| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| Election campaign starts | ICTY-HDZ cooperation | FTV team attacked | Election campaign starts |
| Robbery near Citluk | Robbery in Citluk | Election campaign starts | Oil price increase |
| Ceremony in Kiseljak | Election campaign starts | Hand over in FBiH Army | Visit to |
| Ivanic on Tihic’s initiative | Starovlah case | Starovlah case | Ivanic on visa regime |
| Oslobodjenje | Prosecution stopped departure of six [Croats] from the Hague; BHT with programming under new logo, Dudakovic handed over duty to Grabovica |
| Dnevni Avaz | European investigator in Sarajevo; Dudakovic: I believe BiH will have one army; 15 customs and 33 branches being closed down; Worker at the gas station wounded by gun |
| Dnevni List | Robber was shooting at employee |
| Vecernji List | The Hague threatens while documents are in Zagreb |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Interview with T. Blaskic: I have not damaged anyone in The Hague |
| Nezavisne Novine | BHT will start with program broadcast as of August 13; EU officials are investigating the “sugar affair” in BiH; Thieves took a car and wallet from councillor Mustafa Sinanagic; Candidates were asked to carry out a tolerant campaign; Worker was severely injured while fighting a thief |
| Glas Srpske | Bloody trail of “Oluja”; Shame in writing |
| Blic | Swedish citizens opened fruit processing factory in Srebrenica; The end of investigation on the Starovlahs case |
Political issues | |
| Pre-election campaign launched by BH Election Commission
| FTV, RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Election campaign has commenced’, mentioned on cover, by A. Terzic, Dnevni List pg 8 Municipalities endanger holding of elections’ by D. Polovina-Mandic, Vecernji List pg 2 ‘”28 000 candidates starts struggle’ by E. Medunjanin, Slobodna Dalmacija pg 15 ‘Election campaign started’ by D. Pasic, Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Candidates were asked to carry out a tolerant campaign’ pg. 6 ‘The participants were asked to carry out the campaign tolerantly and without insults’ by R. Cengic, Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Everything is ready except for money’ by N. Zelenovic, EuroBlic, pg. RS2 ‘The campaign commenced’ by Beta – The pre-election campaign for the BiH Municipal Elections, to be held on 2 October, has commenced on Tuesday. The Chairman of the BiH Election Commission Vehid Sehic, at the press conference which officially marked the beginning of the campaign, called on all political subjects to speak the language of tolerance and mutual understanding. He reiterated that during the campaign the authorities must have the same relation towards all political subjects, whose candidacies have been verified by the Election Commission in accord with the BiH Election Law. There will be 238 political participants in the elections – 68 political parties, 146 independent candidates, 18 coalitions and six lists of independent candidates. Member of the Election Commission Werner Wnendt expressed hope that the forthcoming elections would get BiH closed to European integration. As for financing, Sehic said that about 70 percent of the planned funds have been provided so far. BHTV 1 – Twelve municipalities from FBiH and RS stilt didn’t fulfil their obligations by making a payment to the BiH Election Commission. “Without open places for vote on 2 October there won’t be elections. That is the key thing,” said Lidija Korac from BiH Electoral Commission. RTRS – “Election Commission, through its work, wants to affirm and promote respect of law on elections, and we want to point out that all persons have equal rights,” Vehid Sehic said. According to data form voters registration, there are about 2.3 million voters in BiH and about 27 000 from abroad. Oslobodjenje pg 9 ‘Opportunity for fresh blood’, by Fena, Vecernji List pg 2 ‘”28 000 candidates starts struggle’ by E. Medunjanin – OHR spokesman Kevin Sullivan invited political parties to campaign on the strength of their policies, not on the basis of fear. “Too often politicians of all colours cynically play the politics of competitive victimization, exploiting national issues for crude electoral purposes instead of focusing on improving life for the citizens,” Kevin Sullivan said. |
| SDS responds to US Ambassador Bond’s statement
| RHB, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘SDS not satisfied with Bond’s statements’, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘SDS is not obstacle to European integrations’ by Fena, Dnevni List pg 20 ‘Ambassador Bond is leaving as spokesperson of Bosniak parties’ not signed, Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Bond’s horses are faster than pack-saddles’ by R. S – On Tuesday SDS commented the latest statements by the US Ambassador to BiH, Clifford Bond, stating that “with his statement that SDS is an obstacle on the road towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Bond directly indicates that he reduces very serious political matters to his own personal stand”. The press release further regards Bond’s claim that “SDS in spite of the rhetoric remains uncommitted to fulfilling BiH’s obligations, including cooperation with ICTY” as incorrect, and adds that the U.S. Ambassador could see that he was wrong by looking into the voting of SDS representatives in favour of all reformatory laws adopted in RS and BiH. The SDS concludes that “after such statements it can be concluded that Bond arrived in BiH as the U.S. Ambassador, and that he is leaving this country as a spokesperson for the Bosniak parties, headed by SDA”. |
