Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    Odraz B92 vesti (by 10 PM), December 20, 1996

    e-mail: beograd@siicom.com      URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
            odrazb92@b92.opennet.org     http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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    All texts are Copyright 1996 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    NEWS BY 10 PM
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    FELIPE GONZALES ARRIVED IN BELGRADE

    Felipe Gonzales, former prime minister of Spain, arrived tonight
    in Belgrade as head of the OSCE delegation which is to review the
    legality of government actions regarding the second round of
    municipal elections in Serbia. Gonzales was greeted by Yugoslav
    Foreign Minister, Milan Milutinovic. In his short statement,
    Gonzales said that he comes as the head of the delegation which is
    join him in Belgrade within the next 48 hours. Among other things,
    Gonzales said: ``We are here to see the situation and that is all
    that I can say right now. We have to speak with the authorities,
    the opposition and the various institutions'' in the country,
    added Gonzales.


    OSCE DELEGATION'S MESSAGE

    The task of the OSCE delegation, say diplomatic circles in
    Brussels, will be not only to investigate what happened with the
    November 17 election results, but also to recommend to Serbian
    authorities what can be done in the immediate future to ensure a
    democratic way out of the present crisis. The same diplomats think
    that Milosevic will have no other choice but to carry out the
    recommendations of the EU investigative team.


    BEFORE LEAVING FOR BELGRADE, GONZALES TALKED TO COTTI

    Before leaving for Belgrade, Felipe Gonzales today met Swiss
    foreign minister, Flavio Cotti, to confer with him on the OSCE
    delegation's mandate in Serbia. Cotti said that the delegation
    must have access to all relevant people, documents, institutions
    and all the Electoral Commissions. ``Perhaps we are on a mission
    impossible, but we must not jump to conclusions,'' said Gonzales.


    TONIGHT: COALITION ZAJEDNO MEETS WITH THE OSCE DELEGATION

    The first meeting of the OSCE delegation, headed by Felipe
    Gonzales, with the leaders of the coalition Zajedno is planned for
    7:30 p.m.  tonight. The meeting is to be held at the Belgrade
    ``Hyatt'' hotel. Another meeting between Zajedno leaders and the
    OSCE team is scheduled for tomorrow.


    NIS COURT ADOPTED THE COMPLAINTS OF ZAJEDNO

    The municipal court in the city of Nis has adopted the appeal of
    the coalition Zajedno and reversed the decision to annul the
    election results of December 17. The coalition Zajedno has not
    made an official statement about the newest decision of the court.


    DRASKOVIC: REGIME'S SINISTER SCENARIO

    Over a hundred thousand Zajedno supporters attended today's 31st
    rally in Belgrade, protesting the alleged electoral fraud by
    Serbia's ruling party and its electoral and judicial institutions.
    Addressing the demonstrators, Zoran Djindjic, leader of the
    Democratic Party (DS), said that the investigative team sent by
    the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is
    likely to state what everyone already knows -- that electoral
    fraud was indeed committed. Vesna Pesic, leader of the Civil
    Alliance of Serbia (GSS), stressed that there can be no bargaining
    with the electoral will of the people and the real electoral
    results. She added that a multi-party panel can be organized only
    after the facts have been established, and these, she said, are
    that the opposition had won on November 17. Vuk Draskovic, leader
    of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), accused Serbian President
    Slobodan Milosevic of actively preparing to provoke a civil war in
    Serbia so that he can stay in power. The ``counter-rallies'' by
    Milosevic's supporters are a part of this scenario, said
    Draskovic. Protest meetings by the coalition Zajedno are to
    continue tomorrow.


    POLICE BLOCKS BRIDGES INSTEAD OF STUDENTS

    Belgrade student protesters, who announced yesterday their
    intention to block the bridges connecting Belgrade to New
    Belgrade, were stopped by police cordons earlier this afternoon.
    The Steering Board of Student Protest '96 held a press conference
    right on the spot and used the occasion to underline the students'
    contention that Belgrade police have been violating one of their
    fundamental civil rights: the right to the freedom of movement.
    The Steering Board thanked the police for blocking the bridge and
    so doing the work the students had set out to accomplish by
    themselves.


