OHR BiH Media Round-up, 7/8/2002

 

Headlines in Print Media

Oslobodjenje: Whether BiH Federation Government is going to move military training fields on a no man’s land – A million KM monthly for “Barbara” and “Pelican”; Ashdown in an interview with Die Presse – More progress made in BiH than in Northern Ireland

Dnevni Avaz: Paddy Ashdown in an interview for an Austrian daily – Due to Karadzic no one wants to invest in RS; There were no pressures on Jasminka Putica

Jutarnje Novine: Why Jasminka Putica resigned  – pressures or health reasons?; Annex to the contract on Kostajnica border crossing agreed; Midnight SFOR operation in Foca

Dnevni List: Josip Muselimovic, a lawyer involved in the Leutar case – Judge Miso carries out legal terror, plays on time and under directive; SFOR’s operation in Srbinje – Karadzic’s daughter at dentist’s – SFOR up on its feet; Slavo Kukic, the President of the HPT Steering Board – Dragan Covic robbed HPT?

Vecernji List: Operation of the international forces near Foca – SFOR again missed Karadzic

Glas Srpski: Following SFOR members’ raid into the RS Army barracks in Srbinje – A false information or an excuse

Nezavisne Novine: Scandal over removal of medicines depot near Banja Luka Clinic Center – Who was “moving around” poisoned barrels?; Fresh disputes over ballots printing – Graphic workers trade union requests investigation, Korac announces legal counter-measures

FRY Nacional: Attempted arrest of Radivan Karadzic by SFOR special units in Srbinje; Zoran Lilic will not testify in the Hague?; Seselj: Buha killed by Cane’s man

Euro Blic: SFOR was blocking Srbinje for four hours; 250 barrels with poison in the hospital; Vojislav Seselj: General Buha was killed by Maka; Paddy Ashdown: The RS does not work hard enough to arrest Karadzic

HR’s activities

“The authorities in the RS are not doing enough to apprehend Radovan Karadzic,” the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, said in an interview for the Vienna Die Presse. “I am convinced NATO will use all of its potentials to arrest Karadzic. However, problem is in the RS authorities, which are not doing their best in order for that job to be completed, although they are suffering the biggest damage from such an attitude. No one wants to invest in the RS, and there is more poverty there than in the rest of the country,” Ashdown said. Speaking about the problem of organized crime and the involvement of many politicians in it, Ashdown emphasized that the problems of organized crime and corruption could be resolved in a way they had been resolved in Europe following the Second World War. (Dnevni Avaz, front page, p 2, Oslobodjenje, p 3, announced on the front page, Jutarnje Novine, p 7, Nezavisne Novine, p 5, Slobodna Dalmacija, p 14, FRY Nacional, p 9, Blic, p 17)

On Monday afternoon, the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, visited the ARS AEVI contemporary art collection placed in the premises of the Museum of History in Sarajevo. (Dnevni Avaz, p 2)

The OHR Spokesman, Patrik Volf, told a press conference in Sarajevo on Tuesday that the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, is scheduled to visit the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton for the third time on Wednesday, where he will meet local officials including the Mostar Mayor, Hamdija Jahic. (Dnevni Avaz, p 2, Jutarnje Novine, p 3, Glas Srpski, p 3)

SFOR searched area visited by Karadzic’s daughter

SFOR forces set up checkpoints and searched the wider Foca/Srbinje area on Monday night, after Sonja Karadzic, daughter of Hague indictee Radovan Karadzic, had visited the municipality briefly. (Oslobodjenje, p 6, announced on the front page, Jutarnje Novine, p 5, announced on the front page, Glas Srpski, cover page, Nezavisne Novine, p 2, Nacional p 9, Blic p 9, Vecernje Novosti p 8, Politika, front page).