| US Embassy: Bond expresses position of US Government
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Ambassador Bond conveyed position of US Government’ by Fena – Commenting on reactions by SDS to the statements by US Ambassador to BiH Clifford Bond prior to his departure from BiH, the US Embassy in Sarajevo told FENA on Tuesday that the position of the US Government, which was clearly conveyed by Ambassador Bond, is well known.The US Embassy did not wish to further comment these reactions. |
| SNSD on PDP, SDA and SDS
| Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘PDP and SDS use tricks’ not signed, Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Tricks and speculations on SDA Ministers’ removal’, Dnevni List pg 19 ‘We have had enough deceits from SDS and PDP’ not signed,Nezavisne Novine, pg. 6 ‘Tricks of SDS and PDP’ by V. P., Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘They are not implementing their decisions’ by R. S. – SNSD issued a press release which reads that the party sees “PDP and SDS announced and unimplemented decision of removal of SDA ministers in RS Government to be speculations and tricks.” SNSD says that it is “obvious that SDS, PDP and SDA Coalition doesn’t want to break apart, and that daily tricks are pre-election campaign and a way of re-directing public attention away from life problems.” |
| Ivanic on visa regime for BiH citizens
| Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘BiH citizens will go to Schengen zone without visas in few years time’ by V.I., Vecernji List pg 4 ‘No abolishment of visas for time being’ by – Mladen Ivanic, BiH Foreign Minister, stated in Banja Luka on Tuesday that BiH citizens would have to wait few more years to be able to enter Schengen states without visas. He stressed agreements on acceptance of those illegally residing abroad must first be reached. RTRS – Ivanic explains that this agreement means that “a number of those who are illegally abroad has to be reduced, and it has been reduced and it does not present great problem to BiH.” |
| Ivanic says PDP will question term ‘Bosnian language’ before Constitutional Court
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘I will not resign if EC response is negative’ by Sead Numanovic – In an interview to DA, BiH Foreign Affairs Minister Mladen Ivanic comments to his announcement that PDP will ask Constitutional Court to consider the constitutionality of the term ‘Bosnian language: “Since Mr [Sulejman] Tihic questions everything that is related to RS in any way, PDP will ask from Constitutional Court to consider legality and constitutionality of term Bosnian Language. I personally think that the name Bosnjak should not be made an issue, as it is a right of every people to be called like they want. However, ‘Bosnian language’, and adjective ‘bosnjacki’ in some context, certainly should be.” |
| DL on role of SDA, HDZ and SDS in 3 major ceremonies in BiH
| Dnevni List, pg 10, ‘Double criteria for policemen and politicians’, by Zvonimir Jukic – the author argues that the three leading political parties SDA, SDS and HDZ have rounded up the distribution of roles and money in the three major events that took place in BiH over the last two years. SDS financial lobby is reported to have had full monopoly in preparation works and activities during the organisation of the Pope’s visit to Banja Luka. Financial lobby close to the currently leading faction in the HDZ also made lots of money thanks to the preparatory works for the Investment Conference held in Mostar last February. Similarly, all the works related to the Old Bridge in Mostar were entrusted with wealthy donors of SDA. DL’s unofficial sources reveal that this very lobby also had lots to do with the fact that the money for the ceremony did not arrive to Mostar on time, which discouraged companies without political sponsors from applying for different tenders. The author says that the Bridge opening was one more proof that true market competition in BiH has still not been introduced despite the OHR’s media invasion aimed at establishment of economic system according to the western countries’ model. The article concludes by saying the most important thing about the Old Bridge ceremony seemed to be personal and not public interest, which can also be illustrated by the fact that the FBiH Ministry of Interior officers were not paid allowances for their work and that the entire police operation during the ceremony was financed by police funds exclusively. |
War crimes | |
| FBiH Justice Minister on letter from ICTY re Croat officials
