Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    Odraz B92 vesti (by 4 PM), January 2, 1997

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    All texts are Copyright 1997 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    NEWS BY 4 PM
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    OSCE: BELGRADE ASKS FOR MORE TIME

    Official Belgrade has asked for more time to formally reply to the
    recommendation of the OSCE representatives to acknowledge the
    opposition victory in the local elections in many cities and
    municipalities in Serbia, AFP reports today, quoting an OSCE
    diplomat. The unnamed diplomatic source denied Belgrade's claim
    that the OSCE mission report was only a preliminary one and yet to
    be endorsed, saying that the conclusions of Gonzalez's report are
    final and that there will be no other OSCE report. He added that
    the OSCE will examine the report in an informal session in Vienna
    this Friday.


    EPISCOPAL MEETING OF SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

    Episcopal consultations began today in the Patriarchate of the
    Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade concerning the current
    situation in Serbia, FoNet learned from the Holy Synod office. It
    is expected that the major topic of the episcopal consultations
    will be the daily demonstrations and the situation in Serbia as a
    whole, especially since the regime's nullification of local
    electoral results. Serbian Patriarch, His Holiness Pavle, who
    called the meeting, made his stand known a few days ago in an
    appeal to the Serbian authorities to refrain from use of force
    against the demonstrators and to respect the will of the people.
    He also urged the demonstrators to keep their protests peaceful,
    pointing to the example of the student protest he had given his
    clear and full support to in a separate statement. The Holy Synod
    office said the episcopal meeting is to issue a statement this
    afternoon.


    LETTER SIGNED BY 230 PRIESTS TO THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH SYNOD

    A letter signed by 230 priests from the dioceses of the Sabac and
    Valjevo region demanded that the Holy Synod of the Serbian
    Orthodox Church make clear its position regarding the current
    events in Serbia. ``We are going through the most dramatic days of
    our recent history, which are also days of resurrection of hope in
    the salvation of Serbian people, and the church has not so far
    stated its position...,'' the letter said, urging the Holy Synod
    to state clearly and unequivocally its position and condemn the
    regime's outrageous physical and spiritual tyranny over
    defenseless people, especially the students, who are the
    conscience and future of Serbia. The letter stressed the
    signatories' dissatisfaction with the unclear, vague and ambiguous
    statements by the Church which Radio Television Serbia, the
    regime's main propaganda tool, has been using to its ends.


    SESELJ: DEAL BETWEEN AUTHORITIES AND ZAJEDNO

    ``All of Zajedno deputies in the Novi Sad City Assembly are former
    Socialists. The Socialists have continued their rule in Novi Sad
    through the coalition Zajedno,'' said leader of the Serbian
    Radical Party (SRS) Vojislav Seselj today. He believes Serbian
    President Milosevic to be a loser in the current political
    conflict and that the incessant demonstrations throughout Serbia
    have inflicted on him ``such wounds that he won't be able to
    recover.''  Seselj also thinks that Milosevic will try to cut a
    deal with Zajedno. He said his party would take part in the panel
    discussions taking place in the Serbian Parliament, provided they
    are given back the seats the Socialists ``have stolen'' from them.
    ``The Student Protest has neither the authority nor the legitimacy
    [needed to effect change] as they have no popular backing. The
    students' protest would be legitimate only if it had the character
    of a trade union, i.e. if the students demanded better conditions
    for studying,'' said Seselj.


    IN THE NEWS
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    TODAY'S PROTEST MEETING OF ZAJEDNO SUPPORTERS BEGAN IN REPUBLIC
    SQUARE AT 3 P.M.

    UofB Students will try to hold another ``Noise Is All the Rage''
    protest march today. Due to the massive presence of riot squads in
    Belgrade today, the students will do their prison round marches in
    Knez Mihajlova Street if their walk through Belgrade streets is
    prevented.

    On the foreign currency black-market of Novi Sad, the Deutsche
    mark has gone up and can be sold at the rate of 3.90 dinars and
    bought for 4.10 dinars.

    According to the information released by the coalition Zajedno's
    office in Nis, Public Prosecutor Golub Golubovic has resigned his
    office in the Nis Electoral Commission. The Chairman of the
    commission is reported to have refused to make Golubovic's
    resignation public.

    Zoran Zivkovic, vice-president of the Democratic Party and an
    opposition MP in the Serbian Parliament, was chosen the Nisan of
    the Year in a poll by a private-owned Nis television TV 5.

    Four out of the sixteen musicians from Dubrovnik who went to
    Palermo before the New Year's Eve to join the Sarajevo
    Philharmonic Orchestra playing with musicians from Serbia and
    Montenegro, refused to play and returned to Dubrovnik. ``When they
    learned that for the new year's concert in Palermo they were
    expected to play along with musicians coming from the former
    Yugoslavia, including some of their Serbian and Montenegrin
    counterparts, they packed their bags and returned to Dubrovnik,''
    said today's issue of the Croatian newspaper ``Slobodna
    Dalmacija.''


    POPOVIC: ``OUR POVERTY IS NOT JUST MATERIAL BUT ALSO SPIRITUAL''

    Danilo Popovic, leader of the Montenegrin Association of
    Independent Trade Unions, declared in his new year's message that
    ``our poverty is not just material'' since ``poverty also destroys
    the spirit of any community,'' reports Montena Fax. ``Our
    membership, thus, lacks civic and trade union courage, so that we
    jointly act as cowards shifting our responsibility onto others,''
    explained Popovic. ``Although new layoffs are being planned, we
    are not in a position to obtain information about how these
    workers will be protected, nor about the overall social security
    funding,'' stressed Popovic, adding that ``trade union
    associations are just silently looking on.'' ``That is why I said
    that our poverty is not simply material but also spiritual,''
    concluded Popovic.


    MONTENEGRO: HOLIDAYS UNTIL JANUARY 9

    Despite the fact that Friday, Jan. 3, is supposed to be a working
    day, the majority of Montenegrins will extend their holidays,
    linking them with the Orthodox Christmas holidays on January 6 and
    7, reports FoNet. For Montenegro, therefore, the first working day
    after the new year's holidays will be Thursday, January 9.

    Prepared by: Aleksandra Scepanovic
    Edited by: Vaska Andjelkovic (Tumir)

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    e-mail: beograd@siicom.com      URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
            odrazb92@b92.opennet.org     http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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