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

Print Media Headlines

Dnevni Avaz: SFOR raids Tabacco Factory Sarajevo; Is Karadzic hiding in Ozren?

Oslobodjenje: SFOR raids Tabacco Factory in Sarajevo; The future of basketball in BIH in one place

Jutarnje Novine: SFOR raids Tabacco Factory in Sarajevo; Mesic and Kostunica in BIH on July 15

Glas Srpski: Miroslav Deronjic arrested in Bratunac; Prijedor – judiciary under pressure

Blic: Ivanic: RS does not depend on someone’s charity; Cedo Volas: The Trade Union does not need a reform; Mirko Banjac: They dictate the work of RTV with stealing money

Nezavisne Novine: 33 miners die in Ukraine

Dnevni List: SFOR raids Tabacco Factory: Instead of grenades, SFOR discovers multi-million marks fraud

Vecernji List: Serbs to form a new Canton in the Federation – Drvar, Glamoc, Grahovo

Affairs in the Federation

SFOR troops searched on Sunday the premises of the Sarajevo Tabacco Factory after they received a tip-off that illegal arms and ammunition have been stored there. SFOR spokesman, Scott Lundy, confirmed this information, adding that no arms or ammunition were found during the four hour operation. “We did not have any problems during the raid and we truly appreciate all the assistance of factory’s staff. The fact that we did not find anything is a truly good news for us and for the residents.”

Dnevni List reports, however, that the reason behind the SFOR raid was not the search for illegal weapons, but an attempt to break the network of cigarette smuggling between BiH and Yugoslavia. (front page in Dnevni Avaz, Oslobodjenje, Jutarnje Novine, Dnevni List, Vecernji List p. 3, Glas srpski p. 3 and Nezavisne novine p.  3, Blic p. 10 top story at BHTV 1 and FTV prime time news)

Vjesnik (page 10) reports that John Sylvester, the SFOR commander in BiH, urged local authorities to urgently process cases of those responsible for the illegal storage of 120 tons of mortar shells and gunpowder in Mostar.  “All responsible should be brought  before justice and they must bear consequences”, Sylvester said on Saturday afternoon after his meeting with Mostar Mayor Hamdija Jahic.

Commenting on the recent proclamation of Mijo Brajkovic, the manager of Aluminij Company Mostar as the top-manager in BiH, Ljiljan carries a chronology of the Aluminij case saying that because of the influence of Daimler Chrysler Company, illegal activities committed in Aluminij were ignored, while this was not the case with the Sarajevo Tobacco Factory. The article also names the Prime Minister, Alija Behmen as a person who is very much responsible for this situation.

ICTY-related issues

SFOR troops on Sunday arrested Miroslav Deronjic, a BiH Serb suspected of committing war crimes against Bosniaks in the Bratunac area in 1992. According to SFOR, there were no casualties during the arrest. Radio Bratunac and Glas Srpski report that some 20 armed men entered Deronjic’s house in Bratunac and arrested him in front of his wife and children.

Dnevni List (p. 32) quotes a document from the OHR which claims that Deronjic was present in Srebrenica at the time of the massacre, and advised general Ratko Mladic not to meet Bosniaks, because, as he said, “we will kill them all anyway”. (front page of Glas Srpski, Dnevni Avaz p. 4, Nezavisne Novine p. 3. all electronic media)

Glas srpski  (front page)  and Nezavisne novine (p. 6) report that the families of 5 police officers from Prijedor, who are indicted for murder of the Catholic Priest Tomislav Matanovic and his family, will gather in front of the Banja Luka District Court today at 7:30 AM because they fear that the District Court will illegally extend the detention for these police officers. The detention order for the police officers expires today at 1 PM.

Dnevni Avaz (p. 8) reports that the ICTY Prosecution will not try to prove that the Serb forces in BiH committed a genocide against Croats. “Prosecution believes that there is sufficient evidence for claims that the genocide had been committed against Bosniaks. As far as the Bosnian Croats are concerned, there is some evidence there, however, they are not sufficient,” said Graham Blewit, the deputy Tribunal spokesman told the press. However, Florence Hartmann, the Prosecution spokesperson, said that it is still too early to make any concrete conclusions about this. “Discussions are still ongoing,” she said.