| Vecernji List pg 5 ‘We shall hand over all documents to The Hague’ mentioned on cover ‘FBiH Justice Minister Borjana Kristo: We shall hand over all documents we have’, by V. Rupcic – VL carries an interview with FBiH Justice Minister Borjana Kristo. Asked to comment on the journalist’s conclusion that by its letter the ICTY threatens Croat officials, Kristo says that on behalf of the FBiH Justice Ministry and all other competent institutions she can say that there is good will for cooperation and communication with the ICTY. Asked whether she believes that the removal of the Croat officials is the solution to this problem, Kristo said that nothing can be resolved by removals and she added: “There must be trust and compromise since some things, perhaps, are not accessible at least within the set deadline.” Kristo also said that they will demand a meeting with the ICTY representatives with regard to this ICTY demand. Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Demand from the Hague doesn’t carry threat to remove Croat leaders in BiH’ by F.Vele – FBiH Justice Minister Borjana Kristo denied possibility to remove Croat representatives in BiH authorities due to lack of cooperation with ICTY and non-delivery of documents from the meetings of Herceg-Bosna Presidency, HVO, Croatian Congress and HDZ between 1991 and 1994. “I am familiar with the demand we have received. This is just a standard demand from the Tribunal which we have received earlier,” said Kristo adding that the most important thing now is to delivered documentation ICTY demands. |
| HDZ says it will fully cooperate with ICTY
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 inset ‘Pavlovic: HDZ ready to cooperate’, Slobodna Dalmacija pg 13 ‘We shall hand over all documents’ by B.M. – HDZ spokesperson Pero Pavlovic stated: “HDZ decided to fully cooperate with the ICTY and it will hand over all requested documents that HDZ has at its disposal.” BHTV 1 – HDZ says that this isn’t the first letter of this kind that arrived from ICTY. “All the documentation will be delivered if it exists. The problem is if that documentation was transferred, destroyed or made unavailable in any other way,” Barisa Colak, Chairman of HDZ BiH, said. |
| VL, SD on ICTY demand for handing over documents on war crimes | Vecernji List front and pg 13 ‘The Hague threatens while documents are in Zagreb’ by Z. Despot – VL says that the ultimatum of ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte presented to the BiH authorities – in which she demands delivery of documents on war crimes committed during the war in BiH and in which she threatens with the removal of the Croat political leadership – is not only surprising but also unnecessary. The author wonders whether it is possible that del Ponte is not familiar with the fact that all HVO documents are placed in the Croatian State Archive in Zagreb where it was transferred from BiH during 1997 and 1998. Slobodna Dalmacija pg 13 ‘The Hague threats sent on wrong address’ by Z. Tulic – SD comments on this situation by saying that the ICTY sent its harsh threats at a wrong address. Namely, the author explains that at the time when Croat Republic of Herceg Bosnia was created politicians from the current HDZ leadership were not political engaged in HDZ. |
| SFOR still investigates Pejcic’s activities
| FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘SFOR still investigates Pejcic’s suspicious activities’ by Fena, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘SFOR still interrogates Pejcic’ – SFOR Spokesman Mark Hope confirmed that the former official of Bijeljina Public Security Centre, Mile Pejcic, detained last Saturday in Brcko by SFOR, is still in detention at a secure SFOR location. He said that investigative activities are being carried out into Pejcic’s suspicious activities contrary to the Dayton Agreement. Mile Pejcic was removed from the function of Bijeljina PSC official June 30 by the Decision of the HR, Paddy Ashdown. |
| Starovlah report sent to foreign parliaments
| BHTV 1, Glas Srpske, cover page story ‘Shame in writing’ by N. Z. – BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs has forwarded the report on SFOR action in Pale on April 1, when Priest Jeremija Starovlah and his son Aleksandar obtained serious injuries, to the Parliaments of USA, Great Britain, Germany and Slovenia, as according to the Secretary General of the Ministry, Fuad Sabeta. As in accordance with the Dayton Agreement, international military forces and international officials in BiH cannot stand trial at courts of BiH if they violate laws, but they can stand trial at judicial bodies of their mother countries. EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘Soldiers at court!?’ mentioned on cover ‘End of investigation into Starovlah’s case’ by Rajna Radosavljevic – Ljiljana Milicevic, member of the Investigation Commission at the BiH House of Representatives, told EuroBlic that it is very important that BiH Parliament unanimously adopted report on Pale event of 1 April. She noted that by having adopted this Report, “we have sent out a clear message that violations of human rights in this state must be stopped”. |
