Latest radio news broadcast at 12.00 on 31 March
| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (12,00 hrs) | BH Radio 1 (12,00 hrs) | RTRS (12,00 hrs) |
| HDZ Pres. to discuss Covic case | Zenica Steelworks workers protest | Ashdown on removals |
| BiH CoM, FBiH Govt in session | Floods in BiH | Re-registration deadline expires |
| Ashdown in BL, Wnendt in Mostar | World news | Palestinian incidents |
TV news broadcast on 30 March
| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | TV PINK (18,00 hrs) | BHT 1 (19,00 hrs) |
| Covic and others enter pleas | Covic and others enter pleas | Covic and others pleaded on guilt |
| Lozancic on his mandate | No BiH Presidency session | Mandate of FBiH President |
| HDZ in session on Thursday | | Analysis of Srebrenica comm. report |
| Dokic update | Terzic on Dokic indictment | Srebrenica 10th anniversary |
| NTV Hayat (19,00 hrs) | FTV (19,30 hrs) | RTRS (19,30 hrs) |
| Covic leaves BiH Presidency | “Energoinvest’s” debt | Covic and others enter pleas |
| Covic and others enter pleas | Covic and others pleaded on guilt | Sipka indictment |
| Issue of Covic replacement | BiH Presidency’s send-off to Covic | SCG CoM on ICTY cooperation |
| No BiH Presidency session | Lozancic on HR’s decision | World News |
| Oslobodjenje | Dodik: Karadzic stolen 36 million KM; SIPA goes into the fight against the organized crime; Seven suspects plead not guilty [in Lijanovici case] |
| Dnevni Avaz | Dodik: Karadzic stole 36 million KM |
| Dnevni List | Suspects in ‘Lijanovics’ case plea not guilty: New secret witnesses |
| Vecernji List | Prosecutor hides five more protected witnesses: Trial has started |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Paddy Ashdown explains decision to remove Croat member of BiH Presidency: Covic removal is not strike against Croats |
| Nezavisne Novine | Covic and others claim they are not guilty |
| Glas Srpske | Woe on us without you! |
| EuroBlic | Incident in |
| Vecernje novosti | Features Serbian related topics |
| Nacional | Features Serbian related topics |
LATEST NEWS OF TODAY | |
| Ashdown visiting BL
| RTRS, RHB – HR Paddy Ashdown is in Banja Luka today where he is to meet the RSNA Speaker, Dusan Stojicic, his deputies Sefket Hafizovic and Tomislav Tomljanovic and representatives of parties participating in the RSNA. The focus of the talks will be on the restructuring of Police forces in BiH. |
| RS Ministry of Labour on pension payment
| RTRS – The RS Ministry of Labour assessed that the most recent decision of the F BiH Parliament HoR (that pensioners who earned pension in F BiH) not to pay out these pensions shows that some basic human rights are not respected in F BiH. Branka Sljivar, Spokesperson of the RS Ministry of Labour, stated that Ministry would assess all legal measures in order to protect rights of pensioners. |
| BiH CoM in session
| RHB – BiH Council of Ministers should at today’s session discuss Proposal of law on cooperation of BiH with the ICTY; Draft law on revision of institutions of BiH; Proposal of decision on establishment of central database on foreign nationals. |
| FBiH Govt in session
| RHB – FBiH Government will, among other issues, discuss Proposal of plan on return, reconstruction and construction for 2005. The Government should also declare itself about the information on collection and allocation of public revenues for months of January and February 2005. |
| SDHR Wnendt in Mostar | RHB – SDHR Werner Wnendt is visiting Mostar where he is to meet Mayor of Mostar, Ljubo Beslic, and President of Mostar City Council, Murat Coric. |
Update: Covic removal, Tadic case / Indictment vs. Dokic | |
| All suspects in Lijanovici case plead not guilty BiH
| RHB, FTV, BHT1, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Dragan Covic and others pleaded not guilty’, mentioned on cover, by A. Malagic, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Covic, Lijanovic, Tadic and Lucic pleaded not guilty’, mentioned on cover, by A.N., Dnevni List, front pg splash ‘New secret witnesses’ and pgs 2-3 ‘Covic and others plea not guilty’, by Erna Mackic, Vecernji List, front pg splash and pgs 2-3 ‘Prosecutor hides five more protected witnesses: Trial has started’, by Dejan Jazvic, Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg, mentioned on front ‘Indictee are unison: We are not guilty!’, by Z. Rerig, H, Nezavisne Novine pgs 2-3, announced on cover ‘Covic and others claim they are not guilty’ by A. Durmo, EuroBlic pg RS2 ‘Covic: I am not guilty’ by D. S. – Removed member of the BiH Presidency, Dragan Covic, BiH Constitutional Court President Mato