should talk about how the ‘Eronet’ got separated from the ‘HT Mostar’. Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 15 ‘Eronet to get concession by end June?’ – notes it is likely that the ‘Eronet’ will be issued the third GSM license saying that its source claims that the international organizations in BiH deem the law and justice are on the ‘Eronet’s’ side. |
| Bisic denies accusations | Blic pg. 7 ‘Bisic: the Tax Administration did not damage the RS budget’ – former Head of the RS Tax Administration, Milica Bisic, yesterday denied that the Tax Administration had damaged the RS budget for approximately 1,5 million KM by annulling decisions on collecting the public revenues from the ‘Veki trade’ and ‘Gard export-import’ companies. She claims that a Tax Inspector, Veljko Djukic, has not performed his work well, actually he made the decisions in the case of the mentioned firms, and the decisions were not in accordance with the laws. According to Bisic, the Tax Administration Committee for Complaints had protected the Tax Administration from unprofessional work of Djukic, while the RS budget had not been damaged at all. |
| Mikerevic in Slovenia | Glas Srpske pg. 3 ‘A call to Slovenian investors’, Nezavisne Novine pg. 4 ‘Mikerevic called on Slovenian investors to invest in BiH economy’ – Dragan Mikerevic, Republika Srpska Prime Minister, yesterday in Ljubljana called on Slovenian investors to make investments in the RS economy, since the Republika Srpska adopted the Law on Protection of Foreign Investments. Mikerevic also warned that direct investments were necessary in order to reduce the international assistance to BiH. |
Judiciary Affairs | |
| Raguz
| Avaz pg. 5 ‘The processing of war crimes calls for enormously high financial means’ – an interview with President of the BiH Court Martin Raguz. Asked about the recent visit by Del Ponte, the Court President stated that she told them The Hague could immediately forward four cases against people who were already in Scheweningen. He stated that no names were revealed and that the BiH Court could take on the job if certain conditions were fulfilled. The conditions Raguz was talking about were as follows – partial changes to the law on Criminal Procedure and the Criminal Law, improving the financing of the Court since cases as the ones from The Hague request large allocations, and elect more judges. |
| RS forwards ICTY charges against 32 persons | Avaz pg. 8 ‘A criminal case against 32 persons submitted for the alleged crime sin Konjic’ – the RS Bureau for Relations with the ICTY yesterday forwarded to the Banja Luka Office of The Hague a case against 32 persons suspected of committing war crimes against Konjic populations during the war. According to Bureau President, Dejan Miletic, the listed persons are accused of arresting, killing and abusing civilians, as well as taking people to prison camps in the Konjic municipality. Dnevni List pg. 7 ‘32 Bosniaks suspected of crimes against Konjic Serbs’ – Miletic says the most responsible persons for the crimes in the Konjic area are the then Head of Municipality, Rusmir Hadzihuseinovic, and the then Police officials Pero Baruncic, Jasmin Guska, Nusret Secibovic, Sefik Niksic and others. They are all charged with crimes against the Konjic Serbs committed in Celebici, Musala and Bradina prison camps. The Secretariat also holds the top Bosniak political and military leadership responsible saying there are witnesses who saw Alija Izetbegovic in the Celebici camp. Vecernji List pg. 1 and 3 also carried the report. Blic pg. 6 ‘Denunciations against 32 Bosniaks’, Vecernje Novosti pg. 10 ‘Another 32 cases were forwarded’ – the RS Bureau for relations with the ICTY submitted charges against 32 Bosniaks for war crimes against Serbs in the Celebici, Musala and Bradina prison camps. |
| Custic vs. BH Telecom | Avaz pg. 12 ‘Prosecutor’s Office received a report against Amir Spahic’ – Suvad Custic, Director of the ‘Telikop – Custic’ company, submitted to the Sarajevo Municipality Prosecutor’s Office I charges against five officials from the BH Telecom. He is accusing them of illegally implementing a tender for the construction of access networks. He justifies the charges with the fact that his company did not get the job despite the fact that they applied for three different tenders with best offers. |
