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), April 17, 1997

      E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
   5  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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      C O N T E N T S
  10  ==================================================================


      NEWS BY 4 PM

        SPO Salutes Galbright  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
        Djukanovic Wins $90m for Montenegro  . . . . . . . . . . . .  37
        Seselj: Elections in Eastern Slavonia Irregular and Falsified
  15     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
        GSS: Zajedno Should be Strenghtened  . . . . . . . . . . . .  61
        Seven Muslims Stand Trial in Zvornik . . . . . . . . . . . .  84
        Simonovic: Tribunal's Decision Damaging and Counter-Productive
         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
  20    Charges Against Goran Grabez Changed . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
        Elizabeth Rehn's Mandate Extended  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
        Bairam Begins  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

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      NEWS BY 4 PM
  25  ------------------------------------------------------------------


      SPO SALUTES GALBRIGHT

      The Serbian Renewal Movement party, a member of the Zajedno
      coalition, on Thursday expressed approval for Wednesday's
      statement from the US Ambassador in Croatia, Peter Galbraith. Mr.
  30  Galbraith had said that Croatia could not expect the repatriation
      of Croats to Vukovar (Eastern Slavonia) until Serbs were able to
      return to Knin.

      The SPO, citing this and other US statements to the effect that
      Kosovo should remain part of Serbia, called on the Serbian
  35  government to stop publically accusing the US state department of
      trying to break Serbia Fonet reports.


      DJUKANOVIC WINS $90M FOR MONTENEGRO

      Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic negociated a $90m loan
      from a consortium of Greek banks and signed a deal with the Greek
  40  government for a further $50m loan during a visit to Greece on
      Wednesday. He was also granted a $40m exports loan, according to
      FoNet.

      Mr. Djukanovic told Montenegrin media that his successful
      negociations were an affirmation of the economic reforms in
  45  Montenegro. Montena Fax published reports from local daily
      'Pobjeda's' that the Serbian authorities had attempted to sabotage
      the visit.


      SESELJ: ELECTIONS IN EASTERN SLAVONIA IRREGULAR AND FALSIFIED

      Leader of the Serbian Radical Party Vojislav Seselj claimed on
  50  Thrusday that the Eastern Slavonia elections had been irregular,
      illegitimate and falsified, due to serial manipulations at the
      hands of the Croatian Government, according to FoNet. Mr. Seselj
      claimed that it would have been better if the Serbs had boycotted
      the elections and tried to get their rights through seperate
  55  negotiations. He criticized the UN Transitional Administration and
      the ``two-faced and unscrupulous'' US policy aimed at removing
      Serbs gradually from Eastern Slavonia. Mr. Seselj said that the
      chief culprit for the position of Serbs in Croatia was ``the
      Belgrade regime, who handed over Serb Krajina; the western part
  60  brutally and the eastern part gradually.''


      GSS: ZAJEDNO SHOULD BE STRENGHTENED

      Goran Svilanovic, spokesman for the Civil Alliance of Serbia
      (GSS), one of the Zajedno parties, said on Thursday that the
      Zajedno Presidential Council would next week discuss the
  65  possibility of other parties becoming members of the coalition. He
      said that the GSS believed Zajedno shold be strenghtened, adding
      that one of the ways to do this was setting up civic associations
      in support of Zajedno which would gather those citizens who did
      not wish to join parties.

  70  Mr. Svilanovic stated that the appointment of the ``biased'' Balsa
      Govedarica for Chairman of the Republic Electoral Commission was a
      signal that the Government did not intend to agree with fair
      electoral conditions. He said Zajedno would not go along with
      drastic changes in the electoral law and in the number of
  75  electoral units. He said that Zajedno would demand as a minimum
      for its joining the elections that the electoral registers be
      available to all parties, that agreement be made on access to the
      media and on proper control of the electoral procedures. Mr.
      Svilanovic expressed his party's dissatisfaction with the
  80  organization of the elections in Eastern Slavonia, adding that the
      UN Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia should have
      taken into account ``the ill-will'' and obstructions at the hands
      of the Croatian authorities, according to Beta.