| VN on Mladic
| Vecernje Novosti, cover ‘Ratko Mladic is not saving Generals’ pg. 5 ‘Mladic is not saving Generals’ by V. N. – VN carries an unofficial information of a source from the top of the Serbian authority that the agreement on voluntary surrender of three Generals to the Hague Tribunal has not been achieved because the state cannot guarantee they would be able to defend while at large. This was the term Generals Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic and Sreten Lukic have set in order to surrender. Speculations on alleged negotiations of the Government with Ratko Mladic are not true either, as according to the article. |
| Oslobodjenje: Prosecution appeals against temporarily release of 6 Croats from ICTY
| Oslobodjenje cover page ‘Prosecution stopped departure of Six in the Hague’, pg 6 ‘Prosecution appeal delayed release of six Croats’ by A. Omeragic – Daily writes that ICTY Prosecution on Tuesday announced the appeal to the decision of the Court by which Jadranko Prlic, Slobodan Praljak, Valentin Coric, Milivoj Petkovic, Berislav Pusic and Bruno Stojic have been temporarily released.Oslobodjenje says it learned that the appeal came at the moment when six indictees were about to leave detention center. Coric’s lawyer, Tomislav Jonjic, confirmed that the group was supposed to arrive to Zagreb today, but that the trip was postponed. He added that the appeal request should be discussed on Thursday. |
| Ivanic on cooperation with ICTY
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘I will not resign if EC response is negative’ by Sead Numanovic – In an interview to DA, BiH Foreign Affairs Minister Mladen Ivanic was asked whether there is a possibility that BiH ocne receives the negative answer this time coming from European Commission on the beginning of negotiations on Stabilization and Accession Agreement due to the lack of RS cooperation with ICTY. Ivanic said: “I think that EC can hardly give us negative answer because we have done what they asked us to do. We’ll see what Tribunal will say on this issue. I personally think that little has been though of the cooperation with the Tribunal at all levels here, in a sense of making documents and archives available. Croatia did well [in that sense.]” Adding that an issue of RS cooperation with ICTY is a “must”, Ivanic says he will not resign if EC’s response turns negative. |
Security and defence issues | |
| One injured in armed robbery in Citluk
| RHB, BHTV1, FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Worker was severely injured while fighting a thief’ pg. 2 ‘Worker was injured in a fight with armed robber’ by V. Coric, Dnevni Avaz pg 27 ‘Workers at the gas station wounded by gun’, mentioned on cover, Dnevni List front and pgs 4 and 5 ‘Robber was shooting at employee’ by N. Dedic, Vecernji list ‘Employee of gas station wounded in robbery’ by R. Soldo – Miroslav Bevanda, an employee at the gas station near Citluk was seriously wounded during the armed robbery on Tuesday morning when he was trying to stop the robber. Bevanda undergoes medical treatment in the Mostar Clinicla hospital and his condition is stable. The robbers managed to run away and the investigation on this case has been underway. |
| Change of duties in FBIH Army
| RHB, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Dudakovic handed over duty to Grabovica’, mentioned on cover, by S. Hodzic, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Hajrudin Grabovica and Jugoslav Brdar took over’, mentioned on cover ‘I believe BiH will have one army’, by M.K., Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3 ‘Grabovica and Brdar at the head of the Federation of BiH Army’ by M. C., Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Dudakovic in pension’ not signed, Dnevni List pg 8 ‘Grabovica instead of Dudakovic’ by V. Vujovic and Slobodna Dalmacija last pg ‘Grabovac and Brdar new Commanders’ by F– On Tuesday Colonel General Atif Dudakovic and Major General Ivica Zeko handed over their duties – commander and deputy commander of FBiH Army Joint Command – to Brigadier Hajrudin Grabovica and Colonel Jugoslav Brdar. The transfer of duty was conducted in accord with the decision by BiH Presidency and FBiH Defence Ministry. This ceremony marked the completion of retirement of all 15 generals of VF and three generals of RS Army. |
| FTV crew attacked in Kalesija
| FTV – FTV crew said it was attacked preparing a report on numerous financial and administrative frauds in ‘Kaloteks’ company from Kalesija. Their equipment was taken away from them, which was followed by a number of unpleasant things occurring. After the police intervened, the equipment was returned. The report will be broadcast on 4 August, while FTV showed its crew being attacked by the director of tax office in Kalesija, Fikret Suljkanovic. |
| Ivanic on appointment of RS MoI
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘I will not resign if EC response is negative’ by Sead Numanovic – In an interview to DA, BiH Foreign Affairs Minister Mladen Ivanic reiterates that PDP will not nominate a candidate for the position of RS Interior Minister: “We will not offer our candidacy for that function and we stated that very clearly long ago. Instead, we will try to have new Interior Minister from the professional structures of MoI.” |