Tadic, four of the Ivankovic-Lijanovic brothers and university professor Zdravko Lucic pleaded not guilty before the Hayat, PINK – The defence lawyers objected that the prosecution has not submitted them with all the evidences in the case, which refers especially, as Dragan Covic’s lawyer, Josip Muselimovic, stated, to the testimonies by the protected witnesses. The judge rejected these requests, saying that the Prosecution has presented even more evidences than necessary. Muselimovic speculated that there are six protected witnesses, to which Prosecutors hesitantly answered that there are several witnesses but refused to disclose their number in public. “It is obvious that someone opposes the idea of having Serbs, Croats and Muslims together in BiH. I think that the process has political background”, said Mladen Ivankovic Lijanovic. Lawyers should file appeals by April 15, while BiH Prosecution should respond to those by April 25. |
| Covic: Removal is plan of campaign before constitutional changes
| Vecernji List, pg 2 ‘Dragan Covic: I expect quick court process’, by adr – The removed member of BiH Presidency, Dragan Covic, stated for the Kiseljak-based ‘KISS’ TV a few hours after the removal that the HR’s decision was a part of planned campaign whose aim was to prepare the ground for constitutional changes and bringing of final solution for BiH. “I fear that someone is trying through these moves to cause a long-lasting crisis”, said Covic. |
| Lozancic puts his mandate at HR’s disposal
| RHB, BHT1, Hayat, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Lozancic put his mandate at HR’s disposal’, mentioned on cover, Dnevni Avaz pg 11 ‘Lozancic put his mandate at Ashdown’s disposal’ by F. Vele, Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Lozancic puts mandate at Ashdown’s proposal’, not signed, Vecernji List, pg 4 ‘British sarcasm from Federation President’s pen: Call to take over responsibility’, by Zoran Kresic, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 7, mentioned on front ‘I let myself into Your wise hands’, by D. Pasic, B. Kristo, Glas Srpske cover pg splash ‘Woe on us without you!’, Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘Lozancic placed his mandate at Ashdown’s disposal’ by R.Cengic, EuroBlic pg RS2 ‘Lozancic offers his mandate to Ashdown’ not signed – The FBiH President Niko Lozancic put his mandate at High Representative Paddy Ashdown’s disposal. In a highly cynical letter, Lozancic said while politicians are elected by the people, they are removed from the office by others and not by parliament or government. “You did not elect me, but those who did are never consulted, so I put my mandate at your disposal” said Lozancic in his letter to Ashdown. Hayat by Adnan Rondic – In an interview for NTV Hayat, the HR Ashdown comments to the letter saying: “Let us be serious. President Lozancic is extremely good president. I do not believe that his proposal [on putting the mandate at HR’s disposal] is serious, even though the letter states some extremely serious issues”, said Ashdown. |
| HDZ Presidency today discusses Covic’s removal
| BHT1, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Covic’s removal will be discussed’ by F.V., Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘Session of HDZ Presidency today’, not signed – The HDZ Presidency will hold an extraordinary session today in order to discuss the removal of Dragan Covic. The head of the party, Barisa Colak, told that the Presidencywill choose the successor for Covic, however not this Thursday. Article concludes that despite this, it is certain that the biggest chances rest with Martin Raguz, who perhaps doesn’t enjoy the support of all fractions inside HDZ but is supported by the International Community. Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘HDZ Presidency today discusses Covic replacement’ by – HDZ Presidency, Pero Pavlovic, confirmed to daily that HDZ received officially the decision on Covic’s removal. |
| Sehic: Colak cannot replace Covic
