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| Sarajevo Press claim ICTY Carla Del Ponte is coming to BiH with new indictments against Croat and Bosniak politicians | Workers of Coke and Chemicals Factory Lukavac went on strike | Klas Company’s official car has been robbed in Sarajevo | BH Presidency member Covic visited Banja Luka |
| RS Deputy President Ivan Tomljenovic claims RS Military Service spied on him | Momcilo Mandic – between BiH and The Hague Tribunal | Parliament agrees that Ahmed Zilic, Zoran Pajic and Ljiljana Mijovic should remain as candidates for judges of Human Rights Court in Strasbourg | Covic discussed with Cavic, Ivanic reforms of Armies in BiH
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| BiH Presidency Member Sulejman Tihic convinced BiH will enter EU together with Croatia | New revision of FBiH arms production companies | Anniversary of establishment of Council of Europe
| RS Government to discuss model of transformation of production intended for specific purposes into state companies |
| Tropical storm in Bangladesh killed 31 and tornado in Cansas 22 persons | Provisional Iraqi government to be formed this month |
| SRS and SDS held a press conference
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| Oslobodjenje | Hadzipasic did not resign |
| Dnevni Avaz | Serious accusations by Fatmir Alispahic: Alibabic should end up in prison |
| Dnevni List | Miroslav Coric, do propose HNC Government! |
| Vecernji List | 50.000 thousand accounts to be terminated |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Zagreb Court is more rigid than The Hague |
| Glas of Srpska | Bileca City Hall threatens with lawsuit against “Water Power Plants at Trebisnjica”: To court for money |
| Nezavisne Novine | Farmers in BiH worried over high temperatures: Drought endangers the crops; Personnel of KHK Lukavac protested: A year work without salaries; Following revision at the American prison in Guantanamo: Deported Algerians may be deported |
| Blic | Clinical Centre’s workers threaten with strike; 100,000 believers will greet the Pope; 14 years old boy raped near Doboj |
International community/OHR |
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| Ashdown meets with young BiH diplomats
| Oslobodjenje pg. 6, mentioned on the front page ‘BiH might be like Belgium or Switzerland’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 ‘There will be no compromise when it comes to the issue of the civil servants independence’ – BiH needs politicians with vision, who would lead it towards Europe, the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, said on Monday during a two-hour meeting with more than 20 young diplomats working in the BiH Foreign Ministry. Ashdown said there were two visible trends currently in BiH, which are the impatience of the international community and the pessimism of Bosnians. | |
| OHR on solving of problems in Elektroprivreda of RS | Dnevni List (page 4, by Ivica Glibusic, “Managerial cadre of Elektroprivreda of RS planned theft of funds”) carries an OHR press release regarding the situation in Elektroprivreda of RS (EP RS) saying that following the audit of the company the response of the EP RS, when compared to remedial steps taken by the management of Elektroprivreda of HZHB Mostar and Elektroprivreda of BiH Sarajevo, has been less satisfactory and the extent of the damage of much greater concern. “We expect the RS government and the new management team in the Elektroprivreda immediately to correct revenue collection, bring contracting procedures in line with existing legislation, remove all those involved in either degrading the operational capability of the company or actively undermining its financial well-being, and finally we expect a full and complete accounting for the actions taken in line with our letter to the Prime Minister and the subsequent RS government decision by the end of this month”, reads the OHR press release. | |
| Nezavisne Novine editorial on Ashdown’s intelligence sector-related initiatives | Nezavisne Novine editorial by Almir Sarenkapa, ‘Intelligence officers’ – In the article, the author makes a reference to the announcement of the HiRep to BiH, Paddy Ashdown, exactly seven days ago, regarding the next task of OHR – the establishment of the BiH intelligence agency. The author is of the view that since the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed, this would be the hardest task for the British diplomat, who is to be the last HiRep to BIH of all. The author then just brings some historic information related to intelligence agencies in BiH, namely FOSS, Bosniac AID and Croat SNS. He also claims that the agent of the western states have been cruising inside BiH for years. The author also emphasizes that it is clear to everybody that there is no parliament control over the FOSS and RS OBS. Sarenkapa concludes the editorial by saying the following: :It is will be interesting to see how Ashdown would reorganise it? As to whether phones are tapped in BiH – we won’t probably get an answer to this question, even if HiRep manages to institute the agency, whose names is already known – BIHOSS.” | |
