DS Banja Luka will organise a massive election campaign rally named ‘The Serb Parliament for the Unified and Indivisible RS’ in Banja Luka tomorrow. Various SDS members, such as Krajisnik and Buha and the Orthodox priests will address the people of Banja Luka. SDS sends a message that nothing will stop them from organising the rally, not even a decision made by illegal police loyal to Biljana Plavsic to ban the holding of all kinds of public gatherings in this town from 7 – 11 September. The Banja Luka MUP had released a statement saying that there was allegedly reliable information which indicated that any public gathering could endanger the general peace and order. However, the police didn’t mention that prior to the SDS announcement on the holding of the rally, certain opposition leaders had given identical promises regarding the RS future during their pre-election campaign at the separated Banja Luka studio. Their fake stories give an example of what western democracy really is, that is, empty rhetoric. They are actually afraid to face the facts because the Serb people throughout the RS will gather tomorrow (probably referring to the fact that the opposition does not have any followers). All decisions that ban such gatherings are targeted against the RS people. SDS Trebinje organised buses that will take all the people and SDS deputies from Serb Herzegovina to Banja Luka this evening at 8pm.
3:00
Flash news:
European diplomats said that the US action of taking-over several police stations and TV repeaters was nothing but a putsch that ended up with the US withdrawal. Politicians judged the US action as a failure because the west overrated the police support to Plavsic and did not expect the rebellion of the people.
The New York Times strongly condemned the methods of dealing with the Serb media only because they don’t suit NATO. Papers reported that NATO shall not bomb transmitters for the time being, but disturbance of the programmes is not excluded.
Paris weekly Balkans Info strongly condemned the US policy in the world and in the Balkans asking whether the world is turning back to Gestapo. The papers reported an interview with Dr. Smilja Avramov who said that there was no investigation after Kovacevic’s kidnapping and the murder of Simo Drljaca since there is a clause in the DPA related to ex-territorial rights of occupation forces and can be compared with the policy of colonialism. British Daily Mail reported an interview with a British soldier who worked as a professional in the Croatian army and admitted that he had killed 46 Serb civilians, majority of them women and children. He now suffers from nightmares and is afraid to see children because he had seen so many of them dead.
Serb papers of the Diaspora Vesti reported an interview with Dr. Dabic who said that Croatian Army killed 2,500 Serbs only in the Pakrac valley, calling upon the results of the investigation which was conducted by a Canadian officer, an employee of the Civil Police in western Slavonija in 1993. Furthermore, he said that they found an eyewitness who claimed that he had seen the preparations for staging the massacre on May 27 (bread line) for which Serbs were groundlessly accused. The eyewitness had seen people carrying stretchers, setting up cameras, etc. and the massacre was committed by a group of Muslim terrorists.
4:00
The preparations for the local elections is being carried out in all municipalities throughout the RS. The final decision on the holding of elections will be made by the Parliament on September 10, after the PEC meeting.
According to voters’ lists, about 8,000 Muslims registered to vote in Visegrad. Local EC (electoral commission) found a number of irregularities on the lists, such as repeating of the same name, and informed OSCE about this. The same problem also occurred in Zvornik. Local EC noticed names of about 15 Muslims who had not lived in Zvornik before the war, nor were they listed in the 91 census, and the names of missing people or people who had died before the war.
3:00
In Bijeljina, OSCE started a training process of local officials who will supervise the local elections in the RS. In Pristina, OSCE completed the training of staff who will supervise the local elections in FRY.
Banja Luka – In the presence of Biljana Plavsic, a plaque was uncovered today at the Jelsingrad factory in the memory of 31 workers of the factory who laid down their lives for their homeland.
Zvornik – Mitropolit Nikolaj blessed the newly constructed church, condemning all those who acted against the unity of the RS, adding that they should remember that the RS people do not have a spare homeland.
2:00
Summary SRT TV News Banja Luka
The RS President Biljana Plavsic attended the ceremony of uncovering the commemorative plaque in memory of 57 defenders of RS in the Banja Luka “Jelsingrad” company. We, who lead this country, have the obligation towards the killed fighters. Our country should become a free Serb country, like the one they imagined when they got killed, Biljana Plavsic pointed out on this occasion.4 min
The Center of Public Security Banja Luka forbade public gatherings in Banja Luka in the period between September 7 and 11, 1997.
The information of the RS Ministry of Interior, given by the spokesman Zoran Pecanac:
“The final decision on holding the all-Serb gathering, in the organization of the Town Board of SDS Banja Luka, scheduled for Monday, September 8, 1997, at the square of Trg Krajine in Banja Luka, was made at the recently held session of the Main Board of SDS. It was agreed at the same session to enter Banski dvor on Monday, at any cost, even if it meant the Serb blood shed. At the same time, Gojko Klickovic was requested to address the citizens at the gathering in Banja Luka, at which, according to their estimations, about 30,000 people would be present. The volunteers for traveling to Banja Luka were enlisting at the Crisis Headquarters of the Radical Party in Belgrade. They all got 200 DEM immediately, and the same amount was promised to them after they returned. SDS established its Headquarters in RS for the implementation of pre-electoral activities, and it is under the direct leadership of the former RS Minister of Interior Dragan Kijac. The supreme control, however, is done by the former RS President Radovan Karadzic, who even asks the persons of para-psychological talents for help. The above mentioned two Headquarters made a common plan of the activities concerning the events in Banja Luka. The plan foresees that a special team of MUP should be in each bus, and they should join the Banja Luka radicals and policemen, loyal to Pale, in identifying the family houses and flats of the people dangerous for Pale. Other groups have their leaders, and their task is to provoke chaos on the streets of Banja Luka and keep the citizens of Banja Luka in fear and in their houses, while the others would take over certain town institutions. Dragan Kijac was recently in Topola, met certain Sveto Smitran, and gave him the task of animating the criminals from that area. At this meeting they discussed the possibility of the road in Drugovici being blocked, so they adopted a spare variant of reaching Banja Luka from Srbac and Topola. It is certain that the members of SFOR and IPTF would get involved in these events, which would be enough to make the decision of postponing the elections”.
7 min
The announcement of the Executive Board of SDS Prnjavor addressed to the SRT Studio in Banja Luka. The authorities in Prnjavor have no right to join you from Banja Luka because you first begged some of our people, then threatened them. It is obvious that it is a black propaganda directed against SDS.” The journalists and editors of the SRT Studio Banja Luka did not and have no intention of threatening somebody. Our goal is to objectively inform the public about the events in the country and world. Today, at the entrance of Banja Luka, on the occasion of a routine control, a vehicle of Nova trgovina from Travnik was taken to the Center of Public Security. There were the cookers from the warehouse of the Dusanic company from Prnjavor in the vehicle. This was only a part of the transport of 550 cookers intended for the market in the Moslem-Croat Federation, in cooperation with and under the auspices of the Centreks company from Pale.
4 min
The President of the Local Election Commission Banja Luka, Vukasin Boskovic stated that the ballot papers would come to Banja Luka the day before the elections.
30 sec
The Muslim police arrested 5 Serbs in the village of Usorac in the municipality of Srpski Sanski Most. A few moments ago we got the information that those persons had been released.
1 min 45 sec
The international Fair of Agriculture “Agrorepro ’97” in Banja Luka closed.
1 min 45 sec
The Prime Minister of India will pay the last respects to the saint of poverty, Mother Tereza.
30 sec