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Barisa Colak cannot be a candidate for Presidency’ by F. Vele – The Chair of the BiH Election Commission, Vehid Sehic, said that Barisa Colak could not replace Dragan Covic on the position of the Croat member in the BiH Presidency. The Election Law doesn’t not allow Colak’s return to the BiH House of Representatives, where the successor will come from. Sehic adds that Colak once resigned to the position of the HoR Speaker in order to become the state minister, and the Law doesn’t allow a possibility of returning the mandate in the parliament. Inset ‘Merdzo: We know that the law doesn’t allow this’ carries the member of the HDZ Presidency Josip Merdzo as saying the daily that the party is familiar with this legal issue. Vecernji List, pg 4 ‘SDA and SDS’ support to HDZ’s candidate’, by M. V. – VL got a confirmation from the Constitutional committee of the BiH Parliament that the return of Barisa Colak to the Parliament is possible, as he froze his mandate and was replaced by Ruza Sopta. Vecernji List, pg 4 ‘Arrival to Presidency is unserious speculation!’, by Zoran Kresic – Carries an interview with the President of HDZ BiH, Barisa Colak, in which he rules out the possibility that he runs for the vacated seat in the BiH Presidency, saying it is about unserious speculations by the press. |
| RHB int/ with Raguz: HR’s decision deepened crisis in CoM
| RHB by Milan Vega – In an interview for RHB, Deputy Chair of BIH House of Representatives, Martin Raguz said that extraordinary session of the HDZ Presidency was scheduled to resolve the political situation, but he did not want to disclose further comments. Raguz also said that there is still a crisis in the BIH Council of Ministers, adding that the recent decisions made by HR Paddy Ashdown made the situation even more complex. Raguz said that the question was raised to which point HR could interfere with the work of top BIH institutions and their high officials. “These decisions were imposed and I personally believe that they are not the best,” said Raguz. |
| Ints/ with Ashdown: I was not too soft on Covic
| Hayat by Adnan Rondic – In an interview for NTV Hayat, the HR Paddy Ashdown was asked whether he was too soft on Covic to which he responded that he gave enough time to Covic to bring decision himself in dignity. “The decision was brought by all International Community representatives. IC has clearly stressed that it would be impossible to cooperate with person [dealing with foreign policy] due to the indictment raised. The decision is based on a standard practice which has been applied in many other cases in BiH. I brought the decision with deep regret, but because it was necessary. I had no other possibility. Whether the decision opposes the Constitution, as Covic claims, is not true, but if he wants to deny it I told him that he could present the issue to BiH Constitutional Court. If the Court is to bring such decision, I would withdraw mine, but I am pretty sure that something like that is not going to happen”, said Ashdown. Dnevni List, pg 5, mentioned on front ‘It would be unjust to ban Covic from political engagement’, by Danka Polovina-Mandic – DL also carries an interview Ashdown, on Covic’s removal. Responding to the journalist’s remark that Nikola Grabovac (former FBIH Finance Minister, removed by HR) was banned from political engagement and asked to draw a parallel between the two cases, HR Ashdown says Grabovac was removed because of the ministerial responsibility, which is completely different from the Covic situation. Also, responding to the journalist’s question whether the use of the Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘Removal of Covic might cause crisis within authorities’, by Eldina Medunjanin, Slobodna Dalmacija, front pg splash and pg 7 ‘Covic removal is not strike against Croats’, by Zlatko Tulic, Vjesnik, pg 4, mentioned on front ‘I would like to have government in Belgrade like one in Zagreb’, by Alenko Zornija – Also carry interviews. Both SD and VL carry HR Ashdown as saying that the situation could cause a crisis within the BiH authorities, however HR Ashdown believes it will not happen. |
| JL op-ed: Ashdown more merciful to Covic than Petritsch to Jelavic
| Jutarnji List, pg 14 ‘Ashdown more merciful than Wolfgang Petritsch’, by Snjezana Pavic – Carries an op-ed in which the author says Paddy Ashdown was more merciful in removing Dragan Covic than his predecessor Wolfgang Petritsch, who banned all political work to Covic’s predecessor Ante Jelavic. The author also notes that one thing is however disputable, it is the fact that Covic is second Croat member of BiH Presidency in succession that has been removed by a way of decree. On top of this, the author argues that Jelavic trials has turned into a farce. |
| HJPC Chair Peric:
| Oslobodjenje cover splash, pgs 4-5 ‘BiH Constitutional Court should reconsider its support for Tadic’ by Aldijana Omeragic – The BiH Constitutional Chair, Mato Tadic, will most probably stay at the position until the end of the legal processes lead against him and six others in Lijanovici case. Author also reminds that despite the warnings from IC, the HJPC Chairman Branko Peric, and others believing that Tadic should temporarily leave the position the judges in the Constitutional Court still do not think this. Peric once more repeats for daily that “every judge that cares about his personal and institution’s credibility in this situation would ask to be suspended. Of course that doesn’t have anything to do with whether he is guilty or not. Mr. Tadic’s decision is bad and problematic from the point of view of basic morality.” Peric concludes tahtt eh |
| Mesic: No right to comment on what happens in neighbouring states
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘It would be difficult to perform my duty with the indictment’, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘I have no right to comment’, Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Mesic on Covic removal’, not signed – Commenting on the removal of the Croat member of BiH Presidency, Dragan Covic, the Croatian President, Stipe Mesic, says he has no right to comment about what happens in neighbouring states, especially when it comes to the judiciary or holders of most senior offices. (also in Vecernji List, pg 13 ‘Covic advocated integrity of BiH’, not signed, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 2 ‘Mesic: I do not think general Gotovina would surrender himself’, by B. Zuzic |
| DL: Covic and Ashdown made agreement few weeks ago, both would benefit from it
| Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘Price of Covic staying in politics – integration of education?’, by Zvonimir Jukic – According to the DL’s information, the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, and the removed member of BiH Presidency, Dragan Covic, made an informal agreement a few weeks before the removal took place, when it became clear that the indictment against Covic would be confirmed. According to the author, both sides, the Covic faction in the HDZ and HR Ashdown would profit from the agreement. According to DL’s source in the HDZ BiH, Covic’s faction in the HDZ received HR Ashdown’s support for the appointment of Barisa Colak to the BiH Presidency, which is very important for the faction to secure domination in the party and on top of that the HDZ would gain extra popularity among the electorate. On the other hand, HR Ashdown would profit by presenting himself as a High Representative who has achieved such progress that he does no longer need to use the |
| TI on HR and Covic
| Oslobodjeje pg 4 ‘Sad moves of both Ashdown and Covic’ – Commenting to Dragan Covic’s removal, the Chair of the Transparency International Board of Directors, Boris Divjak, stated that its is “sad” that Covic did not resign himself. He estimated it was equally “sad” for the HR to remove him without waiting for the end of process which would prove whether someone is guilty or not. |
| Presidency holds farewell reception for Covic
| RHB, BHT1, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 3 Covic left with Tihic’s coat of arms’, mentioned on cover, by V.Z.,Dnevni Avaz pg 6 ‘Covic got a picture from Paravac, and ‘Doors to Sarajevo’ from Tihic’ by A.M., Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘Farewell gift to Covic’, by NINA, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 17 ‘Farewell reception for Covic’, by D. Pasic, EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘Tihic” It was expected’ by Dusanka Stanisic, Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘Farewell reception organized for Covic at BiH Presidency’- BIH Presidency organised the farewell reception for the former member of BIH Presidency Dragan Covic. The host of the party was member of BIH Presidency Sulejman Tihic. |
| Terzic wants Dokic to resign; Dokic ‘doesn’t think about leaving’
| BHT1, RHB, PINK, Dnevni Avaz pg 12 ‘Terzic expects from Dokic to withdraw’ – Adnan Terzic, BiH COM, expressed expectation that Branko Dokic would withdraw from the position of BiH Minister of Transport and Communication. PINK, RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘Dokic doesn’t think about leaving’ – Dokic stated for Bijeljina-based BNTV that he saw no reason to resign despite the fact that an indictment against him had been confirmed. Commenting on the statement by HR that he should resign, Dokic stressed he would insist on meeting HR in order to inform him about the background of the whole case. Hayat – “I am not going to tender my resignation, especially due to the fact that the indictment has no foundation, I am going to file regular appeal within 15 days”, said Dokic. |
| NN claims HR gave 10-day deadline to Dokic to resign; Mikerevic to replace him?