The chief of the General Staff of the RS Army, Col-Gen Novica Simic, told SRNA that during an action in Srbinje/Foca barracks on Monday, SFOR members did not inspect military facilities, nor did they engage in any activities directed towards the RS Army, “they only kept in touch with their units”. “This action was carried out within the scope of the Sfor mandate and their attitude towards the Serb Republic Army was correct. Sfor members kept in touch with their units deployed in armoured personnel carriers for around four hours, then thanked us and left the barracks,” Simic said. (Jutarnje Novine, p 5)

At a press conference in Sarajevo on Tuesday, SFOR Spokesman Scot Lundy confirmed the SFOR members had conducted an unannounced inspection of the RS Army 117^th Brigade’s barracks in Foca/Srbinje, but denied that operation had anything to do with the war crime suspects apprehension. (Oslobodjenje, p 6, Dnevni Avaz, p 4, Nezavisne Novine)

FENA reports that wartime RS leader and the most wanted war crime suspect, Radovan Karadzic, in the past days has been maybe using vehicles with SFOR signs in order to avoid apprehension and hand-over to The Hague Tribunal. The news agency quoted the Mostar-based Federation Army military sources. (Oslobodjenje, p 6, Jutarnje Novine, p 3, Slobodna Dalmacija, back page)

Federation affairs: Putica’s resignation, Leutar case update, HPT Mostar, Defense Ministry, Stolac, reconciliation among Krajina Bosniaks, other issues

The investigative judge of the Federation Supreme Court, Jasminka Putica, who on Monday resigned from this post, on Tuesday held talks with the president and vice-president of the Federation, Safet Halilovic and Karlo Filipovic respectively, and verbally informed them about the reasons for her resignation. As Filipovic told FENA, the judge reiterated that the reasons for submitting her resignation were of a personal nature and explained that she had been thinking about leaving the post for a long time due to poor heath. At the insistence of the leaders of the Federation to say whether the reports that pressure had been exerted on her during the investigation process were true, Putica said that no pressure was exerted, rejecting that as a reason for submitting her resignation. “During the talks Putica drew our attention to the situation in the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia-Hercegovina, and the fact that only 13 out of 30 judges are currently working in that court and that due to the judges’ engagements some 8,000 cases are still outstanding,” Filipovic said. Judge Jasminka Putica’s resignation drew the attention of the domestic public because she has been conducting an investigation into the Pogorelica case. (Oslobodjenje, p 3, Dnevni Avaz, p 3, announced on the front page, Jutarnje Novine, p 6, announced on the front page, Vecernji List, p 3, Dnevni List, p 2, Slobodna Dalmacija, back page)

Vecernji List (front and page 4), Dnevni List (front and page 3) and Slobodna Dalmacija (page 13) carry an extensive update to the Leutar case which read that a defense team lawyer, Josip Musalimovic, walked out from the courthouse of the Sarajevo Cantonal Court yesterday being revolted with the marathon sessions and the way the process is being conducted by judge Salem Miso. Muselimovic: “I am surprised and revolted that the defense team is being notified by telegrams, some telegrams never reached the defense attorneys, which was the case with Fahrija Karkin and Dragan Barbaric who are not with us today”.  VL reports that, after judge Miso said that he personally wants to put an end to the process saying that the process is being stalled due to obstructions by some persons, Muselimovic “exploded” and said that such process has never been recorded in the whole world, which represents a terror against the defendants. SD carries Muselimovic as saying that according to his knowledge, Miso announced that he would report the case to the Bar Association and OHR over the disrespect of the court. “I can hardly wait for the call so we can sort it out”, comments Muselimovic. Finally, VL does not fail to note that the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, once promised that he would personally, with his associates, follow the course of the trials.

In a separate article in Vecernji List (page 4, by Milo Jukic), the author criticises the Sarajevo-weekly “Liljan” for publishing, in Jukic’s opinion, “Liljan’s” true version of the Leutar case. “According to Liljan, the victims in the process are the good man Faik Luksija and his associates, which the public holds, apart from “Ljiljan’s” public, the main riggers in the Leutar case”, reads Vecernji List. VL also criticises the Sarajevo weekly for doing a shallow research of the case saying that “Ljiljan” missed both the year and the month when the assassination took place, instead of March 1999, Ljiljan wrote February 2000. The daily also carries an anonymous colleague of judge Miso who upon discovery of articles in VL and “Slobodna Bosna” said: “These journalist are not normal. This cannot be – we have to start locking up the journalists”.