BiH’s relations with neighbors

The first trilateral meeting of the presidents of BIH, Croatia and Yugoslavia since 1992 is to be held in Sarajevo on July 15. “It is hoped that the meeting in Sarajevo will introduce a new quality to relations between the three states,” the BIH Presidency said in a statement. The summit will be attended by the BiH Presidency chairman, Beriz Bellic, Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica and his Croatian counterpart, Stipe Mesic, who will discuss a series of issues ranging from property rights and social protection to economic cooperation. “We regard this summit as one of the most significant events in post-war years for all citizens of BiH.” Oslobodjenje reports that one of the Presidency members will also ask Kostunica to “at least express his regret about what happened in BiH.” (Dnevni Avaz p. 2, Oslobodjenje p. 3, Glas srpski p.  3 and Nezavisne novine p. 5, Jutarnje Novine p. 3)

Refugee/Return problems

Vecernji List (front page) reports that Serbs living in three municipalities in the Canton 10 in the Federation – Drvar, Glamoc and Grahovo – will demand the creation of a separate canton which would encompass the three predominantly Serb towns. The daily notes that this initiative should not be underestimated as it could open up a number of similar issues, in particular in the neighboring Croatia, where Serb returning to their pre-1995 homes could also ask for a separate Serb canton. “Moreover, this initiative could also have similar effects in the Federation,” argues Robert Bubalo in VL.

London’s Sunday Times carries a front page article on a testimony of a British officer commanding the Special Forces in Srebrenica in 1995 who argues that the UN and NATO “sold out thousands of Srebrenica Bosniaks.” “ The UN never had intention to fight for Srebrenica. The decision to leave Srebrenica to Serb soldiers was not made by so vehemently Dutch soldiers, but UN diplomats.”

Observer on Sunday also carries a similar article on Srebrenica. According to the daily, most senior UN diplomats and UNPROFOR generals met only a few days after the Srebrenica massacre with the Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and the Serb Army general, Ratko Mladic, in Belgrade to discuss the POW exchange involving the peacekeepers, and not to condemn the tragedy. (Dnevni Avaz p. 8, Nezavinse Novine p. 7, Oslobodjenje p. 7 , Jutarnji List p. 11 carry excerpts of both articles)

In an editorial in Dnevni Avaz, Almasa Hadzic argues that “Bosniak politics” is unfortunately a good indicator of what Srbrenica means to Bosniaks as a people and BiH as a country. Hadzic notes that seven years after multi-million donations have been funneled for Srebrenica survivors, most of them do not even have a home to return to. “For the full seven years, the very mentioning of the word Srebrenica was enough for you to receive a million EURO donation for ‘curing traumas of Srebrenica women’ although, after the millions wasted, their trauma remains their only memory on this town and their slaughtered family members.”

Entity-state related relations

All Yugoslav’s dailies (Blic – p13, Nacional – p8, Vecernje Novosti – p19) report on “the great people’s gathering in Mrakovica” (mountain Kozara) on Saturday on the occasion of 4^th July, Soldier’s Day and 60 years of the breakthrough the enemy encirclement during the Kozara’s battle in WW II. Mladen Ivanic, the RS Prime Minister, said that despite the tremendous pressure, the RS will be preserved “We should not be afraid of any leaders from Sarajevo and those who are against the RS. We are stronger. If there is something all RS politicians share, that is their relation with the RS. This is the guarantee that there will be no change of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Neither we accept any charity nor we make any concessions for it,” Ivanic said.

Terrorism

Vecernji List (front page) reports Adnan Kadric, an alleged leader of a terrorist organization in Zenica, was detained after a routine control of his car in Mostar on Saturday. According to the daily, the police found a silencer-equipped gun with a telescope sight in his car. VL notes that there is a suspicion that Kadric was preparing an assassination attack on John  B. Sylvester , the SFOR Commander, who was scheduled to pass through Mostar on that day. After the criminal charges were filed, Kadric was questioned yesterday in the Mostar Cantonal Court.

Brcko District

Oslobodjenje (p. 4) and Dnevni Avaz (p.4) – weekend editions – report that the chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Dragan Mikerevic, and the Principal Deputy High Representative, Donald Hays, will visit Brcko District today, where they will hold a series of meetings with the district officials.