| Nezavisne Novine pg 5, announced on cover ‘Branko Dokic given 10 days deadline to tender resignation’ by M.C./V.P. – NN reports referring to its source close to BiH CoM that the HR to BiH, Paddy Ashdown, has given 10-day deadline to Branko Dokic to tender resignation on the position of BiH Minister of Traffic and Transport, owing to upheld indictment against him for office abuse. The same source notes that the most serious candidate to succeed Dokic on this position is Dragan Mikerevic, PDP senior official. Mikerevic Wednesday told NN he is not familiar with this information. |
| FT: ‘Question is whether OHR helps or destroys democratic progress of BiH’
| BHT1, Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Financial Times: Question is whether OHR helps or destroys democratic progress of BiH’, by NINA, Vecernji List, pg 4 ‘Paddy Ashdown’s determination’, by Valentina Rupcic, Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Powers of HR remain the same’, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Ashdown pushed – the brake’ – The “Financial Times” has carried the statement of an anonymous American diplomat saying that Americans and Europeans have hoped that at the end of year, when Ashdown’s mandate will expire, the function of HR would be abolished, i.e. the institutions of BiH would be capable of functioning by themselves. The anonymous American diplomat told Financial Times that this will not be possible, owing to HR actions. According to American diplomat, one cannot allow BiH leadership, after such major interventions of HR, to do everything by themselves. On removal of Croat member of BiH Presidency, Dragan Covic, “Financial Times” says that the HR’s decision is supported by the EU states as well as the |
Organized crime / War crimes | |
| SIPA takes over ‘Krimolovci’ hotline for reporting info on PIFWCs, organized crime
| RHB, PINK, Hayat, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Terzic: SIPA takes over the fight against the organized crime’, mentioned on cover, by M. Drinjakovic, Oslobodjenej pg 8 ‘Hotline for hunt on war criminals’ by Az. K., Dnevni List, pg 4 ‘Krimolovci under SIPA competence’, by M. Zorlak, EuroBlic RSpg 3 ‘Hunter of Hague fugitives’ by SRNA, Nezavisne Novine pg 8, announced on cover ‘SIPA took over “Crime catchers”’, Nezavisne Novine pg 8 ‘Citizens may deliver information on war crimes’ by M. Cubro – On Wednesday, the EUPM handed over the “Krimolovci” [Crime-Catchers] telephone line to the SIPA. At the same time, the line will also be available for offering not only the information on the organized crime, but also on the Hague indictees to the agency. “I hope that SIPA will show that it is a serious agency for implementing law and that it is ready to deal with crime and all other means of endangering security of BiH citizens,” stated the Chair of the BiH Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic at the ceremony. The HR Paddy Ashdown at the occasion underlined that the police cannot be successful unless citizens were not ready to support its work by offering information. “One of the problems that the citizens still do not trust p9oliticians and institutions is the fact that in the past there were too many close relations between political and criminal circles,” said Ashdown. The EUPM Commissar, Kevin Carty called on all citizens to use the line and report any criminal activity. Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Serious test for SIPA’ op-ed by Mersiha Drinjakovic – Referring to the transferring of the responsibility for Krimolovci hotline to SIPA, the author notes that this marked the beginning of SIPA’s effort to carry out its mandate. FTV byDzenana Zolota – FTV aired highly critical report on the ceremony, saying that the HR Ashdown denied he ever stated that there is a close relation between politicians and crime. FTV further demanded from Terzic to comment to such claim, to which Prime Minister reacted very harshly saying that he believes that “it is pure stupidity”. |
| Hartmann: ICTY has evidences Borovnica deceased
| BHT1, Oslobodjenje pg 10 ‘ICTY has evidence of Goran Borovnica’s death’, Dnevni Avaz pg 10 ‘The case of Borovnica will stay open’, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Prosecutor’s Office has a document on death of Borovnica’ by BETA, Vecernje Novosti pg 15 ‘Evidence on death’ – Florence Hartmann, Spokesperson of the ICTY Chief Prosecutor, on Wednesday stated that ICTY holds possession of a document on death of Goran Borovnica, RS Army officer, charged with war crimes. She noted: “Borovnica is most likely dead and we have official document regarding his death.” She explained that Prosecutor’s Office has not so far closed this file since it had information “on some people who had seen Borovnica in |