Dnevni List (front and page 5) carries a reaction by the Chair of HPT Mostar’s Steering Board, Slavo Kukic, to the charges pressed against him by the Croatian Telekom (HT) (see yesterday’s Cropress summary). Kukic sees the charges as the pressure against him and HPT Mostar CEO Stipe Prlic saying that the HPT’s Steering Board has already decided that the HPT’s shares in Eronet were to be regained, as ordered by the Federation Privatisation Agency. Kukic goes on to say that the charges have been pressed on the first day of the election campaign with an aim to homogenise the HDZ electorate. “But that will not stop me to reiterate that Dragan Covic is most directly responsible for the plunder of HPT’s share in Eronet, the same person who is being offered to BiH Croats as the saviour”, says Kukic.

Slobodna Dalmacija (page 15, by Zvonimir Cilic) carries a highly critical piece about the Federation Minister of Defense, Mijo Anic, in which the author claims that Anic is afraid to permit the audit of the Federation MoD, the year 2001 in particular when he took over the ministry, because the audit would reveal that in his attempt to “break” officers and soldiers loyal to the HNS (Croat National Assembly) Anic used the Federation MoD money to buy the officers and soldiers’ loyalty. “If everything was clean within the MoD in 2001, would Mijo Anic diligently resist?”, says Cilic.

“We consider that the decisions of the Federation Government taken without NHI cadres cannot be either legal or legitimate. New Croat Initiative does not implement illegal and illegitimate decisions”, said Kresimir Zubak, President of NHI, Vecernji List.

Vecernji List (page 2, by Zoran Kresic) carries an article in which the author says that majority of Bosniak members of Cantonal Assembly of Herzegovina Neretva Canton voted against the unified budget. Even though SDP and majority of SDA members voted against the budget, thanks to four Bosniak votes (two from SDA and two from Party for BiH), with all votes from HDZ and HSP, the budget was adopted. The article says that the cantonal budget is filled 72% from the area with Croat majority and only 28% from area with Bosniak majority and that the Croat beneficiaries will receive 67 million KMs whilst the Bosniak beneficiaries will receive 28 million KMs from the budget for 2002.

The Association of Citizens for Renewal of Trust in the Stolac municipality has accused Head of this municipality Zeljko Obradovic of misuse of the office, which is aimed at the preservation of situation created by a crime. Reacting on Obradovic’s statement, according to which “he managed to create Stolac a normal city,” the association said in a letter sent to him that he “has been only inefficiently hiding humiliation of Stolac’s inhabitants, which have been occurring ever since 1993.” In another letter sent to High Representative Paddy Ashdown, the Association said it does not accept the allegation of the High Representative, according to which the main reasons for the stoppage of return process in Stolac are of the economic nature. (ONASA, Oslobodjenje, pages 4-5)

“The reconciliation among Bosniaks in the Krajina region, which is an issue recently also addressed by Head of the BiH Islamic Community Mustafa Ceric, was being interpreted in different ways by the public in the Una-Sana Canton. As ones believe the reconciliation is necessary, the others consider the initiative a pre-election slogan,” read a Dnevni Avaz Story (p 3).

“The appeal by Head of the BiH Islamic Community Mustafa Ceric for the reconciliation among Bosniaks in Krajina comes in the right time…In the time when the relations between different peoples are being improved in BiH, insisting on divisions among the Krajina Bosniaks seems to be totally anachronistic,” Fadil Mandal wrote in the Dnevni Avaz Commentary of the Day.

Dnevni List (page 2) carries editorial by Miroslav Vasilj who criticises Federation Prime Minister Alija Behmen about his role in case of mortar rounds that were found in Mostar. With regard to the recent correspondence between Minister of Interior of Herzegovina Neretva Canton Goran Bilic and Prime Minister Behmen, when Behmen stated that Federation Government did send the documents that were requested, the author asks:  “Why is Federation Prime Minister Alija Behmen backing those who are trying to hide information about persons who stored 9,000 mortar rounds and several tons of gunpowder in East Mostar? Whom are they protecting?”

Slobodna Dalmacija (page 14) carries article which criticises behaviour of politicians from East Mostar who are renting or selling their houses in western part of town, and in the same time getting or building apartments in the Eastern part of Mostar. The author says that will of Croats from East Mostar for return is being suppressed, while in the same time houses were built for Croats from Central Bosnia. The article mention names of former Mayor of Mostar Safet Orucevic, current Deputy Speaker of Mostar City Council Milan Jovicic, former Cantonal Minister of Education Nijaz Slipicevic, former AID officer Esad Humo and other officials as those who are verbally advocating for return of refugees and DPs and they themselves did not return.

