Headlines in Print Media |
Dnevni Avaz: Following publication of the property cards – Lagumdzija hid his wife’s wealth; Returnees protested in Sarajevo – OHR banns construction in Kotorsko
Jutarnje Novine: Property cards confirm – politicians enriched between the elections: Lagumdzija and Covic increased their property
Dnevni List:Investigation into secret ammunition caches in Mostar – Cengics do not show up at court
Vecernji List:In riots following a football friendly between BiH and Yugoslavia the police gets worse off – Supporters beat up 19 police officers
Glas Srpski: RS Commission for missing persons – Conclusions packed with deception
Nezavisne Novine:Incidents after soccer match BiH – Yugoslavia in Sarajevo: Dozens hurt in the fight; Exclusive report: What is inside the Chief Auditor’s report on 2001 RS public sector: The Auditor discovered 113 million KM deficit
Blic: Kunic: “Brcko is not the third entity”; 26 injured, 8 arrested after the fight of fans at Kosevo; Mirko Sarovic: “Compromise only in frame of the Dayton Agreement”; Ashdown shuts down municipal Prosecutor’s offices
FRY Nacional: Friendly match BiH-Yugoslavia: Muslims have been stopping and beating Serbs at barricades; Survey: All peoples within BiH are pro national parties
Slobodna Bosna: The Party for Kuwait (refers to the Party for BiH)
BH Dani: A fresh triumph of the BiH cinematography – Remake by Dino Mustafic; Bosnia and America – Belkic, Banjac, Grebo, Filipovic, Prlic, Beric; Milorad Dodik: a late patriot
19 policemen injured in the incidents following the BiH/FRY soccer match on Wednesday while protecting guests from Serbia and RS |
Both Banja Luka dailies(Glas Srpski, p 5, Nezavisne Novine, cover page, and pages 2,3) alsoextensively report on the incident that followed the soccer match between BiH and Yugoslavia in Sarajevo. Nezavisne Novine editorial written by Tomo Maric said that this was not an ordinary sports match as it should have been, but a life or death match. Maric also says that incident is Sarajevo is not a surprise to serious analysts – it would be a surprise if everything went well. The Nezavisne Novine photographer, Zvonimir Coric stated that he was attacked by the Sarajevo Canton police when he was trying to take some photos of the fight and that his camera was taken away. The Cantonal Interior Minister, Almir Dzuvo, said that he was not aware of this incident. The Chairman of the RS Football Association, Milan Jelic, stated that the incident in Sarajevo showed all the weaknesses of the BiH as a state and that current leadership of the BiH Football Association failed to organize the match properly.
The Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Beriz Belkic, had no comment on the conflict between the police and fans after the BiH – Yugoslavia soccer match (Nezavisne Novine, p 3).The Chairman of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, Nikola Spiric, strongly condemned nationalistic violence that happened in Sarajevo. The press office of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) issued a press release which said: “The road to radical Islam and Asia cannot, nor it will be an alternative for the BiH road to Europe and Euro-Atlantic integration.” (Glas Srpski, p 5, Oslobodjenje, p 5).The SNSD leader, Milorad Dodik, strongly condemned the attack on Yugoslav fans and added that BiH Football Association ignores RS soccer clubs – not even one player in BiH A-team comes from the RS. The PDP is amazed with the incident that occurred in Sarajevo and believes that what happened is not a conflict of the fans but an orchestrated vandalism of extremists aimed to stop the reconciliation process (Glas Srpski, p 5, Nezavisne Novine, p 3).The SDS also issued a press release which said that SDS is not surprised that Islamic extremists set barricades in the streets leading to the stadium Kosevo and beat Serbs (Glas Srpski, p 5, Nezavisne Novine, p 3).
“An undisturbed yelling to the indictee for genocide, Radovan Karadzic, was allowed followed by shouts: Serbia, Serbia…The provocation succeeded – the main slogan of the BiH national team funs was ‘Allahu ekber’! Among state flags, ther was also a Turkish one and a SDA one?! Simply, it was a complete shame,” Zija Dizdarevic wrote in the Oslobodjenje In Focus editorial.
OHR, IJC activities |
Vecernji List (p 2), Dnevni List (p 6), Dnevni Avaz (p 2), Glas Srpski (p 3), Blic (p 11) and Jutarnje Novine (p 5) report that the vacancies for top-level judicial and prosecutorial post at both BiH and Entity level would be announced. “The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, pursuant to their competencies under law, will announce open competition for appointments to posts for judges and prosecutors in the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the FBiH Supreme Court, the FBiH Prosecutor’s Office, the RS Constitutional Court, the RS Supreme Court and the Office of the RS Prosecutor”, IJC Spokesperson Sanela Tunovic told a press conference in Sarajevo on Thursday.
