BosNet NEWS / 21-06-96

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From: Adnan Smajlovic <asmaj@spectranet.ca>

CONTENTS

[01] Nationalist groups putting into question free elections in Bosnia

[02] Supreme Court gives green light to U.S. suits against Karadzic

[03] The Criminal tribunal frees Bosnian Serb as victim of mistaken identity

[04] Internal minister denies lack of police protection during Silajdzic attack

[05] Bosnian government accuses Croats of violating peace accords

[06] Mostar coalition registers for elections

[01] Nationalist groups putting into question free elections in Bosnia

Nationalist groups in Bosnia are becoming stronger and stronger, putting into question foreign efforts to secure free and democratic elections in September, said a commentary in the Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje on Tuesday. "The Serb and Croat strives to create their national states are resistant," Zija Dizdarevic wrote. "These nationalisms have been completely articulated. And while they know what they want, Bosniak awareness wanders from accepting Dayton compromises, through a longing (for their own mini state), to an aspiration for complete victory against the aggressor, which is unfeasible. "Whoever is behind the brutal attack on Dr. Haris Silajdzic and followers of his Party for Bosnia, they are obliging Serb and Croat extremists. Tolerance of even the smallest incidents of this kind favors those who are convinced any problem -- political, economic, social, psychological, sexual -- can best be solved by violence. And, among other things, that the terrorist act in Cazin is in line with the idea of one people, one state and one leader."Such behavior will help the arguments of those who have been trying to prove with crimes and lies over four years that coexistence is impossible in Bosnia, especially with Bosniaks. For they (Bosniaks) prove their radicalism in mutual relations. "Hence, we are entering the phase of rapid preparations for the elections with an ambiance of destruction and obstruction. The bloc against the elections is obviously growing stronger, motivated by a completely nationalist mood and strive to preserve power. NATO troops have been tasked with helping create conditions for holding the elections. What can this force do against the local forces? Can force against force provide the establishment of such a democratic heritage such as elections?" Dizdarevic said.

[02] Supreme Court gives green light to U.S. suits against Karadzic

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that victims of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia could sue Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in U.S federal courts, AFP reported.In a unanimous decision, the nine justices rejected Karadzic*s appeal of a lower court ruling, which in 1995 upheld the right of a group of women to file suits against him in this country. The New York federal appeals court based its decision on two U.S.laws that allow survivors of human rights abuses to seek retribution in the United States, regardless of where the violations occurred. Karadzic appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, AFP said.

[03] The Criminal tribunal frees Bosnian Serb as victim of mistaken identity

The Hague-based international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Monday freed an arrested Bosnian Serb, explaining he was a victim of mistaken identity, an ONASA correspondent reported. The tribunal said it lacks evidence that the freed person, Goran Lajic, is the person accused of war crimes committed in the Serb-held Keraterm prison camp in northwest Bosnia in 1992.Lajic was arrested in Germany on March 18 based on the tribunal*s arrest warrant. Since his arrest, both Lajic and his lawyers maintained he was the wrong person with the same name, "widespread in Bosnia." When asked by the Court Council how such a grave mistake could have been made, prosecutor Grant Niemenn said it was caused by biographic coincidences. Both the arrested Lajic and the wanted man with the same name lived in the town of Banja Luka, went to the same school and both served as military policemen at the beginning of the war. At the request of his lawyer Toma Fila, Lajic was to be taken back to Germany on Tuesday, from which he was extradited to The Hague, and not to Banja Luka, where charges have been filed against him for deserting the Serb army in 1994.

[04] Internal minister denies lack of police protection during Silajdzic attack

The Bosnian internal minister Monday denied that police did not secure an election rally on Saturday when former Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic was injured by an angry mob. Silajdzic was hit in the head with a steel bar in the town of Cazin in northwest Bosnia while campaigning for his recently-formed Party for Bosnia."A total of 47 policemen from Cazin were engaged in securing the Saturday rally, but because of large crowds they were not able to protect the president of the Party for Bosnia, Haris Silajdzic, although they tried to shield him," Avdo Hebib told state television late Monday.He said seven policemen were injured in the riots that lasted four hours, and that an investigation has identified five persons who were involved. Hebib said an earlier gathering of Party for Bosnia followers in the nearby town of Bihac passed without problems. "The party's convention held Saturday in the Bihac town passed without any problems. The rally was secured by many policemen," Hebib said."In one moment, Silajdzic's follower, journalist Firzet Prasic, started cursing Islam and the Bosnian president which was heard by a group of people near him, but police prevented incidents." According to him, news about the disrespect of Islam and Alija Izetbegovic most likely came to Cazin, driving a group of people to start the riots.

[05] Bosnian government accuses Croats of violating peace accords

The Sarajevo-based defense ministry Monday accused Bosnian Croats of not respecting the Dayton peace accords by appointing federal Defense Minister Vladimir Soljic to the same post in their para-state. On Saturday leaders in Herceg-Bosna, the self-proclaimed state of Bosnian Croats, appointed a new cabinet in which the defense ministry post was given to Soljic who holds the same post in the Bosniak-Croat Federation.

The ministry said in a statement that the decision does not encourage the process of establishing federal institutions and confirms the Croats are against creating a joint military in the federation."This act, as well as other efforts to preserve a para-state and exclusively Croat defense system, prevents the process of establishing joint institutions in the Bosnian Federation and the adoption of a defense law," the statement said.

[06] Mostar coalition registers for elections

A coalition of five Bosnian opposition parties have submitted their list of candidates for the local elections in Mostar and will officially participate in the elections, a Bosnian opposition party reported Monday. The Union of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Social Democrats received an official decision by an ombudsman of the European Union in Mostar, Constantine Zepos, which approved the joint candidate list. There was earlier some question as to whether the coalition could run in the elections because they failed to register their candidates before the deadline and were denied a place in the elections by the town election commission. But after an appeal to the E.U., the coalition's participation was confirmed.

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