Affairs |
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| Third GSM licence issuance
| Oslobodjenje pg. 3 ‘The price of the (third GSM) licence will be determined through tender procedure’ – A document determining the basic principles for the issuance of the third GSM licence in BiH was last week submitted to the BiH Minister of Communications, Branko Dokic, learns the newspaper. “A team of domestic experts set ten criteria on the basis of which the BiH Council of Ministers should, as soon as at its next session, make a decision on whether the rights to the third GSM network will be sold at all and if yes under which conditions,” said in a statement for Oslobodjenje Haris Basic, the BiH Deputy Minister of Communications. | |
| Publicist Fatmir Alispahic on Munir Alibabic | Dnevni Avaz front page, pg. 5 ‘Alibabic should end up in prison’ – Interview with publicist Fatmir Alispahic. “Munir Munja Alibabic should as soon as today be put behind the bars as a person who has violated the law and who is dangerous for the security of citizens. Alibabic has been finally caught up in misconduct with concrete evidence showing that he has been selling official confidential documents to the criminal structures of the so called Herceg-Bosna,” said Alispahic. | |
| Algerian Group case | Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 5, ‘Algerians deported from BiH may be released’ – BiH representative before the Human Rights Chamber, Jusuf Halilagic, believes that following the revision at the American prison of Guantanamo at Cuba, the inmates at the prison – Algerians deported from BiH – would be released. He believes so because “no incriminating court verdict has been passed against any of them. Mayvbe just one case is debatable – the case of the guy, who had the phone number of the close associate of Bin Laden. As for other, their guilt has not been proved.” | |
| Mostar Aluminium ownership structure | Oslobodjenje pg. 9 ‘Sarajevo faster than The Hague’ – After the BiH Federation Government and the managers of the Mostar-based Aluminium Company had last summer agreed that a long-standing dispute related to the company’s ownership structure is resolved through an international arbitration, there have been increased rumours nowadays that the issue might be resolved not by internationals but through direct talks between the interested parties in the Federation. Aluminium General Manager Mijo Brajkovic told the newspaper that his recent and more frequent contacts with the Federation officials particularly with Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic were announcing the deal would be reached on the domestic ground and not before the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague. | |
| Dnevni Avaz on business operation of the Lagumdzija family | Dnevni Avaz pg. 3 ‘Barisa Colak: The law has been abused by favouring the company owned by the Lagumdzija family’ By Husein Orahovac – The documenst presented in public that confirm corruption-like business operations of Amina Lagumdzija, the wife of SDP leader Zlatko Lagumdzija, have been caused fierce reactions by the officials of the governing political parties, according to the article. The newspaper quotes HDZ BiH President Barisa Colak as saying that first it should be determined whether Amina Lagumdzija had been getting jobs legally through appropriate tender procedures. If not, Colak said, it was clear that the law had been abused and all those involved should be held responsible accordingly. | |
Political developments |
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| Reorganisation of the armed forces in BiH
| Oslobodjenje pg. 2 ‘Reorganization of the armies by the end of the year’ – Dragan Covic, Croat member of the BiH Presidency, stated on Monday in Banja Luka that there were ready-made plans on what the armies in BiH should look like in order to be admitted to the Partnership for Peace program. Commenting on the letter SFOR commander sent to the authorities of BiH and its entities, which demands that the plans on army reorganization be submitted by 23 May, Covic said that a proposal most of whose contents would be coordinated with the demands of the two entities would be drafted by mid May. “Certain studies on the model of the armies of BiH have already been made. We have already adopted certain positions during the visit of NATO representatives to BiH. Furthermore, we have gained a great deal through certain solutions imposed by the high representative some time ago, as well as through our