| GS on Oluja operation anniversary | Glas Srpske, cover page story ‘Bloody trail of “Oluja”’ by G. D. – GS carries a lengthy article on the occasion of the anniversary of “Oluja” action, which took place on August 4, 1995, and it reads that during and after attacks of Croatian troops against the Republic of Srpska Krajina 1,943 Serbs were killed or went missing, out of which number there were 1,199 civilians. |
Economic and social issues | |
| OLAF investigators in Sarajevo because of sugar affair
| Dnevni Avaz cover page ‘European investigator in Sarajevo’, pg 2 ‘OLAF investigates ‘sugar affair’’ by S.N. – DA says the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) sent an investigator to Sarajevo who will, together with the Indirect Taxation Administration, take part carry out investigation of the ‘sugar affair’. It was not confirmed how long the investigator would stay in BiH, however DA says officials they talked to in Sarajevo and Brussels are still very careful when it comes to calling this case ‘an affair’ before of an investigation: “Let’s wait for investigation institutions in BiH, together with ILAF, to complete their work and than we will be able to make a right judgment.” Officials of European institutions confirmed that this is a part of broad investigation of the fictitious import of sugar that has been carried out all around the EU. According to ITA, about 240.000 tons of sugar were missing from BiH in the past three years. Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘EU officials are investigating the “sugar affair” in BiH’ pg. 5 ‘Investigation and then perhaps punishments’ by M. Cubro – the article carries a statement of the Spokesperson of the EC Delegation, Frane Maroevic, who confirmed that the OLAF is investigating the “sugar affair” in BiH. A report, which will be compiled by this Office, will serve as a ground for reaching a decision on whether EC would impose sanctions on BiH or not. |
| ITA closes down customs and its branches
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Fifteen customs and 33 branches to be closed down’, mentioned on cover, by F. Cardzic – The Governing Board of the Indirect Taxation Administration has adopted the proposal submitted by ITA Director Kemal Causevic to close down 15 customs and 33 customs branches in BiH. The cuts of the offices will be carried out in all regional centers: Tuzla, Mostar, Sarajevo and Banja Luka. |
| DL: HT to purchase part of Eronet
| Dnevni List pg 3 “HT agreed to purchase part of Eronet’ by J. Petrovic – A source close to the Hercegovacka Banka Provisional Administration confirmed for DL that HT Zagreb in principle agreed to purchase 50,5 % of Eronet. According to the same source, among the other things, HT Zagreb demanded new estimation of the price of the part that this company is intending to purchase. DL also says that they will talk about considerably less price that HT Zagreb should pay than the one that Austrian Mobilkom offered. In an inset to this article DL carries under headline ‘Decision on transfer of shares onto HT Mostar’ that the Federation of BiH Government has not replied yet to the letter sent by HT Zagreb on transfer of shares from Eronet onto HT Mostar. DL says that according to the present situation the reply will be sent after summer vacations. |
| Hadzipasic on FBiH internal debt and old foreign currency savings | Dnevni List pg 9 ‘Representatives of old foreign currency depositors have unrealistic demands’, mentioned on cover, by M. Relota – Federation of BiH Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic stated that the issue of the FBiH internal debt should be resolved as soon as possible. According to Hadzipasic, due to non-adoption of this law the budget would not be able to finance budgetary beneficiaries and its orientation in program terms and this would mean the collapse of the budget. Hadzipasic added that old foreign currency depositors are dissatisfied the most. Hadzipasic believes that such stand is justified, however, the way in which they believe that this issue should be resolved is not. Hadzipasic added: “The solution to their problem is such as the law prescribes it with an addition that we shall take into consideration needs of the depositors by sub-Acts.” |
| SDP on internal debt in FBiH
| Vecernji list pg 3 ‘SDP and HDZ “united” thanks to old savings’, by Zdenko Jurilj, carries Karlo Filipovic, the President of SDP caucus in FBiH Parliament, as saying that this party will not change in September its opinion regarding ways to resolve the issue of internal debt in FBiH, including payment of old foreign currency savings. In other words, the SDP will defend at the next session of the FBiH Parliament the concept according to which citizens should get what belongs to them according to constitutional norms. ‘This is not about protecting the interests of small group of wealthy Croats. Resolving of the issue of internal debt and old foreign currency savings is a struggle for the interests of all citizens of the FBiH’, he says. VL finds it interesting that the SDP and HDZ took the same line on ways to regulate internal debts in FBiH. |