    INDEPENDENT STUDENT MOVEMENT

    Representatives of the newly-formed Independent Student Movement
    distanced their organization today form the Belgrade Student
    Association and asked the media to differentiate between these
    two. At a press conference held today, they announced that the
    Independent Student Movement has some 2,000 members, mostly
    students who say they want to go back to their classes. The
    organization has sent letters to the Deans of all UofB Schools,
    demanding that regular lectures be reinstituted and made available
    to students as soon as possible. They also read out the response
    they have received from the Dean of the School of Technology,
    asking the Independent Student movement to explain, among other
    things, how they managed to obtain premises in one of the most
    expensive buildings in Belgrade.


    SUPPORT TO SERBIAN CITIZENS AND COALITION ZAJEDNO FROM TEMISOARA

    Some 1,000 citizens of Temisoara gathered today in their
    hometown's Victory Square in a show of support for the residents
    of Serbian cities and towns who are protesting against the
    nullification of municipal electoral results. The first president
    of Temisoaran city government, Pompiliu Alamurean, the publicist
    Doru Braju and the Romanian Army officer Nikolae Durak, who
    refused to open fire at Romanian demonstrators in 1989, all spoke
    at the meeting. After the rally, Temisoarans marched by the
    Yugoslav Consulate building.


    RTS REPORTS: COUNTER-RALLIES IN MANY CITIES

    Meetings in support of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and
    his ``peace-loving policy'' were staged today in Pozarevac,
    Zajecar, Loznica, Vrbas, Aleksandrovac, Gnjilane and Kosjeric,
    reported Radio Television Serbia (RTS) tonight. The participants
    condemned Student Protest '96 and Zajedno demonstrations. They
    also expressed their gratitude to President Milosevic for his
    ``principled effort in saving the state's integrity and solving
    all legal issues [pertaining to the elections] democratically,
    using the appropriate state institutions.''


    AL GORE HELD TALKS WITH VERAN MATIC

    US vice-president Al Gore received Radio B92's editor-in-chief
    Veran Matic for a talk held at the White House this Wednesday.
    Here is what Veran Matic had to report about their meeting:

    ``We exchanged views on the situation of the independent media in
    Yugoslavia today. We talked about the banning of Radio B92 and
    Radio Boom 93. Mr. Gore congratulated us on the restoration of our
    broadcasting services and stressed the enormous role the
    independent media have to play in support of democracy all over
    the world, and not just in Serbia. Vice-president Gore underlined
    that he, of course, supports the development of independent media
    in Yugoslavia today. The whole meeting was aimed at helping Radio
    Boom 93 get back on the air, and also at informing US general
    public about the existence and the functioning of independent
    media in Serbia. The existence of a whole independent information
    sector, on which subject there has been little information in the
    US, had to be brought to the attention of the American public so
    that we could organize preventive actions against possible new
    repressive measures the Serbian regime might launch against the
    independent media. That was the point of all the meetings I have
    had so far with both high-level US administration representatives
    and with several organizations engaged in the protection of the
    freedom of speech, media and journalists. I have also met with
    representatives of news agencies -- with the editorial boards of
    both 'Washington Post' and 'New York Times' as well as with people
    from the Committee to Protect Journalists, who offered us great
    help when Radio B92 was banned earlier this month.''


    FRENCH AMBASSADOR MET MICUNOVIC

    President of the Democratic Center, Dragoljub Micunovic, today
    received the French ambassador in Yugoslavia, Stanislas Filiole.
    They had a long conversation during which they exchanged opinions
    about the current political crisis in Serbia and discussed
    possible solutions. They both agreed that preserving peace in the
    country and in the region as a whole should be the main strategic
    aim of a democratic Serbia and Europe itself.

    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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