“UNMIBH welcomes the decision of the High Representative to harmonise the texts of the Law on Internal Affairs of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There has been close co-ordination on this issue between the Office of the High Representative and UNMIBH for over a year. This new legislation opens the door for the establishment of a modern, non-politicised and democratic police force in the Federation,” UNMIBH Spokesperson Kirsten Haupt told a press conference in Sarajevo on Thursday. (Dnevni Avaz, p 2, Jutarnje Novine, p 2)
BH Dani labels the recent appointment of Bernard Fassier to the post of the SDHR and the High Representative’s deputy for coordination of judicial system reform as “terrible” (two dots). The weekly notes that, although the deputy is a diplomat with an enviable credentials and experience, the international community is starting to drastically “expend its bureaucracy in BiH.” “This expending is by and large a consequence of the cold war world view of Western diplomats according to which it is quite sufficient that a person who becomes fluent in Russian becomes labeled as a mega-expert for all Slavs and of arrogance, according to which the he, by the virtue of being a Westerner, could instruct Bosnians and Herzegovinians about nearly everything.”
BiH: A visit by US senators – ICC issue, Belkic/Mikerevic relations, BH Dani commentaries on Partnership for Peace, BiH Constitutional Court judges appointment |
Slobodna Bosna’s Asim Metiljevic reports the purpose of this week’s visit of two US Senators to BiH was to meet with Alliance officials from both entities and encourage their future cooperation. Metiljevic: “The Senators came across the ocean…with the aim to strengthen the feeble alliance within the Alliance for Change, which has been seriously shaken in the pre-election clashes. The Senators did not hide their disappointment with the increasing disputes between the Alliance leaders, which dedicated most of their energy to mutual bashing, instead of focusing on the creation for a more positive program for the upcoming elections.”
BH Dani carries an extensive six page report/commentary about the ongoing discussion between the US and BiH about the bilateral agreement between the two countries, whereby US citizens serving in BiH would be exempted from the ICC jurisdiction. According to Ivan Lovrenovic, BiH is too small to be able to afford a principled view and refuse to comply with the US request. “BiH is not Germany to be able to say: We will not support the US, we will take the German path!. This, however, does not mean that we are spared of political, intellectual and ethical responsibility, of our personal political subjectivity, and that we can make our decision without taking into considerations all relevant criteria. On the contrary, our further degradation will see no end.” In the poll conducted by the weekly, most BiH public figures (including Beriz Belkic, Kasim Begic, Molorad Dodik, Muhamed Filipovic, Zdravko Grebo and ICG’s Kristina Hemon) agree that the US proposal presented BiH with a “dramatic dilemma”, which is quite “unfair” and “undermines the ideal of international justice for all.”
In an interview with Slobodna Bosna on the same issue, the US Ambassador, Clifford Bond, stressed that the problem of exemption of US personnel from the ICC jurisdiction has been portrayed in the BIH public as the necessary choice between Europe and the US. “However, it is more than that. This issue goes beyond the borders of BiH and refers to questions of our global dedication to various issues across the world….Whenever the US gets involved in a conflict somewhere in the world, there is a concern that its soldiers are running a risk of being subjects of politically motivated trials, which, I think, diminishes our chances to win support for a more serious engagement of the US in different parts of the world,” said Bond.
Dnevni List (page 5 and front page, by Vladimir Buic) carries that the BiH Presidency should have appointed a Head and two Deputies of the Intelligence-Police Service, which will act on the whole BiH territory, however, BiH Presidency was prevented in doing it by an obstruction of high-ranked officials of the BiH Council of Ministers, led by Dragan Mikerevic, its Chairman. DL says that this caused an open conflict between Mikerevic and Beriz Belkic, a Chairman of the BiH Presidency. According to DL, the BiH Presidency set a deadline to the BiH Council of Ministers (August 26) within which the BiH Council of Ministers should have handed over names of its candidates, however, two days later Mikerevic informed public that he will not respect ‘ultimatum’ of the BiH Presidency. According to a source from the BiH Council of Ministers, ‘the Serb goal is to prolong the election of the Head and slow down these extremely important Security Services in this way’. Also, this Agency would be in charge of collecting information on criminal acts, which are punishable according to international war and humanitarian laws. DL also says that information that Kresimir Zubak wants to install Dragan Lukac, the current acting Head of the Federation Police, to this position while Zlatko Lagumdzija wants to install his former advisor Zlatko Miletic are grounded.
BH Dani welcomes (one star) the letter issued by the COMSFOR, John Sylvester, in which he confirms that the formation of the joint defense ministry is a requirement for BiH’s joining the NATO Partnership for Peace. “…Sylverster’s mild ultimatum to BiH politicians should be interpreted as an announcement of stronger measures of the International Community against those who object to this.”
BH Dani criticizes the recent appointment of judges from the Federation to the BiH Constitutional Court conducted by the Federation Parliament’s House of Representatives, as this selection was conducted following the ethnic key, rather than credentials of individual candidates. Even the Federation Official Gazette noted that four judges were “coming from Bosniak and Croat groups”. “The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, cannot even imagine how much work is ahead of him if he indeed wants to create a legally functional country out of BiH: there is more work to be done not only in courts, but also in the Federation Parliament.”