| Oslobodjenje on appointment of BiH General Auditor
| Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Key decision of BiH Presidency’ by V. Zivak – Daily refers to the issue of the mandate of BiH general auditor, writing the BiH Presidency is the only authorized institution to make decision on the issue. The BiH Parliament adopted the nomination of Milenko Sego at the position authorizing him with a year long mandate. “The conclusion of the BiH House of Representatives is not obligatory for the BiH Presidency, even though it would be good if Presidency members would respect our conclusions,” stated Momcilo Novakovic, member of BiH HoR. Author further writes that this way “the BiH presidency [read Dragan Covic] through a political decision succeeded to cement a person loyal to him, after Ivan Miletic in April this year [just before publication of the ‘hot’ audit report] resigned to the position of Chief Auditor. The decision [on new auditor] was adopted knowing that Law on Audits will soon be adopted foreseeing election of General Auditor and his deputies through public vacancy announcements. It is interesting that out of all delegates in HoR only Nikola Spiric reacted during the nomination,… who said that he doubts mandate would last a year and who insisted before approval was given to return decision to BiH presidency to precise the duration of mandate.” Commenting the case for Oslobodjenje, Spiric says that he thinks that this was a result of a deal reached between Covic and Sulejman Tihic, to appoint Croat as BiH General Auditor and a Bosniak for the same position in FBiH. Bringing such decision, reads article, BH Presidency ensured these positions were occupied by their loyal counterparts for next five years. |
| Transparency International BiH on corruption in BiH
| Dnevni list, pg 11, ‘Authorities do not punish culprits’, not signed, Vecernji list, pg 3, ‘Abuse of Republic of Croatia’s assistance reported’, by Renata Radic, mentioned on cover – The Legal Aid Centre of the Transparency International BiH (TI) has received over 2000 reports of corruption in the past six months. As most reports refer to authorities on all the levels, this indicates that most corrupted are institutions of authority. The TI has over the mentioned time period filed 4 criminal charges to competent prosecutors’ offices. It has been said that very few state bodies of authority have taken steps to check allegations of corruption or have taken legal measures. DL’s inset, ‘Poor cooperation with OHR’, reads that, Legal Aid Centre has not established institutional cooperation with the OHR despite TI’s attempts to have the OHR get involved in cases where domestic authorities were not ready to do so. TI noticed OHR’s double standards: in certain cases, the OHR simply declared those were not its jurisdiction. |
| VL on Restitution Law
| Vecernji list, pg 3, ‘Law on restitution’, by Eldina Medunjanin, carries that the first meeting of the Commission which is tasked by the BiH Council of Ministers to draw up a comprehensive text of the Law on Restitution is due mid-August and that the proposal of the Law could be sent to the parliamentary procedure before the end of 2004. VL adds that yet everyone agrees that the Commission has a difficult task as positions of parties interested differ so much that the implementation of a “just restitution” seems impossible. Also, when it comes to the issue, authorities are overstretched between the interest of religious communities, institutions and citizens. |
Media | |
| BHTV to launch programming on its own channel | RHB, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘BHT with programme under new logo’, mentioned on cover, by N. Kranjac, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Maric: Historical moment for BiH’, Dnevni List pg 6 ‘There are hints that there will be single central news’ by I. Tabucic, Slobodna Dalmacija pg 7 ‘There will be news and sport the most’ by F, Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 3 ‘BHT will start with program broadcast as of August 13’ by N. Krsman– Starting from 13 August, BHT 1 will start broadcasting its programmes nationwide on its own channel. At a presentation marking the start of the BHT 1 broadcast held on Tuesday, it was said that apart from newsprogrammes, BHT 1 will start broadcasting from the Olympics Games in Greece, while from 30 August it will broadcast programmes from 0600 to 2400 and will occasionally broadcast TV programmes from the BiH entities. The director-general of the BH Public Broadcasting Service, Drago Maric, said that the broadcasting of BHT 1 on its own network symbolically demonstrates the reintegration of the media in BiH. RTRS, BHTV 1 – “The basic programming scheme contains news, high-quality foreign programme, and sports,” explained Milan Trivic, Director of BHT 1. Thanks to EU donation, 91% of BiH citizens will be able to receive BHT 1 signal. |