commitment to join the Partnership for Peace program. There are now two or three possible models which I personally checked out. That date was set as the deadline by which the entity authorities are expected to present their suggestions to those proposals in order to make the final decision. First and foremost, those plans will include a maximum downsizing of professional soldiers and all other structures of armies in BiH with the goal of meeting and accepting the Partnership for Peace standards, that is, NATO standards, above all. On the other hand, we will try to take into consideration, as much as possible, national interests in BiH in order for the organization of the armies in BiH to be reflected through it,” said Covic. Slobodna Dalmacija (back page, by M. Labus, “Reorganization of armies by mid May”), Dnevni List (front and page 3, “Single BiH army by end year”), Nezavisne Novine, page 5, ‘Armies to be reorganised’also carry the statement. Dnevni List (page 4, by FENA, ”Commission for defence reform starts working by end of the week”) reports that the OHR yesterday released that the Commission for defense reform would start working by end of this week, as announced by the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, last month. Moreover, the HR appointed James Locher the Chairman of the Commission. According to the daily, Locher was in charge of the biggest reforms to the US military executed in 1996. Dnevni List (page 6, by Slavo Kukic) carries an editorial on the issue of the future organization of the BiH Army. Kukic says that in his opinion it would be better that the future Army has from 3000 to 4000 soldiers instead of 11 000 as it was envisaged. Kukic proposes that in this case the rest of money planned for this purpose should be invested in improving of the security issue of the BiH citizens, in the struggle against corruption and organized crime and the revision of the privatization, which was carried out in BiH. | |
| Hadzipasic did not resign | Oslobodjenje front page ‘Hadzipasic did not resign’ – Following speculation in journalist’s circles about the alleged political conflicts inside the SDA, the FBiH Prime Minister, Ahmet Hadzipasic, told the newspaper late on Monday he had not resigned. He also said that, at the sessions of the the SDA Main Board and the Presidency, there had been no discussion at all about any resignations. | |
| SDS’s reaction on Tomljenovic’s statement | Ivan Tomljenovic, the Croat vice-president of the RS, told Banja Luka’s Nezavisne Novine of Monday he was aware that members of the recently disbanded 410th RS Army Intelligence Centre had been tapping his phone. “One of the indicators was that RS President Dragan Cavic had all information about me,” Tomljenovic said, adding he did not believe that Cavic had ordered the tapping of his phone. SDS spokesman Dusan Stojicic said on Monday that Tomljenovic’s statement was in function of destroying the institution of the RS president. “Tomljenovic obviously does not differentiate state from party affairs,” Stojicic said, adding that noone pays attention to Tomljenovic’s statements anymore. (Vecernje Novosti pg. 4 ‘Cavic without comment’ and Dnevni List page 11, by Onasa, “Tomljenovic’s statement pulls down institution of RS President” also carry SDS reaction) Nezavisne Novine, page 2, ‘Cavic: Tomljenovic does not speak the truth’ publishes a story with Tomljenovic’s statement and Cavic’s denial. | |
| Covic in Banja Luka / The Pope’s visit | Blic pg. 7 ‘The Pope to be protected by MUP and SFOR’ – BiH Presidency member Dragan Covic who is President of the Organisational Board for greeting the Pope, visited on Monday the location of Petricevac monastery, where the holy mass should be served, and held talks about the preparations for greeting the Pope with RS President Dragan Cavic and Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic. “It is our goal that all construction works on the location of Petricevac and Banja Luka airport Mahovljani are completed by 7 June in order to gain 12 to 15 days for the final touches”, said Covic. He stressed that more than 500 journalists are expected together with numerous church officials from the entire Europe. Covic added it is also necessary to regulate traffic during the visit of the Pope, considering that his visit should also attract the arrival of a great number of believers, pilgrims and senior guests that require special escort. The RS Government, he said, is expected to form a sub-board for health, in order to insure checkpoints that will provide services to all pilgrims and that it is also necessary to form press-centres for working of television crews and journalists. In regard to the security aspect of the visit, Covic expressed hope that the sub-board for security managed by RS Minister of Interior Zoran Djeric would fully realise its