| Dodik: Karadzic stole 37 million KM from RS in 1997
| Dnevni Avaz cover splash, pg 5 ‘Karadzic stole 36 million KM’ by Edina Sarac – In an interview to DA, the leader of SNSD, Milorad Dodik, stated that “there are documents proving that Radovan Karadzic walked out from the RS Peoples Bank in Banja Luka with the bag carrying amount of 36 million KM in spring 1997.” Dodik adds that at the time, the head of the Government was Gojko Klickovic, who was under Karadzic’s control. Asked why he did not file the charges regarding this case since he possesses evidences, Dodik responds: “I understand that at the time there were a lot of Karadzic’s people incorporated in the authorities and there was no enough power to solve this… Also, when I was the Head of the Government, judges were those appointed by Karadzic. That lasted almost until 2002.” |
| BHT 1 feature on Srebrenica working group
| BHT 1 by Zoran Sarenac – The RS Government’s working group completed the analysis of the documentation gathered by Srebrenica Commission. The Working group’s report contains the names of persons involved with the war crimes in Srebrenica. Some of them, says BHT 1, are still performing the duties of the officials or employees in RS institutions. The report will be delivered to the State Prosecutor and to the High Representative. “We came to significant research results, which, together with documents of the Srebrenica Commission, represents reliable base for activities in jurisdiction of the BiH Prosecutor’s office,” said member of the working group, Smail Cekic. RS President, Dragan Cavic, said that he is still not familiar with the report of or with names presented in it. Still, he announces consequences for the SDS members whose names appear in the report. “Such persons will automatically excluded from the party’s membership,” said Covic. “Persons whose names appears in this report cannot work in public institutions anymore. Unfortunately, the number of such persons is high and they mush be processed before judiciary institutions,” said Head of Srebrenica Municipality, Abdurahman Malkic. RS Government will discuss the working group report on Thursday. |
| DA says MoD’s report shows 410th and protection units of RS Army assisted PIFWCs at large | Dnevni Avaz pg 10 ‘Intelligence officers in service of Radovan Karadzic’ by S.N. – DA says that according ot the report submitted by the BiH Defence Ministry to several addressed the RS Army unit for protection and 410th military-intelligence center were brought into the connect with the organized assistance to the persons indicted fro war crimes and other breaches of the Dayton accord. |
| Dailies on allowances to PIFWCs who surrender and cost of voluntarily surrenders
| Glas Srpske pg 3 ’One cash box for everybody” – According to Milorad Kalamanda, the Manager of the “Pomoc” Foundation in Banja Luka, ICTY suspects from the RS who are using their right to financial support in SiCG and in the RS will have to choose between the two. Until they make up their mind, they will be denied that right in the RS as of March 1 this. According to him, 18 Hague indictees from the RS are at this moment the beneficiaries of this Foundation. The indictees, who have voluntarily surrendered to EuroBlic pgs 2-3 ‘Up to EURO half a million for surrender’ by N.Calukovic-N.M.Jovanovic – The daily refers to its sources claiming that the Serbian Government placed aside 65 million for assistance to ICTY suspects and their families. Daily learns that voluntary surrenders, financed by local tycoons, cost up to EURO half a million. |
| NN op-ed on transfer of PIFWCs in Hague
| Nezavisne Novine op-ed pg 7 ‘Transfer: The Hague’ by Dragan Risojevic – The author is writing about the latest voluntary surrenders of war crime suspects, stressing: “Those who managed to locate them now have known for all these days of their whereabouts, but they suddenly realised it is in “state and national interest” to locate war crime suspects. It is clear that passengers for |
Economic, social and return issues | |
| TI says 74 million KM get embezzled in BiH annually