      SEVEN MUSLIMS STAND TRIAL IN ZVORNIK

  85  UN Police announced on Thursday that the trial of the seven
      Bosnian Muslims for murder of four Serbs should start in Zvornik
      on Thursday. According to UN spokesman Aleksandar Ivanko, the last
      obstacle for the beginning of the trial was done away with when
      the Serb authorities allowed lawyers chosen by the accused to
  90  participate in the trial, according to AFP and FoNet. The Serb
      authorities had insisted that only lawyers from Republika Srpska
      could defend the accused, but now they have agreed that lawyers
      from the Muslim-Croat federation may conduct the defense.

      The case of ``the Zvornik Seven'' has been a controversial one.
  95  The seven Muslims turned themselves in to the UN Peace Forces,
      after running into a group of Serbs on the Zvornik-Tuzla route.
      They told the UN Peace Forces that they were refugees from
      Srebrenica and asked for protection, but the US commander turned
      them in to the Serb police. The US colonel later managed to get
 100  them released from a Serb prison, and the UN officials claimed
      that the seven Muslims were beaten while in detention. The Serb
      authorities claim that the seven are responsible for the murder of
      four Serb woodcutters, whose butchered bodies they showed to the
      UN investigators in a nearby wood.


 105  SIMONOVIC: TRIBUNAL'S DECISION DAMAGING AND COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE

      Croatian Ambassador to the UN Ivan Simonovic commented on Thrusday
      that thedecision of the International War Crimes Tribunal at the
      Hague to demand that Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina's Defence
      Ministers appear before the Tribunal or be penalized was
 110  ``unnecessary, damaging and counter-productive.''  He considered
      it pointless, as the Tribunal, according to him, had adequate
      means to obtain cooperation from respective states. The statement
      was made in a public discussion at the Tribunal on whether the
      Tribunal judges had the right to order states or state officials,
 115  under threat of punishment, to supply documents that can be used
      as evidence.

      The judge Louise Arbour proposed on Wednesday that arrest warrants
      be issued for the Croatian and Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina's
      Defense Ministers Gojko Susak and Ante Jelavic for offending the
 120  Tribunal, according to Beta.


      CHARGES AGAINST GORAN GRABEZ CHANGED

      The Swiss judge Clode Nicati is forced to change the charges
      againt the Bosnian Serb Goran Grabez, accused of brutalities in
      the detention camp in Omarska, Bosnia in 1992, the daily 'La
 125  Tribune De Geneve' reported on Thursday.

      The trial against Goran Grabez, 35, began in Lozane on April 14 on
      charges of brutally beating six prisoners one of whom died of his
      injuries. The daily reports that the accused is no longer charged
      with murder but that maltreatment of prisoners at another camp in
 130  Keraterm has been added to the charges.

      The accused has, over the two years of investigation, denied that
      he had even been in the detention camp, claiming to be a migrant
      worker in Austria and Germany at the time.

      ``La Tribune De Geneve'' reports that the final decision on the
 135  continuation of the trial is expected to be made next Friday.
      Since the charges are for the most part based on survivors'
      testimony and not on documents, the defence expects their client
      will be freed for lack of evidence. Goran Grabez would then have
      the right to demand 140,000 Swiss franks ($100.000) for damages,
 140  according to Beta.


      ELIZABETH REHN'S MANDATE EXTENDED

      The UN Commission for Human Rights has extended the mandate of its
      Special Envoy for former Yugoslavia Elizabeth Rehn, Finnish agency
      SST/FNB reported on Thursday. In addition to investigating cases
 145  of breaches of human rights in former Yugoslavia, Ms. Rehn will
      now be in charge of the issue of missing persons. It is estimated
      that there are more than 20,000 missing persons in former
      Yugoslavia, according to Beta.


      BAIRAM BEGINS

 150  The major Bairam festivity in Bosnia-Herzegovina began on Thursday
      morning in the Begova mosque in Sarajevo. The ceremony was
      conducted by the reis-ul-ulema of the Islamic religious community
      Mustfa efendija Ceri. Speaking to the congregation in the packed
      Begova mosque, he broadcast the message that ``the holly Alah is
 155  calling for truth, justice, peace and co-existence with all well-
      intentioned people,'' according to Beta.

      Prepared by: Marija Milosavljevic
      Edited by: Mary Anne Wood

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 160  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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