task in co-operation with other security and intelligence services in BiH as well as with the European Union Police Mission and SFOR. Regarding the preparations that need to be made by the church, Banja Luka Bishop Franjo Komarica said this task is developing in line with planned dynamic. “I hope that the arrival of the Pope would be something unique not only for Banja Luka, but for the entire BiH, and that on June 22 a much prettier image and voice would be sent to the world from BiH”, emphasised Bishop Komarica. RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic said that the RS Government would pass a decision on allocating assets for the preparations for the upcoming visit of Pope John Paul II to BiH. (Nezavisne Novine, page 6, ‘Authorities to bear the cost of the Pope’s visit’; Glas Srpski, page 3, ‘The date of arrival still unknown’ and Sarajevo dailies, Dnevni List page 3, by Onasa, “Reconstruction of Monastery Petricevac starts today” and page 11, by Fena, “Joint engagement in resolving of problems”, Vecernji List page 4, by Branka Stevandic, “Construction works on Petricevac starts” and Slobodna Dalmacija (last page, by Milorad Labus, “Preparations for Pope’s coming” also reported on the issue) | |
| DL on BiH diplomatic network | With regards to the news that the BiH Presidency has tasked the BiH Foreign Ministry to relieve all BiH ambassadors who were executing their posts for longer than 3 years of duty and retire ambassadors who meet the criteria, Dnevni List (front and page 5, by Ivica Glibusic, “Misic: I learned about retirement from media”) learns from its source in the Foreign Ministry it is about political removals because the ambassadors appointed by the Alliance for changes are to be removed and new ambassador appointed by the ethnic key. According to the daily’s source in the Foreign Ministry, one of the possible removals is prepared for the BiH Ambassador to the Holy Sea, Ivica Misic. Misic’s comment to the whole deal is that he has not received anything from the BiH Presidency or the Foreign Ministry and that all he knows about the issue comes from the media. According to the source, Misic will be removed after the forthcoming Pope’s visit to BiH. | |
| Formation of HNC Government | With regard to the statement that Deputy Prime Minister of the Herzegovina-Neretva Cantonal (HNC) Government Miroslav Coric gave to Dnevni List on May 2, when he accused the Bosniak Ministers for the fact that a new HNC Government has not been formed yet, Dnevni List (front and page 16, not signed, “Miroslav Coric, do propose HNC Government!”) carries a press release of the Bosniak Ministers of the HNC Government. The press release says that according to the decision on changes and amendments to the Federation of BiH Constitution passed by the High Representative it was determined that the candidate for the position of the Cantonal Prime Minister should propose the candidates. The press release also says that although three months passed since Miroslav Coric was appointed the candidate for the aforementioned position he has not proposed candidates for the HNC Government yet. | |
| BiH Deputy Refugee Minister on Return Fund establishment | Glas Srpski, page 5, ‘Return is privileged’ – Ivica Marinovic, BiH Deputy Minister for Human Rights and Refugees, told Glas Srpski that the establishment of the Return Fund should be legally framed, which is possible via changes and addenda to the Law on Refugees and Displaced Persons. In such a manner, all irregularities should be removed, in order to prevent any potential misuse of the Return Fund. The resources necessary for the Fund will be provided from the budgets of F BiH (KM 6 million), RS (KM 6 million), BiH Ministry of Refugees (KM 1 million) and Brcko District (KM 2 million). According to Marinovic, the international community will also take part in the process of establishing the Return Fund. As on the establishment of the Compensation Fund, Marinovic said that the officials of the BiH Ministry of Refugees and DP’s still do not know when this Fund will be founded. According to GS inset, at the session in June, the Peace Implementation Council is to hear report of BiH authorities, in regard to the implementation of the Annex 7 of DA. At February session, PIC accepted the Strategy Plan, according to which the UNHCR will gradually decrease its activities in BiH. | |