Mostar mortar rounds case |
RS-related news |
The Chairman of the RS Health Workers Trade Union, Milenko Granulic, stated yesterday that the Union sent another letter to the OHR Banja Luka and Sarajevo, in which the Union asked OHR to assist in solving of the very difficult situation in the RS Health system (Glas Srpski, p 2).Granulic added that the OHR did not answer the first letter sent by the Trade Union. The daily quotes him as saying that the Union expects the RS Government to fulfil its promise and allocate additional financial means so that the health workers receive another salary by the end of the month.
Nezavisne Novine (p 5)reports that the RS Chief Auditor, Bosko Ceko, report that is soon to be discussed by the RS National Assembly, contains information that the deficit of the RS budget for 2001 is 113.068,315 KM. According to the same report, the total budget income for 2001 was 762.262,900 KM while expenditures reached 875. 331, 215 KM.
The RS Deputy Prime Minister, Petar Kunic, said that the representatives of OHR and the RS Government agreed the Brcko District was not the third entity, since such a category did not exist in the Constitution. The Brcko District does not have an original jurisdiction but only such as transferred to it by the entities, Kunic says. He also adds that there are some differences when it comes to determining the legal nature of the District. “This is an essential issue, since it determines everything else, for example privatization and in general the destiny of public goods in this area”, Kunic said after a meeting with the Deputy Head of OHR Brcko, Gerhard Sontheim. (Blic, p 11)
Pre-election activities/statements |
Vecernji List (page 2) carries an editorial by Miro Bosnjak in which he criticises the situation that the election candidates, although they are obliged to submit accurate reports on their assets to the BiH Election Commission, are submitting false and inaccurate reports and get away with it. According to Bosnjak, that’s nothing new and the politicians will carry on deceiving BiH public right throughout the campaign and after the elections when they suddenly become “loaded”.
Commenting on the announcement by Dragan Covic, a Vice President of HDZ BiH and candidate for Croat member of BiH Presidency, that the HDZ BiH will not base its election strategy on the concept of third BiH entity, Kresimir Zubak, the President of NHI, says that ‘the project which the HDZ used to homogenise the electorate and achieve better election results than they deserve, has been proclaimed, just like during the failed socialist regimes, a failed investment, without no shame and respect for people who trusted them”. (Dnevni List, page 10)
“Program of economic-social reforms of the ProENS guarantees two-digit rate of growth in BiH, speeding up of process of Europeisation and opening of more than 120.000 jobs in the next four years through legalisation of a part of grey economy and new investments in BiH”, said Jadranko Prlic, the President of the ProENS at a press conference yesterday.(Dnevni List, p 11)
Vecernji List (page 4) carries that HSP BiH supports the stance of the SFOR Commander General John Sylvester, which refers to standard pre-requisites for the admission of BiH to European associations and NATO. HSP BiH advocates for a joint BiH Army with joint Headquarters, with preserved elements of a national and component identity in a principled manner.
A survey on political parties’ popularity, conducted by UNDP in BiH, shows that people within BiH is still very much nationally divided. According to the results, Croats are pro the HDZ party, Serbs are pro the SDS party and Bosniaks are divided between the SDA party and the SDP party. Clifford Bond has gathered the current leaders of the Alliance and warned them to create a program, which would ensure them to remain in power, because the national political parties must not gain power. Paddy Ashdown stated: “I am in politics 25 years now. If I have learned any lesson, then it would be – do not trust public opinion surveys. I remember, back in my country when my party has won in the elections – the results of a survey were published the same day. According to that survey, our party was in the tenth position”. (FRY Nacional, p 11)
Headlines in Electronic Media |
- Energy Unions stand for state to represent a major share holder in all energy companies
- The Council of Ministers returned into procedure a draft decision on quality of fluid fuel
- The witnesses Halid and Hasan Cengic have not appeared before the Court in case of illegal storages of weapon in Mostar
- In last night incident that followed BiH- FRY Soccer Game 26 persons, mainly policemen were wounded, 8 persons are apprehended.
FTV 1 (1930)
- Tens of people were wounded at the BiH- FRY soccer match that took place last night
- Investigation on grenades in Mostar is on a standstill due to the absence of witnesses Halid and Hasan Cengic
- Bosniaks from Kotorsko Zvornik and Doboj protested in from of the OHR premises
- Oil prices climbs: BiH oil market still calm
RTRS (1930)
- RS will make its own decisions on defense system that will be in accord with the RS Constitution, said President Sarović
- 19 policemen and 7 fans were injured in incidents that took place after soccer game BiH- FRY
- RS Government adopted budget report The expenses are higher than an income
- BiH debt reaches 4 billion and 50 million KM, reported at the Council of ministers session
- Floods in Europe- 113 casualties, in India 592.