| RHB, PINK, BHT1, FTV, Hayat, Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘About 74 million KM is misused in BiH annually’ by S. Rozajac, Dnevni Avaz pg 11 ’74 million KM misused annually in the field of construction’ by S.S., Dnevni List, pg 7 ’49 million dollars get embezzled per year’, by HINA, Vecernji List, pg 21, mentioned on front ’49 million dollars a year get embezzled’, by H, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 16 ’50 million dollars a year get embezzled’, by H, Nezavisne Novine pg 2, announced on cover, ‘Politicians and parties embezzle 74 million KM per year’ by D. Muminovic, Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Corruption spreading’ by D.V.M., EuroBlic pg RS3 ‘They embezzle up to 74 million KM per year’ by Srna – Transparency International (TI) claims that the functional system of authority in BiH hasn’t been established yet and that individuals and political parties in BiH embezzle approximately 74 millions KM per year. Around 5 billions KM were donated to BiH until 2004, which is four times more than to any other transition country, claims TI representative Boris Divjak. TI believes the main cause of malfeasant acts in past was non-existence of the Law on Public Procurement and Law on Conflict of Interests. According to TI’s estimates, the laws in BiH are being carried out slowly and badly as well. The complaints are mostly related to authorities at the local and cantonal level as well as to inspection services. |
| FBiH HoP adopts law on apartments | RHB, PINK, FTV Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘The law on apartments adopted’, Dnevni Avaz pg 10 ‘Croats demanded the examination of constitutionality of the Law on Apartments’ by A. Basic, Dnevni List, pg 4 ‘Croat MPs seek assessment of constitutionality of law’, by NINA – The FBiH Parliament’s House of Peoples adopted at its extraordinary session held on Wednesday the Law on return, allocation and sale of apartments. The law stipulates that the unclaimed apartments are to be returned to the companies that own them, however in case the companies are privatized, the apartments are to be returned to the municipalities. The President of the Croat Caucus in the chamber, Mate Franjicevic, says the Caucus will raise the issue of constitutionality of the law. He believes that the apartments in question should be returned exclusively to the municipalities. |
| Terzic initiates revision of former JNA property in BiH
| Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Terzic announces revision of former JNA property’, mentioned on cover, by Az. Kalamujic – The Chair of the BiH CoM, Adnan Terzic announced on Wednesday in Sarajevo that there will be an audit of the former JNA’s property in both FBiH and RS. Terzic did not explain who and how will carry out the revision, btu daily learns from source close to Terzic’s Cabinet that this task will be assigned to the Commission fro the State Property. Until now, the Commission had a mandate to register state property and recommends solutions for its usage, while Terzic plans to extend its mandate. According to the announcements from RS, entities authorities and opposition will strongly oppose Terzic’s initiative, while daily says that obstacles are also possible in FBIH. |
| Kovac says justices broke the law transferring Jelavic, Fazlic to
| Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Minister Kovac: International judges break domestic laws’ by H. Orahovac – BiH Justice Minister, Slobodan Kovac, says that the judges who ordered transfer of Asim Fazlic and Ante Jelavic from Kula prison to BiH Court’s detention unit [justices Susan Moeller and Malcolm Simons respectively] have breached the BiH Law on Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions, Detention and Other Measures. Kovac explained that the Law stipulates that the Ministry should provide guards, medical services and a kitchen for the needs for detention unit [to which all inmates are entitled to under the law], however it informed the |
| Condemnation of return related incidents in
| Glas Srpske cover pg ‘There is nobody to protect Serbs’ by S.R.T., Euro Blic RSpg 8 ‘Attacks against returnees condemned’ by Lj.Lj. – Veljko Stevanovic, the Chairman of the Coordination of RS Associations of refuges and DPs, stated that the safety of Serb returnees to the FBiH had dramatically deteriorated. Sharply condemning the several incidents involving Serb returnees as victims occurring in Euro Blic RS pg 11 ‘There is beating, but no jobs’ by Milica Djurdjevic – The Association for sustainable returns to the Tuzla Canton claims that such incidents are designed to prevent Serbs from returning to the area. According to Goran Maksimovic, a member Coordination of RS DP’s Associations, a couple was recently attacked in the |
| Hadzipasic: Veterans’ benefits will not be reduced
| Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘Disability allowances in FBiH will not be reduced’ by R. Cengic – In interview to NN, Ahmet Hadzipasic, FBiH Premier, says that the talks with World Bank in BiH and IMF would identify solution, which would not lead towards reduction of disability allowances for war veterans in F BiH. He says this solution will not effect budgets of RS and BiH. |
| Issue of transfer of RS pensioners to FBiH PIO | Dnevni List, pg 6 ‘Thousands of pensioners from RS suing Federation MIO/PIO’, by Marko Karacic – Following the FBiH Parliament’s decision, which prevents the transfer of many pensioners from the RS Pension Fund onto the FBiH Pension Fund (PIO), the Director of the FBiH PIO, Nadir Kovacevic, says the PIO is to abide by the FBiH Parliament’s decision. DL also notes that thousands of pensioners from the RS are planning to sue the FBiH PIO. Dnevni List, pg 6 ‘PDP: Decisions of most senior bodies are being ignored’, by De. L., Glas Srpske pg 5 ‘They want others’, do not give up on theirs’ by G.D. – PDP accused FBiH Parliament of refusing, in extremely insolent manner and in front of OHR and IC, to implement decision of the BiH Constitutional Court and BiH Parliament regarding payment of pensions. |
Political issues | |
| Dragan Cavic new President of SDS
| BHT 1, Hayat, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘Dragan Cavic new president of SDS’, Dnevni Avaz pg 12 ‘Dragan Cavic president’ by Srna, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Cavic is SDS President’ by P.K., EuroBlic pg RS5 ‘Dragan Cavic is the president’ by N. B., Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Dragan Cavic as president’ by M. Dzepina– Wednesday’s session of the SDS Congress has elected Dragan Cavic as new SDS President (with 280 votes out of 300 secretly voting pro his election) and Mladen Bosic, senior SDS official from Brcko, as SDS Vice President. The party officials also decided to convene inter-party elections at all organisational levels of SDS by 20 June. A month after that, new session of SDS Congress should take place and elect new Main Board and Party Presidency. |
| NN op-ed on Cavic: Democrat or dictator?
| Nezavisne Novine op-ed pg 7 ‘Laki is nervous’ by Pero Simic – The author is critical of Dragan Cavic, RS President, whom he calls a dictator, especially of his attempt to interfere in editorial policy of RTRS. He doubts readiness of Cavic to support arrests and extradition of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. The headline is a quote from famous domestic movie spoken by one of characters involved in slightly criminal activities, and in this context author notes Cavic is nervous because he himself no longer knows who he actually is – democrat or dictator. |
| DL int. with Spiric
| Dnevni List, pg 11 ‘Nationalists are running their last lap’, by Danka Polovina-Mandic – In an interview to DL, the Deputy Speaker of the BiH House of Representatives, Nikola Spiric, says he believes that the ruling nationalist parties will lose the edge i.e. the popularity they had enjoyed in the last elections. Commenting on the defence reform process, Spiric says that the existence of the entity MoDs is not the most important issue “because if there is no drafting and in case there is a professional army, then the issue will be what the entity ministries would do”. Talking about the Police reform, Spiric argues that the reform has to be carried out in the best possible way so the Police gets the same authorities like criminals. |
| Op-ed by outgoing SDHR Wnendt: ‘Public broadcasters at state level is solution for Croats’ | Dnevni List, pg 10 ‘Public broadcasters at state level is solution for Croats’, by Werner Wnendt Carries an op-ed signed by Senior Deputy High Representative, Werner Wnendt, in which he talks about the issue of public broadcasting in BiH and requests for a separate Croat channel in BiH. SDHR Wnendt writes: “(…)These kinds of proposals would be a divisive move and would not warrant a solution in the context of public broadcasting reform, which must ensure that the cultural, religious and linguistic diversity of the country are fully safeguarded. On 1 February the Council of Ministers endorsed the PBS System Law and accordingly forwarded it to parliamentary procedure. What are the specific implications that this law may have on the interests of the Croat people? (…) In contrast to private broadcasters the public broadcaster would have to satisfy all elements and interests of society. The law requires the broadcasters to pay specific heed to the interest and culture of all constituent peoples. Programs shall be broadcast equally in the three languages of BiH and should ensure equal representation of the culture and traditions of all three constituent peoples. .” |