| DA editorial: Reminding on Ferhadija and Trebinje | Dnevni Avaz pg. 3 Commentary of the Day by Resad Dautefendic ‘Reminding on Ferhadija, Trebinje’ – Dautefendic reminds that it was the second anniversary yesterday since the Serb extremists had thwarted the laying out of cornerstone for the Osman-pasha Mosque in Trebinje and that it will be the second anniversary tomorrow of the bloody nationalistic orgies on the cornerstones of the Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka. It seems that a shadow of oblivion has fallen on these events although they should not be forgotten all until all those responsible are not brought to justice, according to Dautefendic. He concludes that the Bosniak returnees not only to these towns (but also to Foca, for example, where to only some 20 Bosniaks have returned so far) are sceptical among other things because the murderers of Murat Badic in Banja Luka have not been punished yet. And they as well as all other ethnic cleansing promoters will surely face justice once when the main war crime suspects Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic are arrested, writes Dautefendic. | |
| Interview with Speaker of Federation HoP Slavko Matic | Vecernji List (front “Croat issue not solved yet” and page 7 “Reduce authority to three levels”) carries an interview with the Speaker of the Federation Parliament’s House of Peoples, Slavko Matic, who says the winning parties from the last elections “have not practically taken over the authority” since the newly elected authority cannot influence appointments of junior officials. Asked to comment on the current state-legal establishment of BiH, Jukic says it needs changing. “The unsolved Croat national issue is not the only argument for the need to change the Constitution but economic and other reasons that go along. The state-legal establishment with five levels of state administration is irrational, not economic and extremely expensive, therefore untenable. I needs to be brought down to three levels of authority and it needs to produce satisfactory and solutions acceptable to all three peoples in BiH so it could become self-sustainable and economically advanced”, says Matic. | |
Economic affairs |
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| Coke plant workers in Tuzla go on general strike over wages, benefits
| Oslobodjenje pgs. 4-5, mentioned on the front page ‘The governments has abused our rights’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 12 ‘Strike continues, resolution in hand of FBiH Government’ – Workers of the coke plant in Lukavac, Tuzla Canton, went on general strike on Monday. They are demanding to be paid 12 wages, health and pension insurance benefits and a social plan until production resumes. Talks with Tuzla Canton government representatives ended without a specific agreement, and workers announced that the strike would continue. Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 3, ‘A year work without salaries’ also reported on the issue. | |
| VL on phantom companies’ accounts in BiH | Vecernji List (front “50.000 thousand accounts to be terminated” and pages 2 and 3 “Blockade of 50.000 accounts”) reads that commercial banks in BiH are by end of this year obliged to publish names of companies and persons whose accounts were not active in the past twelve months. If the owners of the accounts do not activate their accounts after the publishing, the funds on the accounts will be, pursuant to the new laws, transferred to the entities’ budgets. This comes as a new strategy in revealing of phantom companies and companies that do not honour the financial obligations. In this context, VL notes that estimates are that some 50.000 accounts will be closed down. | |
| Trebinje Water Power Plants in problems | Glas Srpski, cover page story, ‘To court for money’ – The Municipality of Bileca is now a half way through its attempt to press charges against the Trebinje “Water power plants at Trebisnjica”. Namely, the firm owes the Municipality of Bileca the amount of KM 490 thousand as a compensation of the flooded farms. | |
| Changes to the Law on Labour in RS | Nezavisne Novine, page 3, ‘Changes to the Law on Labour would decrease the number of those unemployed’ – Rajko Klicklovic, Assistant to RS Minister for Labour and Employment, stated that the provisions on changes and addenda to the Law on Labour (recently passed by RS NA) are better for both, employer and employees on training and volunteer courses. According to him, the provisions regulate the work of the employees. The changes were made upon recommendations of the Bulldozer Commission. | |
| High temperatures damage crops | Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 9, ‘Drought endangers the crops’ – The crops at farms across Bosnia and Herzegovina would be completely destroyed, unless the rain does not fall soon. According to Dr. Nezir Tanovic, Director of the Agricultural Institute in Sarajevo, a great deal of crops in Herzegovina and Posavina areas has already been destroyed. Milan Nincic, Assistant for Agriculture at the RS Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, says that the farmers are extremely nervous over the high temperatures recorded over the past days, which is of extreme negative effect upon crops. | |
War crimes |