“River Uncica for which Croats claim that is a natural border between Croatia and BiH does not exist. That is basically a canal cut through land during Austria-Hungary monarchy in order to defend easier old Zrinjski Grad,” Mirko Novakovic, president of the SNSD’s Executive Board and a candidate for the RS National Assembly. He reminded that border crossing in Kostajnica became a problem in 1991, when Croatia was declared an independent state, and especially after Franjo Tudjman – Alija Izetbegovic agreement in 1999. “The Croats were the first in working on the breakdown of former Yugoslavia and AVNOJ, and now they support the AVNOJ’s borders,” Novakovic said.

The Trade Union of the BiH Graphic Workers on Tuesday forwarded the request to the Cantonal Prosecutor in Sarajevo to initiate an investigation into the decision of BiH Election Commission to hire Hungarian Company Allami for printing of the voting ballots for October elections (Nezavisne Novine, p 6, Oslobodjenje, p 5, Dnevni Avaz, p 4)).The Chairman of the Trade Union, Amer Toskic, said on the occasion:“I am absolutely sure that Mrs. Korac (chairwoman of BiH Election Commission) misused her position and authorization.” Reacting to the corruption allegations, Lidija Korac, pressed charges on Monday with the Cantonal Prosecutor in Sarajevo, as a legal counter-measure. Nezavisne Novine also quote the OHR Spokesman, Patrik Volf, who said that BiH Election Commission is an independent institution which has full support of the High Representative. Volf added: “The Commission also has out full support in selection of Company Allami for printing of the ballots.”

The Director of the Housing Fund, Goran Milojevic, stated for Glas Srpski (cover page)that the competition for housing credits will be publicized on Monday and that there will be no more postponements. According to Milojevic, the Housing Fund and banks have agreed on the procedure for allocation of credits.

Party of Social-democratic Centre’s (PSDC) president and candidate for the BiH Presidency Ranko Bakic claims that there is an agreement between ruling parties and the international community that constitutional changes in the RS should not be implemented before the elections because their implementation would result in the change of the name, coat of arms, flag and national anthem of this entity, which would jeopardise the success of these parties at the elections. About the RS Government’s decision to lend 7 million KM from commercial banks to pay pensions Bakic said that this is a classical example of public peace being bought in order to win the support of pensioners in the pre-election period. (FRY Nacional, p 11)

• The NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) on Monday evening blocked Foca for four hours and searched the Republika Srpska army barracks in this city
• High Representative to BiH Paddy Ashdown was quoted on Tuesday as saying that the RS authorities were not doing enough on the arrest of war crime indictee and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic
• Judge of the Federation Supreme Court Jasminka Putica officially hands her resignation to Federation president

FTV 1 (1930)

• There are no more details on the reasons of resignation of judge of Federation Supreme Court Jasminka Putica after her meeting with Federation president. Possible threats to Putica were denied.
• The NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) on Monday evening blocked Foca for four hours and searched the Republika Srpska army barracks in this city
• The trial against former leaders of the Zenica-Doboj Canton suspected of misuse of the official position and authorities is expected to be held in mid-August before the Cantonal Court in Zenica.
• BiH, Croatian delegations for border crossings in talks over location of Kostajnica crossing. The two sides agreed the location between Una and Uncica rivers

RTRS (1930)

• Inter-border commissions of BiH and Croatia agree joint crossing near Kostajnica between Una and Uncica rivers. (2.0)
• BiH parliamentary assembly and RS National Assembly must not allow the border between BiH and Croatia near Kostajnica be Uncica river, deputy in RS NA Mirko Novakovic said (1.0)
• Although the SFOR action in Srbinje disrupted citizens, the situation is calm. The NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) on Monday evening blocked Foca for four hours and searched the Republika Srpska army barracks in this city (3.0)
• High Representative to BiH Paddy Ashdown said in an interview with Vienna daily Die Presse that the Republika Srpska authorities were not doing enough on the arrest of war crime indictee and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.