Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service

    Odraz B92 vesti (by 9 PM), February 5, 1997

    E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
    WWW:    http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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    All texts are Copyright 1997 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    NEWS BY 9 PM
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    BILL ON RECOGNITION OF ELECTORAL RESULTS SUBMITTED TO SERBIAN
    PARLIAMENT

    The Serbian Government submitted a bill to parliament to recognise
    the original results of the November local elections, as cited in
    the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's mission
    report, on Wednesday.

    In their statement, the Government gave full support to Serbian
    President Slobodan Milosevic's proposal to solve the 3-month long
    political dispute at the results of last year's local elections.
    The Government also urged the Parliament to convene an
    extraordinary session as soon as possible.


    OVER 100 ARRESTED, OVER 300 INJURED

    Leaders of the Zajedno opposition coalition told demonstrators at
    Wednesday's protest rally that more than 100 people had been
    arrested and over 300 injured since Sunday's police crackdown.

    Claiming sources close to the Serbian Ministry of Interior, the
    coalition stated that the order to use force to crush
    demonstrations had come direct from President Milosevic, and that
    Serbian Interior Minister Zoran Sokolovic had been against taking
    such action.


    SPS SUPPORT FOR MILOSEVIC'S INITIATIVE, PROTESTS LOSE MEANING

    On Wednesday the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) gave its full
    support to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's move to
    recognise opposition electoral victories. Belgrade state media
    wrote: ``The SPS salutes this initiative as an act that greatly
    furthers good relations between our country and the Organization
    for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as the
    international community as a whole. Good relations with the
    outside world are of enormous importance to the economic recovery
    of our country after years of sanctions, as is the full
    integration of Serbia into the international community.'' The
    statement concluded that President Milosevic's move had stripped
    the student and opposition protests of meaning.


    VULIN: POLICE ACTION WAS JUSTIFIED

    On Wednesday, the Yugoslav United Left (JUL) supported Serbian
    President Slobodan Milosevic's move to recognise opposition wins
    in 14 Serbian cities, by a 'special law', and called on the
    opposition to discontinue their protests.

    Aleksandar Vulin, spokesman for the JUL, said he could not
    understand the fuss that was being made over President Milosevic's
    initiative, as Mr. Milosevic had said from the very beginning that
    the crisis would be solved through state institutions.

    Mr. Vulin warned that if the protests did not stop that would be
    proof that the opposition's true aim was to topple the government.

    He said that if the demonstrations continued then provision had
    been made by law to ban them and expressed his regret that ``the
    state had not yet found enough internal courage to respect its own
    laws.''

    Mr. Vulin then saluted the police for the way they had handled 70
    days of protest, and said they had used the minimum of violence.
    Mr. Vulin added that police intervention on Brankov Bridge during
    the night of February 2 had been justifed.

    Responding to accusations that the police had violated the
    autonomy of the University by entering the Faculty of Philosophy
    on Sunday, Mr. Vulin said that the ``University must realize it is
    not a foreign embassy and that you do not need a passport to enter
    it.''


    76TH STUDENT PROTEST MARCH

    More than 30,000 Belgrade students marched through central
    Belgrade on Wednesday unhindered by police. 1,00 Belgrade lawyers
    joined them near the Hall of Justice.


    CANAK SAYS PRESIDENT'S LETTER THROWS DUST IN EYES OF DEMONSTRATORS

    Nenad Canak, leader of the coalition 'Vojvodina' said on Wednesday
    that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's letter to the Serbian
    Prime Minister ``threw dust in the eyes of the robbed and beaten
    citizens.''

    Mr. Canak said that the 'lex specialis' was not necessary in order
    to solve the November election fraud and warned that the same
    ``performance'' might re-occur during this year's elections if the
    true culprits were not convicted and preparations for fair
    elections not made.


    PRESIDENCY OF EUROPEAN UNION ON MILOSEVIC PROPOSAL

    On Tuesday the presidency of the European Union expressed
    satisfaction at Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's proposal to
    solve the local election dispute in line with recommendations from
    the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
    FoNet reported on Wednesday.

    The EU presidency said it would examine carefully the law
    President Milosevic had proposed. The EU presidency also insisted
    that the OSCE recommendations not only concerned local electoral
    results, but also dialogue with the opposition on further
    democratization, revision of the electoral system and free media.


    PARIS SCEPTICAL

    French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette stated on Wednesday that
    President Milosevic's letter to the Serbian Prime Minister was a
    positive step towards solving the political crisis in Serbia.

    But Mr. de Charette also stressed his fears that the proposal may
    be another case of delaying tactics and that the French government
    were still insisting on the full implementation of the OSCE
    recommendations.


    RTS MANAGER OFFERS NEW CONTACT TO BK TELECOM

    RTS manager Dragoljub Milanovic told BK telecom that he was in
    favour of resolving mutual debts between the two media houses and
    signing a new contract on their future cooperation, BK Television
    reported on Wednesday.

    RTS sent a letter to BK Television on Tuesday warning them that it
    would cancel their contract to use RTS-owned transmittors to re-
    broadcast their programme over 60% of Serbian territory.

    RTS cited unpaid bills as the reason for that cancellation. BK
    Telecom [company which owns of the BK Television] replied said
    that RTS owed them three times as much as anything they could owe
    RTS.

    Prepared by: Marija Milosavljevic
    Edited by: Julia Glyn-Pickett

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