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| Boris Tadic on Mladic
| Blic pg. 3 ‘Data on Mladic in NATO’; Vecernje Novosti pg. 4 – Serbian and Montenegrin Defense Minister Boris Tadic says that at tomorrow’s meeting with NATO officials in Brussels he will give information about the last contact between Ratko Mladic and Yugoslav Army, without giving any further information on that. Tadic says that the RS Army Chief of Staff has not had the contacts with S&M Army. | |
| ICTY: Claims about new indictments are not grounded | Dnevni List (page 3, not signed) carries that the ICTY Office in BiH characterized as ungrounded the Sarajevo media speculation that the Chief ICTY Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, will bring this month a few sealed bills of indictment against high-ranked Croat and Bosniak politicians and military officials. The ICTY Outreach in BiH, Refik Hodzic, stated that this kind of information could not be known before the bills of indictment are issued. (Sarajevo dailies also carried the statement) | |
| Ivica Rajic’s extradition to The Hague | Dnevni List (page 7, not signed, “Appeal to decision on Rajic’s extradition has been lodged”), Slobodna Dalmacija (last page, by I. Dosen, “Olujic disputes decision on extradition”), Jutarnji List (page 7, by H, “Olujic’s appeal to decision on Rajic’s extradition”) and Vjesnik (page 2, by Vlado Juric, “Olujic lodged appeal to decision to extradite Rajic to The Hague”) carry that Zeljko Olujic, a lawyer of The Hague indictee Ivica Rajic, lodged an appeal to the Croatian Supreme Court to the decision on Rajic’s extradition to The Hague. On the same issue, DL (front and page 7, “Extradition of Ivica Rajic will not contribute to Blaskic’s release”, by Jurislav Petrovic) carries an interview with Anto Nobilo, a lawyer of The Hague indictee HVO General Tihomir Blaskic. Asked as to how the extradition of Ivica Rajic will reflect on the case of General Blaskic, Nobilo says that in principle he believes that the trial against Rajic will help establishing of the objective truth and every truth can help Blaskic’s defense, however, the statements that Blaskic is free when Rajic is extradited are far from true. On the same issue Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 15, by Darko Juka, “Zagreb Court is more rigid than The Hague”) carries an interview with lawyer Josip Muselimovic, who was not allowed to participate in Rajic’s defense because he is not in the registry of lawyers of the Republic of Croatia. Muselimovic says that the Croatian judiciary has shown the highest degree of subordinate relation towards the bodies of the International Community and added that he hopes that the Croatian Government will stop with the practice of unquestionable extradition of BiH Croats. | |
| Guarantees requested for temporary release of Naser Oric | Dnevni Avaz pg. 4 ‘Guarantees requested for temporary release of Naser Oric’ – Not a full month following apprehension of Srebrenica war commander Naser Oric, his defence lawyers requested the authorized BiH Federation bodies to provide adequate guarantees for Oric’s temporary release. Oric’s lawyer Vasvija Vidovic visited on Monday FBiH Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic and gave him official request for guarantees, the newspaper learns unofficially. | |
Other issues |
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| BH MAC on Hambarine minefield
| Nezavisne Novine, page 2, ‘Deminers did not know of minefield near the school’ – Zeljko Travar, Deputy Head of the BH MAC, stated that: “Nobody informed us that minefield is located only 10 metres from the reconstructed primary school at Hambarine settlement near Prijedor, nor was the request for demining filed with us.” Drasko Djenadija, Assistant at Civil Protection Civil Affairs Unit at Prijedor Municipality, claims that the municipal officials were informed that the mine-mark was placed near the primary school at Hambarine, adding that SFOR has never informed them as to the reasons why the marks were placed. He also denied claims by Vahid Imsirevic, Secretary at the Local Community of Hambarine, (that he informed municipal officials of this). Regarding this, Djenadija further stresses that: “Municipal officials have not received any written act of such a content. | |
| Bisic nominated for Integrity Award | Glas Srpski, page 3, ‘Bisic amongst the candidates’ – The Organisation “The Transparency International” yesterday announced that six persons were short listed as candidates for the Integrity Award for this year. The list of candidates includes Milica Bisic, former Director of the RS Tax Administration. According to TI PR, the award is rewarded to individuals and organisations, who contributed in the fight against corruption. The winner will be named on 16 May, and the award will be handed in Seoul on 25 May. | |