SARAJEVO – SDP BiH president Zlatko Lagumdzija announced that a
meeting should be held on December 21 when the agreement should be
completed and an EU coordination mechanism stipulated in detail, as
required by the Brussels Road Map.
SARAJEVO – BiH Defence Minister Zekeriah Osmic said that the OSCE
Mission to BiH is cooperating excellently with BiH government bodies and
the civil society.
REPUBLIKA SRPSKA
BIJELJINA – Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik told SRNA that
today’s decision of the BiH Court’s Appellate Chamber to reject the
appeal filed by the Coalition for Republika Srpska respecting the
regularity of the elections in Srebrenica was made in certain circles of
the IC which wanted to remove this issue from the agenda. Asked about
other possible legal ways to challenge this decision, Dodik said that
the fight for justice at the BiH level is an illusion, as is the state
itself.
SARAJEVO – Krstan Simic, a Serb member of the BiH House of Peoples,
told SRNA that the Appellate Chamber of the BiH Court should have
demonstrated more courage and strength when ruling on the appeal filed
by the Coalition for Republika Srpska respecting the regularity of the
elections in Srebrenica, having in mind that this was a case of obvious
election theft.
SARAJEVO – Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik said that it is
unbecoming of an ambassador to interfere in the internal affairs of a
state in which he is holding office. “The US ambassador paid a visit to a
media outlet whose owner was earlier convicted for tax evasion and from
that place called for a fight against corruption and crime. It is
unbecoming of an ambassador to interfere in internal affairs of a
country that way,” Dodik said commenting on a statement of the US
ambassador to BiH, Patrick Moon, to the effect that “BiH citizens must
fight corrupt people and institutions with greater determination” and
that “every system can be toppled and changed,” which he gave during his
visit yesterday to BN TV.
BANJALUKA – The Republika Srpska Parliament started a debate on a
draft law on concessions which stipulates a maximum 30 year term for a
concession. The Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Zeljko
Kovacevic, said that the aim of the law is to create a more stimulative
legal framework to draw foreign investors. Parliament also reviewed a
draft law on the treasury, a bill on graveyards and the funeral
business, a bill on the Kozara National Park, and a bill on protection
and rescue in extraordinary situations which should ensure the highest
level of protection. Parliament will reconvene tomorrow.
BROD – The president of the Brod Association for the Search of
Captured Soldiers and Missing Civilians, Marko Grabovac, feels that the
domestic courts, in imitation of the ICTY, will acquit persons suspected
of war crimes against Serbs, as was done by the Doboj District Court in
the case of former HVO member Mirko Kovacevic.
DOBOJ – The German ambassador to BiH, Ulrike Knotz, spoke today with
Republika Srpska Vice-President Enes Suljkanovic and Doboj Mayor Obren
Petrovic about prospects for German businessmen to invest in the Doboj
area.
FBiH
SARAJEVO – The leader of the HDZ BiH, Dragan Covic, said that FBiH
President Zivko Budimir should urgently accept the request of FBiH Prime
Minister Nermin Niksic for the dismissal of eight ministers, and that
he also should offer his mandate to BiH citizens since they did not
elect him for the office he is holding.
SARAJEVO – The FBiH House of Representatives approved the formation
of a commission of the House which would verify the facts presented at a
session of the Assembly of the FBiH Development Bank held last week.
SARAJEVO – The retrial of Ermin Curtic for crimes against civilians
in the village of Stupni Do near Vares started today before the Sarajevo
Canton Court.
SERBIA
BELGRADE – The head of the Belgrade technical team negotiating with
Pristina, Dejan Pavicevic, announced that there will be word of disputed
issues in connection with the agreement on integrated administrative
crossing management with Kossovo and Metohija at a tripartite meeting
tomorrow in Brussels.
BELGRADE – The Serbian Parliament’s Committee on Kossovo and
Metohija today adopted a report on the Government’s Office for Kossovo
and Metohija for the first 100 days of its operations.
PRISTINA – A mixed panel in the Kossovo Supreme Court has ordered a
retrial of six Albanians whom a court in Pristina acquitted of war
crimes against civilians and prisoners of war in the Klecka prisoner of
war camp, announced the EULEX mission.
REGION
THE HAGUE – The ICTY Appellate Chamber rejected a complaint by
one-time Republika Srpska President Radovan Karadzic to the decision to
keep count 11 in his indictment pertaining to taking UN soldiers
hostage, announced the ICTY this evening.
THE HAGUE – The lawyers of the one-time commander of the BiH Army in
Srebrenica, Naser Oric, opposed the request of the first Republika
Srpska President, Radovan Karadzic, to issue a subpoena for Oric to
testify in his defence before the ICTY, announced the ICTY today.
(Srna/Intermezzo)