| Mostar police raises charges | Avaz pg. 29 ‘A criminal charge against an FTV cameraman too’ – following the football riots at the Velez – Zrinjski game on Saturday, the Mostar police raised charges against six people believed to have assaulted police officials. Also, the police submitted a criminal report against FTV cameraman, Haris Zugor, on the grounds of rude behaviour towards police members and participating in the riots. The story was also reported in Oslobodjenje on pg. 30 ‘Criminal reports against six, and offence reports against eight football supporters’. Vecernji List pg. 21 ‘Six criminal, nine misdemeanor charges’ and Dnevni List pg. 14 ‘FTV’s cameraman encouraged riots at football game’ – reported on the submitted charges. |
Military Affairs | |
| Federation Army
| Oslobodjenje fornt-page story – an alarming report stating that the Federation Army is on the breach of famine! Apparently there is food left for another five to six days and logistics officers are using personal connections to keep up the quality of army meals. Senior anonymous sources from the Federation Defence Ministry and Army claim that the difficult situation in terms of providing the food for the Army has been going on for the past six months, and now the critical phase is kicking in. Apparently, the Federation Defence Ministry owes large sums of money, and some meet producers have already cancelled their delivery, while other meet providers are announcing to do the same. Furthermore, the Federation Army is in debts of over 20 million KM and soon the barracks could be left without electricity and water too. |
| Pocrnja on a single army | Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 & 6 – a short interview with Stjepan Pocrnja, Secretary General of the BiH Standing Military Committee, who stated that the NATO requested the establishment of a single general staff, which will be in command over the armed troops of BiH. And this is the NATO pre-requisite for the BiH admission to the Partnership for Peace. “There are various views on the issue of structuring at the lower levels. However, our ultimate goal is to establish an authentic BiH army, which will be sustainable and lead us towards the PfP.” |
| Popovic on single army | Blic pg. 7 ‘The RS wants to have its own army’ – on the last meeting of the Joint Military Commission. The article reads that Chief of the RS Army Headquarters, Cvjetko Savic, had stated that there would be no joint army. He stated that everything was agreed upon on Friday and that there was nothing disputable anymore, as well as ‘the time will tell whether everything would function well’. A military commentator from the RS, Gostimir Popovic, stated that ‘a group of officers and clerks who plan secretly at a mountain summer resort can not decide on the destiny of people’. He also claims that such decisions are not legal since nobody had cited the Constitution. |
Education Affairs | |
| Interview with Young | Vecernji List pg. 5 ‘We would help one University in Mostar’ – an interview with Head of the OSCE Mostar Ambassador, Thomas Young, who talks about the reform of the educational system. “The goal is that children be educated together in an atmosphere of tolerance. We are expecting that this curriculum will be prepared by July for the coming school year. There is no intention to use one language more than the other.” Asked whether the purpose of the new law is to make a mixture of some new language, Young says they want to promote the situation in which everybody will speak the language they want and that others understand. Asked to comment on the situation that the Mostar University in Croatian language might be closed down due to financial problems, Young said the following. “I am aware that there was only one University in Mostar 15 years ago. I believe that in case that a serious policy for unification of two universities that currently exist in Mostar is adopted, a lot of financial funds would be raised to build that University again.” |
Media Affairs | |
| Changes to the RTVFTV | With regards to a request by some MPs in the FBiH House of Representatives to broadcast live session of the FBiH Parliament houses, Vecernji List’s Radoslav Dodig on pg. 6 ‘Parliamentary narcissism’ says the MPs are gunning for publicity. St the same time the author is recommending that the sessions not be broadcast because that would be, according to Dodig, ‘the most boring programming in the Balkans’. Dodig sees a solution in brief one to two minutes long reports saying even that could be too much because nothing important has taken place in the parliamentary life of BiH since 1996, nothing worth recording or taping. |